Going to go away from the typical game preview that I normally do for this go-round, got a very busy day ahead. I’m slowly beginning to learn what Cincinnati is so let’s jump into it.
Something that’s been talked about quite a bit is how close Cincinnati has been playing in some of these games and that is pretty indicative of the league. The Bearcats are coming off their worst loss of the season against West Virginia, a true collapse if I had to describe it. Cincinnati was outscored 19-5 in the last six minutes of that one. That loss looks bad on paper given the Mountaineers’ record but they also did have Jesse Edwards back from injury there which is a big deal going forward since you get WV later on.
Cincinnati, both from what I’ve heard and seen, are hellbent on attacking the offensive glass, and really the boards in general. The Bearcats have only lost the rebound differential in two games this season, against the two opponents Tech just played in TCU and Oklahoma. Cincinnati is second to only Houston in the conference in both combined rebounding and offensive rebounding numbers and this is certainly an area of concern heading into the game.
By my count from the West Virginia game, of the nine players who contributed significant minutes, seven are 6-foot-5 or taller, four of those in the starting lineup in Simas Lukosius (6’8), John Newman (6’5), Viktor Lahkin (6’11) and Aziz Bandaogo (6’11). The offense primarily runs through the Russian Lahkin, who is the team’s leading scorer with 12.1 points a game, and leading rebounder with 7.3 boards a night.
Dan Skillings is one to pay attention to, he played 30 minutes off the bench the other night against West Virginia and led the team with 15 points. Someone tells me he is the “biggest difference maker offensively.”
Watching them play on tape, I’m not too particularly impressed with their offense, something is off to me on the eye test. It just seems monotonous with no real flow, whether that be from a lack of ball movement or player movement off the ball. This is a Cincinnati team that does not shoot the ball well, they are a 32 percent three-point shooting team this season and they have shot less than 30 percent in five of eight conference games.
CJ Frederick, the Kentucky transfer and 44 percent shooter from deep, is still dealing with a hamstring injury that has kept him out for some time.
While the Bearcats don’t shoot nearly the same volume like what a BYU does, they do fire away and that is partially what leads to so many offensive rebounds. Seven times in conference play they’ve had double-digit numbers on the offensive glass. I haven’t been one to speak much on what this Tech team would look like since Devan Cambridge got hurt, because I personally think they’ve grown tremendously offensively without him on the floor. However, this is a game where I do think his presence will be sorely missed.
Defensively, nothing too different other than what the Big 12 entails: physicality. Word going around is Newman will be questionable Saturday with a bruised rib, he is the Bearcats’ best defender, but if he can’t go expect 6-foot-7 John Reed to be their go-to guy defensively.
Since I don’t pay for the more premium stats provided by KenPom and EvanMiya, I can only tell you they are trailing Tech in both at 34th and 31st, in the respective websites. KenPom gives Cincinnati a slight edge in its adjusted defensive efficiency rating at No. 16. EvanMiya has the Bearcats at 21st in its defensive rating. In the NCAA NET ranking, it is a similar story to overall ranking– Cincinnati is 34th there and are 2-5 in Quad 1 games.
Saturday, maybe more than ever, it is imperative that Tech attacks the glass as a team. We have seen it before and the Red Raiders are plenty capable, the big concern, though, is this kind of length is basically unmatched to what Tech has seen so far this season. Cincinnati across the board statistically is not really a matchup that screams dangerous to you, but when you consider what Tech lacks and the Bearcats bring, it is a bad matchup.
Ultimately what this will boil down to is if the Red Raiders can avoid foul trouble like the other night, make shots like they have been all throughout conference play and create havoc on the glass by sending extra bodies.
Game Details:
Where: United Supermarkets Arena, Lubbock, Texas
When: 5:00 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 3
Watch it on: ESPN+
What to know: Cincinnati
Head coach: Wes Miller
Record: 14-7 (3-5 Big 12)
Preseason conference selection: 11th
Something that’s been talked about quite a bit is how close Cincinnati has been playing in some of these games and that is pretty indicative of the league. The Bearcats are coming off their worst loss of the season against West Virginia, a true collapse if I had to describe it. Cincinnati was outscored 19-5 in the last six minutes of that one. That loss looks bad on paper given the Mountaineers’ record but they also did have Jesse Edwards back from injury there which is a big deal going forward since you get WV later on.
Cincinnati, both from what I’ve heard and seen, are hellbent on attacking the offensive glass, and really the boards in general. The Bearcats have only lost the rebound differential in two games this season, against the two opponents Tech just played in TCU and Oklahoma. Cincinnati is second to only Houston in the conference in both combined rebounding and offensive rebounding numbers and this is certainly an area of concern heading into the game.
By my count from the West Virginia game, of the nine players who contributed significant minutes, seven are 6-foot-5 or taller, four of those in the starting lineup in Simas Lukosius (6’8), John Newman (6’5), Viktor Lahkin (6’11) and Aziz Bandaogo (6’11). The offense primarily runs through the Russian Lahkin, who is the team’s leading scorer with 12.1 points a game, and leading rebounder with 7.3 boards a night.
Dan Skillings is one to pay attention to, he played 30 minutes off the bench the other night against West Virginia and led the team with 15 points. Someone tells me he is the “biggest difference maker offensively.”
Watching them play on tape, I’m not too particularly impressed with their offense, something is off to me on the eye test. It just seems monotonous with no real flow, whether that be from a lack of ball movement or player movement off the ball. This is a Cincinnati team that does not shoot the ball well, they are a 32 percent three-point shooting team this season and they have shot less than 30 percent in five of eight conference games.
CJ Frederick, the Kentucky transfer and 44 percent shooter from deep, is still dealing with a hamstring injury that has kept him out for some time.
While the Bearcats don’t shoot nearly the same volume like what a BYU does, they do fire away and that is partially what leads to so many offensive rebounds. Seven times in conference play they’ve had double-digit numbers on the offensive glass. I haven’t been one to speak much on what this Tech team would look like since Devan Cambridge got hurt, because I personally think they’ve grown tremendously offensively without him on the floor. However, this is a game where I do think his presence will be sorely missed.
Defensively, nothing too different other than what the Big 12 entails: physicality. Word going around is Newman will be questionable Saturday with a bruised rib, he is the Bearcats’ best defender, but if he can’t go expect 6-foot-7 John Reed to be their go-to guy defensively.
Since I don’t pay for the more premium stats provided by KenPom and EvanMiya, I can only tell you they are trailing Tech in both at 34th and 31st, in the respective websites. KenPom gives Cincinnati a slight edge in its adjusted defensive efficiency rating at No. 16. EvanMiya has the Bearcats at 21st in its defensive rating. In the NCAA NET ranking, it is a similar story to overall ranking– Cincinnati is 34th there and are 2-5 in Quad 1 games.
Saturday, maybe more than ever, it is imperative that Tech attacks the glass as a team. We have seen it before and the Red Raiders are plenty capable, the big concern, though, is this kind of length is basically unmatched to what Tech has seen so far this season. Cincinnati across the board statistically is not really a matchup that screams dangerous to you, but when you consider what Tech lacks and the Bearcats bring, it is a bad matchup.
Ultimately what this will boil down to is if the Red Raiders can avoid foul trouble like the other night, make shots like they have been all throughout conference play and create havoc on the glass by sending extra bodies.
Game Details:
Where: United Supermarkets Arena, Lubbock, Texas
When: 5:00 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 3
Watch it on: ESPN+
What to know: Cincinnati
Head coach: Wes Miller
Record: 14-7 (3-5 Big 12)
Preseason conference selection: 11th
