Recap: Houston 73 Cincinnati 64

On Thursday, Wes Miller called Saturday's match up against Houston "a great opportunity" and discussed his team needing to rely on the experience and wisdom of playing in big games against really good opponents, in really tough environments, to help get them over the hump in their next game against the No. 4 team in the country. 

Cincinnati (17-12, 7-11) came out with the necessary effort and toughness to win, but struggled to maintain consistency at both ends of the floor to pull an upset, as Houston (25-4, 17-1) won by a final score of 73-64.

With the win, Houston clinched their second consecutive outright Big 12 Regular Season Championship. The Cougars have now won 12 straight over Cincinnati.

UC jumped out to a 10-2 lead with 13:28 remaining in the first half but were outscored 35-15 throughout the rest of the first half, trailing 37-25 after the first 20 minutes of action. 

Nine first half turnovers by UC led to a 15-2 advantage by Houston in points off turnovers at the half. 

Houston made just 2 of their first 14 field goal attempts, but closed the half making 13-of-17 from the field. That hot shooting carried over to the second half with the Cougars making 15-of-25 field goal attempts. Houston finished the game 54% from the field and 10-of-12 from the free throw line to offset a 3-of-14 showing from deep. 

"I'm pleased with our guys fight. Guys played hard," Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller said following the game. "They fought. They were physical. I thought we defended well. They made some really tough ones over the top in the second half. Give them credit. We had some really good offensive possessions then we had some bad ones. I'm not disappointed in our guys' fight or effort"

Graduate senior guard LJ Cryer led all scorers with 20 points, making 7-of-13 from the field and 2-of-6 from deep. Terrance Arceneaux came off the bench to score 10 points for Houston on a 5-of-8 showing from the field. 

Day Day Thomas and Jizzle James were the only two Bearcats to reach double figures. Thomas scored 19 points in 19 minutes, while James contributed 16 points. Simas Lukosius made 3-of-10 from deep, finishing with 9 points.

 (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Thomas dealt with foul trouble, which was particularly disappointing considering he was 8-of-12 from the field and UC's most reliable player offensively when he was on the floor. 

"The foul trouble was very difficult. Daveon Thomas in particular was really difficult to overcome," Wes Miller said following the game. "I'd like to see what the game looked like if he didn't have any foul trouble because we're plus-11 when he's in the game."

"It's frustrating he was in foul trouble."

As a team, UC made 44% of their field goal attempts, 6-of-20 attempts from three, and 6-of-8 free throws. 

Cincinnati won the rebounding battle on Saturday, 32-28, but the Cougars owned the paint and consistently got to the rim at will, outscoring UC 40-24. That number would have been worse but UC was able to get some points in transition off steals during the game's final minute to make the difference somewhat closer. 

 (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Aziz Bandaogo led UC's rebounding efforts with 8 rebounds to go with 6 points. 

Cincinnati will host Kansas State on Wednesday and then close the regular season at Oklahoma State on Saturday. 

"Got to win the next game and then see where you're at," Miller said when questioned about UC's resume. "I think one of the things that was frustrating for our players eight games ago was everybody told them they had no chance to even be in consideration for the tournament and that's all a bunch of BS."

"Just take care of the next day and then you looked up and all of a sudden people are considering you again. So I think we got to do the same thing. Just go run the next game and we'll see what happens from there. "

Game Notes

First Half:

15:53- UC has an early 5-2 lead after Dillon Mitchell knocks down a wide open three from the right wing. Houston scored the game's first basket but missed four straight field goal attempts and didn't score over the next 3:08. Day Day Thomas picked up his second foul, leading to the media timeout.

13:22- Simas Lukosius buries a deep three from the top of the key to extend the UC lead to 10-2 after Houston big man J'Wan Roberts picked up his second foul at 13:53. Houston hasn't scored in 5:39.

11:56- UC leads 10-4 after LJ Cryer ended Houston's scoring drought of almost six minutes. Back-to-back turnovers by Dan Skillings leads to two empty possessions by the Bearcats. 

10:25- Dillon Mitchell picks up his second foul. Josheph Tugler converts an and-one on the next Houston possessions to cut UC's lead to 10-9 at 10:11. UC hasn't scored in 3:17.

7:49- Milos Uzan extends the Houston run to 14-0 over 5:12 as UC hasn't scored in 5:39. UC missed six straight during their scoring drought and have made just 1 of last 9 with four turnovers during the drought.

5:33- Day Day Thomas picks up his third foul and Houston leads 22-14 after making their seventh straight field goal attempt on a jumper by LJ Cryer. 

4:10- Dan Skillings picks up his second foul with UC trailing 24-17. Skillings knocked down a three on the possession prior to briefly cut the Houston lead to 22-17.

0:41- Emmanuel Sharp makes a 3-pointer to extend the Houston lead to 37-22. The three by Sharp was the fifth consecutive make by the Cougars, forcing Wes Miller to call a timeout. 

0:31- Simas Lukosius knocks down a corner three to cut the Houston lead to 37-25. It would be the final field goal of the half as Houston closed the half making 13 of their final 17 field goal attempts of the half after making just 2-of-14 to begin the game. The Cougars forced nine first half turnovers and outscored UC 15-2 in points off turnovers and 24-6 in points in the paint. 

Second half:

17:55- Day Day Thomas is called for his fourth foul after scoring the first five points of the second half to cut the Houston lead to 39-32.

 (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

15:56- UC hasn't scored in 2:29. Houston has made 4 of last 5 and have outscored UC 7-0 over 1:41 to extend their lead back to double figures. 

14:12- Baskets by Bandaogo and Jizzle James cuts the Houston lead to 48-38, forcing a timeout by Kelvin Sampson. 

11:47- Houston leads 52-38 and UC hasn't scored in 2:29.

8:17- LJ Cryer extends the Houston lead to 60-42 after a missed 3-pointer by Dan Skillings, forcing a timeout by Miller. 

5:31- Day Day Thomas cuts the Houston lead to 65-53 with a steal and layup. Jizzle James narrows the deficit to 65-54 after splitting a pair of free throws at 5:10. James free throw extended the UC run to 8-0 over 1:12.

2:34- Houston leads 69-56 at the final media stop. Day Day Thomas has 17 points in 17 minutes.

1:41- Houston hasn't scored in 2:14. UC has 0 field goals over last 2:46 and trail 69-58 after two free throws from Day Day Thomas. 

0:50- UC trails 69-60 following a steal and layup by Jizzle James.

0:13- Jizzle James scores the last basket of the game, cutting the Houston lead to 73-64.

Game Highlights:

Postgame Video: Wes Miller and Aziz Bandaogo

Final Thoughts:

Houston is as good as advertised and a legit Final Four candidate, but Cincinnati wasted an opportunity to make a statement this afternoon against the No. 4 team in the country. 

The first half turnovers and six-minute stretch without a point ended up being the difference. The good news is UC has been much better offensively over the last month. The bad news is, scoring droughts and turnovers have been a recurring theme against the best teams in this league. 

There's still hope of making the NCAA Tournament with wins against Kansas State and at Oklahoma State to close the regular season, but lose either of those and you're looking at a scenario where UC has to make a run to the semi-finals or finals of the Big 12 Tournament to have a resume worthy of being considered for an at-large bid.