The Cincinnati Bearcats aren’t just winning.
They’re dominating.
Like we haven’t seen since Bob Huggins stomped around The Shoe and yelled at everyone.
UC may have moved a step closer to being relevant again with a 90-68 dismantling of BYU on Tuesday night at sold-out Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats have miraculously won 6 of their last 7 games, coming back from the dead to put themselves on the NCAA Tournament bubble and potentially save Wes Miller’s job.
Wait?! What?! How?! Has Miller actually saved his job amid this incredible run? Or does he have to at least make the NCAA Tournament to remain at UC?
UC athletic director John Cunningham declined to answer specific questions about Miller’s job status, saying he’d wait until after the season is over to evaluate the coach and the program. Miller is in his fifth season and has yet to take the Bearcats to the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m just really proud of this team, their resilience and coming together and playing some of the best basketball in the country right now,” Cunningham told me, minutes before he watched Miller’s postgame press conference. “I thought the fans were awesome, and I’m excited about the opportunity that remains.”
No one should feel ashamed if they wanted Miller fired a month ago – or even still do if the Bearcats miss the NCAA Tournament. This program was stuck in neutral for 4½ seasons, hitting one of its lowest points during Miller’s tenure on Feb. 5. The Bearcats blew a double-digit second-half lead in an embarrassing home loss to West Virginia. UC was sitting at 11-12.
The Bearcats couldn’t score. They were boring. And the boos directed at Miller were seemingly getting louder each home game. They were so prominent, in fact, UC officials decided to no longer announce Miller’s name following the announcement of the starting lineup before each home game. His name was not announced before they played struggling BYU, the Bearcats’ final regular-season home game.
Miller seemed desperate after that West Virginia game. He was caught on video telling fans in the tunnel: “You guys deserve to be frustrated. The results ain’t OK.”
And somehow, someway, the Bearcats have been more than OK mostly ever since. Five of the recent wins have been blowouts. They’ve scored 90 points in four of those victories. Credit Miller, who made an adjustment to focus the offense more around big men Baba Miller and Moustapha Thiam. The Bearcats have been working on getting the ball inside to those guys. They either score or kick it outside for a 3-pointer.
But some of this overnight improvement has to be chalked up to the new era of the transfer portal. It takes time for a roster full of one-year mercenaries to figure out how to play together. Some teams figure it out quickly. Some teams take time to figure it out. And some never figure it out.
“I was convinced (last) spring, we put together a bona fide Big 12 roster,” Miller said. “The roster never really got a chance to take shape” because of injuries and Jizzle James’ absence. “We never had that continuity early on.”
The Bearcats (17-13) still have a lot of work to do to make it to March Madness for the first time since 2019. They have a tough game at TCU in the regular-season finale on Saturday. A loss would likely force the Bearcats to have to at least make it to the Big 12 Tournament title game to still have a shot to make the NCAA tourney.
“The way they’re playing right now,” BYU coach Kevin Young said, “they are very deserving to be in the tournament.”
It’s mind blowing that we’re even talking about the Bearcats possibly making it. It’s so hard for fans to be patient in today’s college sports. Players getting paid big bucks. Players leaving for the highest bidder. Who knows how much time a coach deserves.
Maybe Miller isn’t the guy. Maybe he is. This has been a head-spinning season. There may be more like it, regardless of who’s coaching the Bearcats.
We’re hungry for a winner in this town. And the Bearcats are giving us hope for that right now. Miller offered nice perspective amid all this craziness.
“Have joy playing the game,” he said. “Have joy in competing.”
And take joy in winning around here for a change, however long it lasts.
Contact columnist Jason Williams at jwilliams@enquirer.com
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What UC athletic director says about Wes Miller’s future | Williams
Reporting by Jason Williams, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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