The Bearcats' Big 12 Tournament run ended with a rough offensive performance as they couldn't capitalize on a fast start against Baylor.
Winners
The Biggest winner of this week has been Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller. The third-year head coach has seen tremendous strides over the last three years since taking over in 2021. Miller just led the Bearcats through the toughest conference in all of college basketball, where he put a lot of people on notice along the way. Despite Cincinnati having some bumps along the way, their first years in the Big 12 were better than what most fans expected.
Miller just led the Bearcats to a Big 12 quarterfinal run in his first year in the Big 12. That isn't an easy challenge as Miller's Bearcats took the conference by storm this week. Miller made a case to the media on Thursday night as to why Cincinnati deserves to be playing in the NCAA Tournament.
"I believe I have an NCAA Tournament team," Miller told reporters on Thursday. "I believe this league deserves 10-11 teams in the tournament, no doubt about it. I don’t know how this league doesn’t get a massive amount of bids there is nothing like this in college basketball right now."
John Newman III
The veteran guard had yet another lockdown defensive performance where he held NBA Draft Prospect Ja'Kobe Walter to just 3-of-11 shooting. For the second time this season, Newman has locked down a projected top-5 NBA Draft pick, and that is something that you just don't see very often. Newman also flashed on the offensive game finishing with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
Newman has faced all kinds of adversity over the last year after missing the 2022-2023 season due to a knee injury. Newman reflected on what this season has been like for him as he comes off a season where he was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive team.
"Coming from where I was last season with the injury and the place I was in has been refreshing," Newman told reporters following the loss to Baylor. "This is the most fun I have had throughout my basketball career. We aren't done yet we still have more moments to create. But it's been a hell of a ride."
Jizzle James had another strong performance finishing with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. You can really see the college game piecing together for James, especially over the last month or so. The freshman stepped up in another huge situation when Cincinnati needed it the most, and it showed tonight.
Losers
Simas Lukošius finally cooled off after a heater to start this Big 12 championship run.
Lukošius was held scoreless until the minal minutes of the game, as he finished the game just 1-of-7 from the field. However Lukošius did affect the game in many other ways as he continued to do a great job facilitating the offense despite his shot not falling.
Lukošius finished with five assists along the way, one shy of Baylor's RayJ Dennis. It was great to see Lukošius find ways to continue to impact the game even when his shot wasn't falling on Thursday night.
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