UC coach Wes Miller with Baba Miller, Day Day Thomas on Georgia St. W
UC basketball coach Wes Miller with Baba Miller, Day Day Thomas on Georgia State W
- The Cincinnati Bearcats improved to 2-0 with a victory over Georgia State Nov. 7.
- UC big man Baba Miller led the Bearcats with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
A team that lost at Eastern Michigan four days ago by 21 points gave the Cincinnati Bearcats fits at times on Friday, Nov. 7. Eventually, the deeper Bearcats notched a 74-64 win over Georgia State.
Come March, there will be no style points attached.
It wasn’t UC’s best night from three-point range, from the field, from the line, or from a few perspectives, but it was a second consecutive win in front of the 10,009 home fans at Fifth Third Arena. Some will say winning despite all of that is not a bad thing.
“We won,” Miller said. “Sometimes you can play like that and lose. We played poorly tonight, but we still won the game and that’s something. There’s going to be nights where you don’t play as well as you want and you find a way to win.”
Senior Baba Miller topped the Bearcats with his second double-double in as many games, finishing with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
“I feel when I came here in June, that (rebounding) wasn’t one of my strong suits,” Baba Miller said. “Coach Miller and my teammates really pushed me to be the best I can be in that area. I try to do that every time I step on the floor.”
Sophomore Moustapha Thiam just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Day Day Thomas was the only other Bearcat in double figures with 12 points. Thomas had four of UC’s seven trifectas.
“It’s going to be somebody having a night every night,” Thomas said. “It’s not going to be just one person. It’s going to be somebody different every night.”
UC is now 2-0 with the Dayton Flyers at Fifth Third Arena Tuesday, Nov. 11.
UC finished the night from outside the arc just 7-of-31 for 23%. They outshot the Panthers overall 40% to 37%. From the free-throw line, they were just 65% to Georgia State’s 80%, and they won on the backboards 40-35.
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Jelani Hamilton led Georgia State, which dropped to 0-2, with 26 points.
Update on Cincinnati Bearcats guard Sencire Harris
The new guard, nicknamed “Buck” injured his wrist on a dunk attempt against Western Carolina and came out of the game after a painful free throw, playing just over nine minutes. In that time, he scored six points, had two assists and a team-high three steals.
Against Georgia State, he played with a bandage on his left shooting wrist. In the first half, he was one of the few bright spots, sparking the Bearcats with nine points and playing aggressive defense. Foul trouble would hinder him the rest of his night, but the fact that he was on the floor was a plus.
Wes Miller said the Harris simply refused to not play.
“He embodies what Cincinnati basketball is all about,” Miller said. “We’ve got to get the defensive discipline a little bit better, but we don’t want to take away his aggressiveness.”
Update on Cincinnati Bearcats forward Jalen Haynes
Jalen Hayes, nicknamed “Big Slime,” continues to be out indefinitely with a knee injury but has been present at practice and games in sweats, occasionally taking a shot. Haynes played at 265 pounds on his 6-foot-8 frame last season for George Mason, but is listed at 250 pounds in UC’s pregame material. Actually, Haynes says he is down to 240 pounds.
Should he return, be prepared to see an “old school” lower paint scorer.
Bob Huggins pays Cincinnati Bearcats visit
The former Bearcats coach also recruited Kerr Kriisa to West Virginia. He was in a private box Friday night, dressed in red, surrounded by former players. Wes Miller said Kriisa was excited Huggins was coming, but unfortunately didn’t have his best shooting night, going 2-for-10, 1-for-7 on 3-pointers.
“My job is a special job because of a lot of people, but he’s one of those people that makes this one of the best jobs in the country because of what he did here,” Miller said. “I’ve been fortunate to build a relationship with him. I appreciate the support he’s given our program.”
Takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Georgia State Panthers
1. Cincinnati Bearcats had to play from behind
The Bearcats had a sluggish start and a timeout was called two-and-a-half minutes into the game as they were down 9-3. Three minutes later, the Bearcats had tied the game on free throws by Harris and Jalen Celestine’s 3-pointer at 13:30 of the first half gave the Bearcats the lead for good at 15-12.
The Panthers would pull within one with five minutes left in the half, but UC distanced itself at halftime with a 12-4 run. Day Day Thomas dished to Thiam for a dunk before the buzzer for a 39-30 lead at the break. UC would lead for over 33 of the 40 minutes, but topped out with a 15-point lead that was cut to as little as five in the second frame before the Bearcats went back up by double digits.
2. Cincinnati Bearcats’ length makes difference, particularly Baba Miller
UC again won the points in the paint category and if they weren’t blocking shots, they changed several. Baba Miller had a dominant night on the boards and led an early second-half spurt with a dunk off an assist from Kerr and a Eurostep that quickly put UC up by 14 points.
The 6-foot-11, 225-pound senior scraped the rebound several times and brought the ball up the floor himself. He only missed one shot from the field.
It was his best game since scoring 25 last season for Florida Atlantic against Florida Gulf Coast.
3. Cincinnati Bearcats guard Shon Abaev has rough night
After scoring 12 seconds into the Western Carolina game, Abaev was held scoreless in the first half and didn’t get into the scorebook until the second minute of the second half with a pair of free throws.
Abaev finished with just four points on 1-for-6 shooting, missing all five of his three-point attempts.
After the game, Coach Miller said Abaev had taken IV fluids to play and had been ill, which could have affected his performance. Jordi Rodriguez was also battling illness and was 1-for-5 on the night.
4. Cincinnati Bearcats must take better care of ball
UC had the ball stolen five times in the first half and turned the ball over eight times. They led in fast break points 17-8 in the end, but at times looked a little too fast, ahead of their skis. Wes Miller has said he wants to play faster.
The downside to the style is turnovers; the upside is the ability to get back and recover quickly if the shots start to fall. UC finished with 16 turnovers to Georgia State’s 17.
“It takes nights when you have 16 turnovers and you might take a couple shots you shouldn’t,” Miller said. “We’re going to stick with it. We think it can be a differentiator. We’re committed to it. We’re not going to back away because it didn’t look good one night. This is going to help us win in the Big 12. That’s going to be a process, we know that. When it’s good, it’s going to be great and fun. There’s going to be some moments when it’s not.”
Said Baba Miller, “At the end of the day, how fast we want to play is going to come with some growing pains. We’ve just got to get better as the season goes on. It’s November. We want to play our best basketball in February.”
5. Cincinnati Bearcats coach Wes Miller proud of former player
After the win, Miller found out former UC Bearcat CJ Anthony had 25 points in Iona’s 81-73 win over Hofstra on Friday. Miller purposely redshirted Anthony last season to give him a full season of eligibility once his time at UC ended.
“I can’t even describe the feeling it gives me,” Miller said. “When stuff like that happens, it’s the best moments you can ever have as a coach. It makes me emotional. That is what it’s all about.”
As for the Miller wardrobe watch, the UC coach came out in a jacket, this one plaid. As the game approached the fifth minute, the plaid casual wear was casually discarded.
Next up for Cincinnati Bearcats
The Bearcats have their toughest test of the early season on Tuesday, Nov. 11 when the Dayton Flyers come to Fifth Third Arena. The teams have played the last two seasons at Heritage Bank Center, with the Flyers winning 82-68 in 2023 and the Bearcats prevailing 66-59 last year.
It’s Dayton’s first trip to UC’s campus since they beat the Bearcats in a March 22, 2010, NIT game 81-66 when the arena was still known as the Shoemaker Center. UC leads the all-time series 61-35.
Cincinnati Bearcats women’s hoops
The UC women were at Penn State Friday night, losing 82-77. Kylie Torrence led UC with 18 points and six rebounds in the defeat. They have another Pennsylvania road game Tuesday, Nov. 11, at St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia.
