In front of their first sellout of the year at Fifth Third Arena (12,012), the Cincinnati Bearcats are still bouncing on the proverbial “bubble” after they defeated BYU on Senior Night 90-68 March 3.
The victory is the third Quad 1 win of the season for the Bearcats and it comes as seniors Day Day Thomas, Jalen Celestine, Baba Miller and Grant Darbyshire were celebrated before tip-off.
The celebration continued onto the floor as UC raced out to a 12-point halftime lead. BYU, which was ranked in the Top 25 last week, has now trailed at halftime in its last three games and lost them all.
The Cougars did cut the UC lead briefly to six early in the second half, but the Bearcats hit the accelerator, delighting the red-clad crowd, which several times chanted the name “Day Day Thomas” playing in his senior finale.
“I felt more pressure tonight than I can ever remember coaching,” UC’s Wes Miller said. “I wanted us to win for him so badly. I had to calm down a little bit. I wanted it too bad. I thought the energy in the building was awesome. I”m glad we got that win for our seniors and for Day Day.”
UC placed all five starters in double figures as Jalen Celestine and Jizzle James shared scoring honors with 18 points. Moustapha Thiam had 16 points and nine rebounds and Baba Miller recorded his 12th double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
“He’s had such a terrific year to date,” Wes Miller said of his 6-foot-11 point forward. “He’s never had a consistent year like this in college. He’s become a playmaker. That’s made us very different offensively.”
Thomas also hit for 12 points and was the first Bearcat pulled from the game early (at 1:27) to get a well-deserved standing ovation. He dished out a team-high six assists.
UC improves to 17-13 on the season, equaling their regular-season win mark from a year ago. The Bearcats are 9-8 in the Big 12 and winners of six of their last seven games. They’re now 9-0 when scoring 80 or more points this season.
“Big 12 games are very difficult to win and we got a win tonight,” Miller said. “The only thing I’m going to do when I leave this is, what do we have to do to get ready for the next one? We’ve got another one in two or three days.”
BYU drops to 20-10 (8-9 Big 12) and now must play No. 10 Texas Tech, which was upset by TCU on Wednesday in Lubbock. The Cougars’ 68 points tied their effort at then-No. 4 Arizona for their second-lowest showing, with their season-low coming in a 77-66 home loss to then-No. 8 Houston.
Leading the BYU Cougars were freshman standout AJ Dybantsa and sophomore Robert Wright III. They were as advertised, with Dybantsa hitting for 23 points and Wright 21. It was Dybantsa’s 30th straight game in double figures.
Both Dybantsa and BYU coach Kevin Young were impressed with the effort put forth by UC’s Baba Miller.
“Senior, can do it all,” Dybantsa said. “Kind of like a triple-double kind of guy. I remember him at Florida State. Unique skillset.”
Said Young, “I’ve been in the NBA for a long time and that’s what guys in that league look like because of the size and the skillset. He does a good job of running pretty simple actions and puts good players in spots to be successful.”
UC outrebounded the Cougars 36-34 and outshot them from 3-point range, 10-for-23 to 7-for-24.
Buy Cincinnati Bearcats tickets
UC led in points off turnovers with 21 to just four from BYU, and also shut the Cougars down in fast break points 12-2.
Takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats vs. BYU Cougars
Another halftime advantage for Cincinnati Bearcats
For just the fifth time this season, BYU was down at the break as the Bearcats led 43-31. Of those previous games, the Cougars came back to win two of them and usually are good for a burst to get back in the game.
UC led by as many as 16 in the first half with just under five minutes to go in the period. After Celestine hit a 3-ball at 16:43 of the period for an 8-6 lead, UC never trailed.
UC is now 16-3 with a halftime lead this season, only losing to Louisville at Heritage Bank Center and Houston and West Virginia at home. The Bearcats are 86-20 with a halftime lead in the Wes Miller era.
Bearcats were bandits
UC had eight steals in building their first-half lead. Guards James and Thomas had three apiece and Sencire Harris added a pair. They finished leading the category 10-2.
“We chart deflections and our goal is 15 per half,” Miller said. “We had 21 at halftime. Our defense led to offense.”
How was UC/BYU crowd?
Obviously, with UC’s first sellout of the season, the 9 p.m. tip time was favorable. Senior Night and a good opponent probably didn’t hurt either.
“The crowd gave us a huge lift tonight,” Miller said. “The energy in the building was significant. I appreciate that. I think they came out for Day Day Thomas. He’s what college athletics is all about. He could have left here for more money or the next thing and he just wanted to be at Cincinnati.”
UC’s ‘Senior’ moments
Day Day Thomas, Baba Miller, Jalen Celestine and Grant Darbyshire were the UC players honored before the game, along with managers Luke Rubin, Luke St. John and Kelin Jeffreys. Kerr Kriisa elected not to walk.
“I just want to shout out to the student section,” Thomas said. “They showed mad love.”
Thomas went on to say it was a memorable night playing his last home game with one of the best coaches, as he slapped Miller on the back. He said he and Miller bonded off the court and liked that he was held accountable.
Miller said that he liked that Thomas was no longer late to things.
“It’s been special,” Miller said. “And, it ain’t over yet.”
Jizzle James gets grand treatment
James became the third UC Bearcat this year to reach the 1,000-point club.
“That’s what coaching’s about, the old school way,” Miller said. “What I said about Day Day, I can say about Jizzle. He just stuck with it and wanted to be here. We’ve been through a lot together.”
Moustapha Thiam honored by Big 12
UC’s sophomore center was named to the Big 12 Starting Five for his efforts last week when he averaged 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in the games vs. Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. He could be in contention again with another impressive week. Thiam missed another double-double vs. BYU by just one rebound.
Cincinnati Bearcats injury updates
Tyler McKinley was listed as a game-time decision before the game, but came out and warmed up, as did freshman Shon Abaev. Shortly before the opening tip, UC announced Abaev would miss the game with a lower-body injury. He remained in uniform for the game.
Halvine Dzellat was UC’s first sub in the game for Thiam, so McKinley was also unavailable.
Cincinnati Bearcats Big 12 schedule
UC has one more regular season game as they head to Fort Worth to take on TCU at 2 p.m (Eastern) on TNT. UC leads the historical series 7-1, having won last year at home by a score of 75-63. TCU’s lone win came over two years ago in Fort Worth, 75-57. The Horned Frogs took down 10th-ranked Texas Tech 73-65 Wednesday to make Saturday’s game even more notable.
The Phillips 66 Big 12 men’s basketball tournament starts Tuesday, March 10 at Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center.
Cincinnati Bearcats women’s hoops
UC’s women’s team opens up Big 12 tournament play on Wednesday, March 4 at noon (Eastern) vs. Kansas State at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. Kansas State beat Coach Katrina Merriweather’s squad Dec. 31 in Manhattan, 72-59, during the regular season. Should UC win, they’ll face Texas Tech, Thursday, March 5, also at noon.
Senior Mya Perry was named All-Big 12 Third Team for UC, with freshman Caliyah DeVillasee making the All-Big 12 Freshman Team.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What we learned from UC Bearcats’ big win over BYU
Reporting by Scott Springer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
