Evansville 12/29 7:00 ESPN+

[leo from jersey]

sets qnother but out of control dayday

[leo from jersey]

Reynolds is boxing out on defense

[leo from jersey]

like the Reynolds

[Rufus]

Miller needs to tell Lahkin to stop it with the treys. It's bordering on ridiculous now.

[leo from jersey]

Best part of being 11-2 is to go into the conference with this second half.

[London 'Cat]

Outscored UE 44-18 in the second half. I think Miller got their attention at halftime. Nice recovery.

[longtimefan]

A totally different game in the second half, best defense of the Miller era. I’d really like to know what happened in the locker room at halftime. They need that second half energy for 40 minutes every night.

[Rufus]

Let's hope their attention can be maintained.

[bearcatbret]

Interesting stats and Miller quotes. Lukosius' Deep Shooting Lifts Cincinnati Over Evansville - University of Cincinnati Athletics (gobearcats.com)

[bearcat1518]

Cronin stepped into the Big East and had problems. However, he still had Huggin's recruits. Be careful of apples and oranges.

The only Huggins recruit on Mick’s first team was Cedric McGowan. And aced never even played for Huggs. That’s the only one.

[bg703]

CWM is from the Roy Williams tree and would love to play 2 bigs and man defense all the time. But we’re struggling when teams go small. I thought CWM showed some recognition in not playing Vik and Jamille together. Guys need roles even if it means some will play less. The CJ news is a bummer but hopefully he is back at some point. That’s more like the effort they are going to have to play with to be competitive in the Big12.

[leeraymond]

I think it's a chemistry issue. We might have actually been better wihout Aziz and Reynolds. Need to recalulate the lineups

You are not imagining things with that comment. When Aziz starts a game, UC gives up more points. However, Aziz gives UC more rebounding when he plays. Also, Josh Reed's defense has really improved. There was a stretch in the first half of last night's game where Newman, Reed, Oguama, and Thomas were all in the game together. That combination gave UC consecutive defensive stops when Evansville was on a run. Miller does not respect defense as much as he does offense based on his substitutions. From what I can see, which does not mean much, very rarely does Miller substitute for defensive purposes.

Some last comments. Cincinnati played like a Power 5 team in the second half. They held a good shooting Evansville team to shooting 22% in the second half. Evansville only hit SIX (6) SHOTS IN THE SECOND HALF. It is going to be very interesting to see how Miller navigates the BIG 12. Every team in the BIG 12 can whip UC's tail on any given night. Wins are going to have to be FOUGHT for EVERY NIGHT. UC has NOT dealt with that type of conference environment since the BIG EAST. Hopefully the players truly understand what they will be up against every night. There are numerous teams in the BIG 12 that have NBA level talent (Kansas, Baylor, Houston, and Texas to name four). Hey! This is why players come to UC; to play in BIG GAMES. There will be plenty of big games from here on out. Just about every game in the BIG 12 represents an NCAA tournament resume win. If UC can win their home games, they should be okay. Hopefully everyone can stay healthy. Good luck to UC. Let the games begin.

[GoBearcats31]

39 NET, 40 KenPom

Next opponent BYU is top four in the nation in both

[leo from jersey]

Play of the day in my opinion. Reynolds boxed out on the defensive board which allowed Dadyday to go sky high for the rebound. It was all Reynolds and is what this team needs. He was setting screens on offense as well.

[Lobot]

I do wonder how the frontcourt shakes out. I think both Reynolds and Bandaogo on top of Lakhin and Oguama could get crowded. So if Bandaogo is out a bit longer, Reynolds can shine.

I love Vik but he's a finesse guy. I'll certainly take the offense he gives because he's definitely got skills in the lane and outside it.

Reynolds dunks everything he can. Old school Bearcat basketball.

Bandaogo is the post defender on the team but I think the team lacks team defense when he's on the floor because they funnel the ball to him and expect him to erase everything.

Ody doesn't fit in with these guys. And I like Ody. He's a high energy guy who nevers quits on defense or the boards but he's subpar on offense. Ody came back knowing he might get his minutes reduced and I hope the fans recognize that on Senior Day. He deserves all the applause for sticking it out.