Big 12 Tournament: Bearcats fold late in OT loss to UCF
Bearcats blow 12 point lead in second half to end season, bubble burst in Kansas City!
The Cincinnati Bearcats beat the Utah Utes, 73-66 in the First Round of the Big 12 Tournament, so they were gifted No. 8 seed UCF in the Second Round, a team they split with in the regular season. If the Bearcats could beat UCF, they would keep their NCAA Tournament chances alive and continue their hot streak.
In the first half it was very ugly, a rock fight on ESPNU. Baba Miller didn't have a great half, not scoring, committing five turnovers and racking up two fouls. Jizzle James also picked up two fouls in the first half. Moustapha Thiam kept the Cats afloat with 11 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Keyshaun Tillery had a big six points in the first half, which gave the Bearcats a 27-26 lead at the half.
The Bearcats only shot 31% from the floor, but they made six 3-pointers, which helped a lot because they lost the battle on the glass 24-22.
In the second half, the Bearcats pushed the lead up to 12 and had a lead of 8 points with around 2 minutes left in the game. Everything seemed to be going great, but the Bearcats of earlier in the season showed up as they started turning the ball over and not making the right play. UCF went on an 8-0 run to tie it up at 58 at the end of regulation.
UCF went on a 4-0 run to start overtime, but Day Day Thomas answered with a bucket. UCF would push the lead back to 4 points and Thomas would hit a huge 3 to cut the lead to 1, but after a John Bol miss, Thomas had a huge turnover. Followed by a rushed 3 pointer attempt by Jalen Celestine that he missed and ended up sealing the Bearcats fate 67-66. On the last possession it looked shaky from the beginning and Wes Miller didn't use his timeout.
Miller had four points, 12 rebounds, four assists, seven turnovers and fouled out. Thiam had 18 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks. Thomas had 15 points, three rebounds and six assists. Celestine had 11 points and five rebounds. Tillery had 10 points and three rebounds.
Committing 19 turnovers compared to UCF's 10, was the reason the Bearcats lost, UCF had 20 points off turnovers compared to the Bearcats 10, if you take care of the ball you win this game easily.
Now, the season is over for the 18-15 Bearcats, now the big question is will Wes Miller be back for his sixth season? The bubble has burst and what burnt them was the reason they were in this position in the first place.