Big 12 scouting report: Cincinnati Bearcats need to continue momentum at Oklahoma Tuesday
There is one more Quadrant 1 win opportunity on the Cincinnati Bearcats regular season basketball schedule and it comes Tuesday night in Norman, Oklahoma.
It will be your typical Big 12 uphill climb on the road as Oklahoma will surely be favored. Adding to the drama is the Sooners are coming off of back-to-back losses. That would not be the case had Houston's Jamal Shead not deposited a put-back jumper Saturday night to give the No. 1-ranked Cougars an 87-85 escape victory at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Porter Moser's Sooners squad has not lost three in a row all season, while UC just broke a two-game skid to prevent a three-game losing streak by holding off Kansas State 74-72 Saturday night.
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It's UC's first visit to the Lloyd Noble Center in over 24 years and the Bearcats hope to party like it's 1999. On Dec. 22, 1999 the No. 4 Bearcats of Bob Huggins defeated the No. 21 Sooners of Kelvin Sampson 72-57. It helped that UC had three future NBA players in the lineup (Kenyon Martin, Kenny Satterfield and DerMarr Johnson).
Oklahoma has lost two games in a row at home just once this season when they fell the next two games after playing UC, to Texas (75-60) and Texas Tech (85-84).
UC could honestly use some good old-fashioned luck as they currently sits at No. 332 of 360 teams in that category. In effect, it means a team involved in many close games shouldn't win them all (lucky) or lose them all (unlucky). Except for the BYU win and the TCU road loss, all of UC's Big 12 games have been decided by single digits.
Playing for seeding
With six Big 12 wins and Oklahoma and Kansas State with seven, a win in Norman could mean not having to play on the first day of the Big 12 tournament. As improbable as it is, winning four games in four days would still be easier than taking five out of five in Kansas City.
"At this point, you can't get in the tournament or get out of the tournament," UC coach Wes Miller said. "Right now, there's a lot of basketball left. The politicking for the tournament? I'm not ready. We've got to go play really well at Oklahoma. You think too much about things that are out of your control with other things in front of you, you get away from what you can control. That's what we've got to do to go play at Oklahoma."
3 keys to stopping the Sooners
1. Rebound the basketball
The Bearcats were outrebounded by Kansas State 37-27 but still managed the win. Of UC's 17 wins, they've outrebounded the opponent in 15. Oklahoma also outrebounded UC 41-34 in their Jan. 20 69-65 victory at Fifth Third Arena.
2. Get effective minutes off the bench
Oklahoma won points in the paint (34-28), second-chance points (17-13) and bench points (28-18) in their last meeting when the Sooners were ranked No. 15.
UC got 17 bench points vs. Kansas State, including the fourth double-digit effort from Jizzle James. Jamille Reynolds had four points and a couple of blocks and is more than capable of double-digits, having done it 12 times last year at Temple.
3. Sink those free throws
UC managed to beat Kansas State despite shooting 17 fewer free throws. Oklahoma's Javian McCollum is a 94% free throw shooter and the Sooners were 16-of-18 the last time around, while UC was only 14-for-22 (64%). The Bearcats first need to get to the line, then convert. For the season, Oklahoma hits 74% to UC's 68%.
Cincinnati vs. Oklahoma
Tip: Tuesday, March 5 at 7 p.m. Central/8 p.m. Eastern (Lloyd Noble Center, 10,967)
TV/Radio: ESPN+/700WLW
Series: UC leads 4-3
Oklahoma Sooners scouting report
Record: 19-10 (7-9 Big 12)
Coach: Porter Moser (third season, 53-43)
Offense: 75.4 ppg
Defense: 67.6 ppg
Projected lineup
(Position, Height, Stats)
Rivaldo Soares (G, 6'6", 8.7 ppg)
Milos Uzan (G, 6'4", 8.9 ppg)
Jalon Moore (F, 6'7", 10.6 ppg)
Javian McCollum (G, 6'2", 13.6 ppg)
Sam Godwin (F, 6'10", 6.9 ppg)
Cincinnati Bearcats scouting report
Record: 17-12 (6-10 Big 12)
Coach: Wes Miller (third season, 58-40)
Offense: 74.3 ppg
Defense: 68.0 ppg
Projected lineup
(Position, Height, Stats)
Viktor Lakhin (F, 6'11", 9.8 ppg)
Day Day Thomas (G, 6', 10.4 ppg)
John Newman III (F, 6'5", 9.3 ppg)
Simas Lukošius (G, 6'8", 10.1 ppg)
Aziz Bandaogo (C, 7', 7.3 ppg)
Players to watch
Siena transfer Javian McCollum tops the Sooners in scoring and had 16 against the Bearcats in their 69-65 win at Fifth Third Arena on Jan. 20. Holding him down is key as Iowa State beat the Sooners by 13 in Ames holding McCollum to four points and the team to just 45. McCollum had 12 points against Houston on 3-of-11 shooting with eight assists.
Assuming leading scorer Dan Skillings Jr. is unavailable with his hip ailment, Viktor Lakhin could get another start. Lakhin was key in the first half against Kansas State with six points and seven rebounds, but his time was limited in the second half due to foul trouble. The bottom line is which one will be healthy?
Rankings
NCAA NET: Oklahoma is No. 41, UC No. 45
KenPom.com: Oklahoma is No. 37, UC No. 47
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Cincinnati Bearcats basketball can earn a Quad 1 win at Oklahoma
