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Scouting report: Cincinnati Bearcats basketball makes 1st Kansas road trip in 56 years

Scott Springer, Cincinnati Enquirer
·5 min read

Over 56 years ago, on Dec. 15, 1967, the Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team played at the Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas losing to the hometown Jayhawks by six.

Monday night, UC again enters the arena that opened in 1955 and was named for former Kansas coach Dr. F.C. "Phog" Allen who coached the Jayhawks for 39 years. Bill Self now heads the team that has not lost there this season and has only dropped 13 home games in the last 16 campaigns.

Be warned

West Virginia took down No. 3 Kansas 91-85 Saturday in Morgantown. Calculating based on previous reports, the Jayhawks under Self are 115-18 coming off of a loss. Last season, between Jan. 17-23 they did drop three in a row, losing at Kansas State, home vs. TCU and in Waco to Baylor.

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The Bearcats also are trying to not drop consecutive games coming off their 69-65 loss to No. 15 Oklahoma in front of 12,406 at Fifth Third Arena Saturday.

Cincinnati Bearcats guard Day Day Thomas (1) hits a layup as Oklahoma player John Hugley IV (1) fouls him in the second half of Saturday's 69-65 loss to the Sooners.
Cincinnati Bearcats guard Day Day Thomas (1) hits a layup as Oklahoma player John Hugley IV (1) fouls him in the second half of Saturday's 69-65 loss to the Sooners.

A "Selfish" connection

Dating back to Kenyon Martin's Naismith award-winning season, after the UC Hall of Famer broke his leg in the Conference USA tournament, the Bearcats were relegated to a No. 2 NCAA seed. That was despite UC being the No. 1-ranked team in the country. In the NCAA South Regional in Nashville, UC defeated UNC-Wilmington, but Self's Tulsa team knocked the Bearcats out of the tournament on March 19, 2000, 69-61.

After a 55-54 start with Oral Roberts, Self coached Tulsa for three seasons, then Illinois for three seasons before taking over at Kansas in April 2003. He has won over 76% of his games in his career and over 80% at Kansas.

"Phog" fabulous

Kansas is 9-0 at home with two road losses and one neutral site defeat. They lost Nov. 21 vs. Marquette in Hawaii. Before Saturday's defeat at WVU, their most recent loss was in Orlando where UCF surprised them 65-60 Jan. 10. Among their wins are No. 1 Connecticut, No. 8 Kentucky and recent-No. 19 TCU whom they defeated in the final minute, 83-81.

3 keys to rocking Kansas Monday

Kansas coach Bill Self and the Jayhawks are 9-0 inside Allen Fieldhouse this season.
Kansas coach Bill Self and the Jayhawks are 9-0 inside Allen Fieldhouse this season.

1. Get rebounds, make free throws

Sure, that's two things but the Bearcats have struggled with them. Though they beat No. 19 TCU, they were outrebounded by the Horned Frogs. Then in Saturday's game with the 15th-ranked Sooners, they were out-boarded again, 41-34. Despite the presence of 7-foot-2 Hunter Dickinson, Kansas was decisively outrebounded by West Virginia 31-22.

On free throws, UC gave away eight points in a four-point loss going 14-for-22, meantime Oklahoma made 16-of-18. Like the Sooners, Kansas shoots it well from the stripe at 74%. Even in the loss to the Mountaineers, they were 14-for-18. In UC's three losses to ranked Big 12 teams, they have shot 53%, 58% and 64%, respectively.

Cincinnati Bearcats bench celebrates after Cincinnati Bearcats guard Day Day Thomas (1) draws a foul in the second half of their 69-65 loss to No. 15 Oklahoma Saturday.
Cincinnati Bearcats bench celebrates after Cincinnati Bearcats guard Day Day Thomas (1) draws a foul in the second half of their 69-65 loss to No. 15 Oklahoma Saturday.

2. Watch the extra pass

The Jayhawks are normally a good passing team. Before their loss in Morgantown, they were averaging 20.9 assists per game behind only BYU. Dajuan Harris Jr. is among the NCAA assist leaders and is also talented at stealing a pass as the reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

3. Keep the Jayhawks below 70

Sure, it's a tall order for a team that has twice scored 99 at home, but UC has held some notable offenses down. All four games the Jayhawks have scored 70 or less have been relatively close. No. 17 Marquette beat them 73-59 in Honolulu, then the next afternoon Kansas downed No. 6 Tennessee 69-60. On Dec. 1, they held off No. 1 UConn 69-65 in Lawrence, then UCF's Knights handed them their a Big 12 loss in Florida 65-60 this month.

Last game

Then-No. 4 UC played Kansas when the Jayhawks were top-ranked and coached by Roy Williams in the Great Eight tournament at Chicago's United Center. The Bearcats led by a dozen at halftime but ended up losing 72-65.

Cincinnati vs. Kansas

Tip: 9 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)

TV/Radio: ESPN/700WLW

Series: UC leads 4-3

Kansas Jayhawks scouting report

Record: 15-3 (3-2 Big 12)

Coach: Bill Self (21st year, 580-135)

Offense: 79. 5 ppg

Defense: 67.7 ppg

Projected lineup

(Position, Height, Stats)

K.J. Adams Jr. (F, 6'7". 12.7 ppg)

Hunter Dickinson (C, 7'2", 19.3 ppg)

Dajuan Harris Jr. (G, 6'2", 7.0 ppg)

Johnny Furphy (G, 6'9", 6.6 ppg)

Kevin McCullar Jr. (F, 6'7", 20,0 ppg)

Cincinnati Bearcats scouting report

Record: 13-5 (2-3 Big 12)

Coach: Wes Miller (third season, 54-33, 239-168)

Offense: 78.7 ppg

Defense: 66.6 ppg

Projected lineup

(Position, Height, Stats)

Viktor Lakhin (F, 6'11", 13,0 ppg)

Day Day Thomas (G, 6', 11.1 ppg)

John Newman III (F, 6'5", 9.4 ppg)

Simas Lukošius (G, 6'8", 9.4 ppg)

Aziz Bandaogo (C, 7', 7.8 ppg)

Hunter Dickinson, shown here against West Virginia Saturday, is a 7-foot-2 center who transferred in from Michigan and is averaging 19.2 points per game. He has 10 double-doubles this season.
Hunter Dickinson, shown here against West Virginia Saturday, is a 7-foot-2 center who transferred in from Michigan and is averaging 19.2 points per game. He has 10 double-doubles this season.

Players to watch

Kansas center Hunter Dickinson was the prize of the transfer portal coming out of Michigan. The 7-foot-2 pivot has 10 double-doubles on the year with a season-high in points of 31 and a rebounding-high of 21. He was a three-time All-Big Ten selection for the Wolverines.

Oklahoma guard Le'Tre Darthard (0) fouls Bearcats guard Dan Skillings Jr. (0) in the second half. The Bearcats need a bounce-back from Skillings, who was held to one point against Oklahoma Saturday.
Oklahoma guard Le'Tre Darthard (0) fouls Bearcats guard Dan Skillings Jr. (0) in the second half. The Bearcats need a bounce-back from Skillings, who was held to one point against Oklahoma Saturday.

For the Bearcats, sophomore Dan Skillings Jr. was held to a season-low one point vs. No. 15 Oklahoma. Skillings has been in double figures 10 times. Of UC's five losses, four have come when Skillings is held below 10 points. For UC to compete they need his output.

Rankings

NCAA NET: Kansas is No. 14, UC No. 36

KenPom.com: Kansas is No. 18, UC No. 33

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bearcat basketball at Kansas: 3 keys for a UC win