Two Big 12 teams desperate to reverse their recent fortunes and get their seasons headed in the right direction will meet when the West Virginia Mountaineers visit the Cincinnati Bearcats on Sunday afternoon.
West Virginia (13-7, 4-5 Big 12) was headed up the polls, moving into the Top 25 at No. 23 after a home win over No. 3 Iowa State on Jan. 18. But the Mountaineers have since dropped three straight in Big 12 play, including a 63-49 home court loss to No. 6 Houston on Wednesday.
The Mountaineers were behind 39-19 at the half before an 11-0 run in the second half temporarily made it close.
“That second half was us,” West Virginia coach Darian DeVries said. “As a coach, you hope we got that back in the second half.”
West Virginia guard Javon Small continues to lead the Big 12 Conference in scoring with an average of 19.1 points per game. But the Mountaineers have struggled without the coach’s son, Tucker DeVries, who was averaging 14.9 points through eight games before going down with an upper-body injury.
Cincinnati (12-8, 2-7) is coming off a rough Big 12 trip through Utah, losing in a blowout at BYU on Jan. 25 and at Utah last Tuesday. Since defeating Colorado and Arizona State in back-to-back games, the Bearcats have dropped three in a row and seven of their last nine overall.
“We have a group that’s frustrated and cares a great deal,” Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller said. “It’s been a tough nine games.
“There’s a lot of basketball left, so no time for self-pity or hanging heads. We will have to keep grinding and working.”
The Bearcats rely on their defense, allowing just 63 points per game while holding opponents to 40.5 percent from the field and 30.6 percent from 3-point distance. Seven-foot center Aziz Bandaogo leads Cincinnati with 31 blocked shots.
“They are terrific defensively,” DeVries said. “They’ve got great shot blocking at the rim, and they get after the ball a little bit and put a lot of pressure on your ball handlers to make decisions. They really take great pride in their man-to-man defense.”
Simas Lukosius leads Cincinnati at 12.2 points per game, while Texas transfer Dillon Mitchell is averaging 12.1 points in home games and has scored in double figures in all but one home game this season.
–Field Level Media
