BYU 3/3 9:00 ESPN2 (Senior Night)

[London 'Cat]

We'd officially clinch a top 7 seed in the Big 12 tournament with a win on Saturday. We're also still in play for the 6 seed depending on other results. Avoiding Arizona until the finals would be huge.

I still think UC needs to win the BigXII tournament to get in the NCAAs. But, if they win out to the finals of the conference tournament, they would have a solid chance for an at large bid. Winning at TCU would be huge because it guarantees a first round bye in the conference tournament. One game at a time.

[bearcatbret]

From the home boys:
Cincinnati Shines Defensively on Senior Night in 90-68 Win Over BYU - University of Cincinnati Athletics - Official Athletics Website
From BYU:
BYU drops road game to Cincinnati 90-68 - BYU Athletics - Official Athletics Website - BYU Cougars

[leo from jersey]

enjoyable win -- I like the inside game which knocked out BYU desire. Tillery looked good. Now. The proof will be the tournament. Go Cats. -

If I was the BYU coach, the next practice would be extremely difficult for the players.

[GoBearcats31]

42 on KenPom ahead of a number of bubble teams (IU, SDSU, TCU, VCU, UCF, Seton Hall, VT, WVU)

ESPN: The Bearcats' late-season charge continued with a convincing Quadrant 1 win over BYU on Tuesday for their sixth win in seven games. They are still outside the top 50 in the national résumé average -- the rest of the bubble is generally around No. 45 -- so the consensus model sets their at-large chances in the mid-30% range. At this point, their case heavily relies on signature wins: Iowa State, Kansas and now BYU. But their recent hot streak sets up a big regular-season finale against fellow bubble team TCU.

[Bearcat1996]

Have to give credit to CWM and staff on the turnaround. I wasn't expecting this at all. They have been fun to watch lately. Given the fact the tournament committee typically favors late season, hot teams, a deep run (championship game) might do it.

[GoBearcats31]

42 on KenPom ahead of a number of bubble teams (IU, SDSU, TCU, VCU, UCF, Seton Hall, VT, WVU)

ESPN: The Bearcats' late-season charge continued with a convincing Quadrant 1 win over BYU on Tuesday for their sixth win in seven games. They are still outside the top 50 in the national résumé average -- the rest of the bubble is generally around No. 45 -- so the consensus model sets their at-large chances in the mid-30% range. At this point, their case heavily relies on signature wins: Iowa State, Kansas and now BYU. But their recent hot streak sets up a big regular-season finale against fellow bubble team TCU.

UC moves from 49 to 45 in the NET -- also ahead of VCU, San Diego State, UCF, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, WVU, Cal

[GoBearcats31]

Celestine made 35.4% of his 144 3s last year at Baylor, 39.2% of his 148 so far this year including 21/40 (52.5%) in this 6-1 stretch

Thomas is down from 40.2% last year to 39.5% this year, but he's taken a much higher volume (55 more 3s than a year ago) -- he was 28% his first year at UC

James was 28.4% his first two seasons from 3, currently 44% -- including 8/16 in last three games and 52.9% in this 6-1 stretch

Miller shot 114 last year at FAU and hit 34.2%. He is just 10/48 (20.8%) this year but 7/13 in this 6-1 stretch

Thiam is 5/15 from 3 after starting 6/29

[swilsonsp4]

Another Q1 win. Let’s keep Wes and spend that $9mil to keep our current roster in tact.

Unfortunately, Day Day, Celestine and Baba are out of eligibility. As UC GM Corey Evans told Chad Brendel last night, Baba's off to the NBA.

[swilsonsp4]

enjoyable win -- I like the inside game which knocked out BYU desire. Tillery looked good. Now. The proof will be the tournament. Go Cats. -

If I was the BYU coach, the next practice would be extremely difficult for the players.

Kevin Young's not going to do that. It's late in the season and the Cougars have no depth, especially after Richie Saunders went down with an ACL tear a couple of weeks ago.

I had a close-up view of the game and didn't see any BYU players dogging it. They have only two quality players, AJ Dybantsa, who's tremendously gifted, and PG Robert Wright, who is a strong scorer. After that, it's iffy. UC have five players now starting who can score and they defend like crazy. The Cats just frustrated them all game. Dybantsa had to work hard to get his 23 points (just off his per-game average).

[longtimefan]

Unfortunately, Day Day, Celestine and Baba are out of eligibility. As UC GM Corey Evans told Chad Brendel last night, Baba's off to the NBA.

I was thinking we need to keep Thiam, Jizzle, Tillery, Abaev, McKinley and the rest of the current roster. Then Kayden Allen, and get one or two quality transfers. Or, hire a new coach, pay the money to Wes, and start over with a new coach and totally new roster. Of course Thiam seems destined for the NBA at some point.

[leo from jersey]

Kevin Young's not going to do that. It's late in the season and the Cougars have no depth, especially after Richie Saunders went down with an ACL tear a couple of weeks ago.

I had a close-up view of the game and didn't see any BYU players dogging it. They have only two quality players, AJ Dybantsa, who's tremendously gifted, and PG Robert Wright, who is a strong scorer. After that, it's iffy. UC have five players now starting who can score and they defend like crazy. The Cats just frustrated them all game. Dybantsa had to work hard to get his 23 points (just off his per-game average).

no matter how tired you are you can still step in front of a driver. I remember aau games where our team had 6 players and we played 5 straight with only 10 minutes between the games.

[sedz]

We scored 1.26 points per possession. We've put up at least 1.08 in each game during the 6-1 run, and at least 1.20 in 5 of those 7. Quite a turnaround.

Two things stand out. First, our turnover rate has improved dramatically, coming in at 10% over the last 5 games. For reference, Arkansas leads the country in TO rate at 12.2%. That's a huge improvement from our noncon TO rate of 18%, which was outside the top 200 nationally. Our shooting and rebounding are close to the same. We're just taking better care of the ball, turning it over half as often. Second (and related), we're using Baba Miller as a point forward. He now leads our team in assist rate on the season, and is averaging 5.7 assists over the last 7 games. We're giving him the ball with space on the wing rather than bringing multiple to defenders to our guards with PnR. Day Day and Jizzle have combined for just 3 turnovers over the last 4 games. Our best player now has the ball in his hands and our guards are more focused on spot up shooting. Baba can see over defenders and has the length to keep the ball away from them without retreating when doubled.

Lots of good performances aginst BYU, as 7 players recorded positive BPM. Celestine led with 4.2 net points, scoring an incredibly efficient 18 on only 9 shots. Harris was second best with 3.6 net points, recording 3 assists and 3 steals in just 13 minutes with a game high DBPM. Despite the fouls he was really bothering Dybantsa. Third best was Day Day, who struggled shooting but had 6 assists and 3 steals with zero turnovers. Jizzle, Baba, Thiam, and Tillery also has positive BPM.

Dzellat had the only negative statistical impact. He had 2 offensive boards but also went scoreless with a turnover in 8 minutes.

[sedz]

Robert Wright is one of the more overrated players I've seen in a while. He's a great shooter. But he's an awful defender (negative DBPM), he takes way too many midrange shots at 42%, and he isn't a good rim finisher (56%). He's decent overall, about the same as Day Day with a 5.4 BPM. But he's not gonna carry a team.