Teams of the Week: Bearcats Bounce Back

The City of Cincinnati is one of the great sports cities in this country. I had the pleasure of spending plenty of time there over the last decade to work games and as part of business projects. Whether it's the Reds, Bengals, Xavier, Bearcats, NKU etc., the passion is everywhere.

Passionate fans can also become split on the future of struggling college hoops programs. More importantly, the powers that be in the athletic department can feed off that energy and make program-altering decisions with enough heat on the situation.

Cincinnati appeared headed into an odd week when a student-led group started an online campaign to have Cincinnati students wear paper bags on their heads for the home game vs. Colorado. At 8-8, the Bearcats entered the week in the Big 12 cellar. It was finally updated on January 11th that the idea was officially off the table, per local news reports. But online, a very different debate heated up about whether it would help send AD John Cunningham a message or not.

Well, we may never find out. What we can assume is that the messages were heard by this Cincinnati basketball program. Because the Bearcats did go out and handle Colorado to earn their first Big 12 win, 77-68. Baba Miller, who has always possessed freakish skills, was unstoppable in the game- 25 points, 11 rebounds, and a pair of blocks.

The next challenge was not so straightforward. It was a Top 10 team in Iowa State, who entered Fifth Third Arena with a 16-1 record and wins at places like Purdue.

One thing we knew from preseason analysis was that Cincinnati was loaded up personnel-wise to perform as a top 10 defense. That has actually held well, Bearcats are seventh in the nation as I type this, but just 180th in offense. On defense, Cincy was able to keep the Cyclones off balance. It got to the point where only Milan Momcilovic or Joshua Jefferson were options. They forced every other individual at Iowa State to negative-efficiency performances. So mission accomplished there, despite Momcilovic scorching in eight treys and 34 points. The Bearcats were clearly willing to live with that outcome.

Offensively, the reinstatement of Jizzle James really made a big difference. James, in his eighth game of the season, played with good pace and confidence. Scored 15 points. His more seasoned sidekick, Day Day Thomas, poured in 19, and the two of them were tough for ISU to contain. By the second half, Cincinnati's lead had grown to double-digits. Incredible.

In the end, the 79-70 win sent shockwaves nationally. Bearcats claim our top spot in the National awards, for very good reason. In the after math of the win, the Cincinnati faithful was resolute about their love for Bearcat basketball and this group of players. Quite the eventful week in Cincinnati, converted into success.

WINTHROP

This Eagles program has already dealt with quite a few rollercoaster results in the first 2.5 months of the season. A couple of good wins by blowing out Mercer and getting by Queens to open up the college basketball season had folks feeling confident. After all, this is a very old Winthrop team when healthy, with nine seniors having roles. A pair of losses to Coastal Carolina (more on them later!) in a rare in-season home-and-home series, plus a road collapse at North Dakota were making me wonder about the long-term prognosis.

Big South play began with a loss to Longwood on the road, before finally the Eagles sorted out some rotation issues while also juggling a banged-up Daylen Berry, who missed the Charleston Southern win. One area that is clearly sorted out is the middle. Big man, Logan Duncomb, has been an absolute blessing to the University located in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Duncomb currently sits in line to be Big South Player of the Year, per KenPom. Duncomb became the ace in the hole in last week's big opportunity vs. High Point. He finished with 28 points, six boards, four assists, as the Eagles just continued feeding him the rock in the face of HPU's no drop/cover ball screens approach. It was rather effective as the Eagles walloped the mighty favorites from the North, 92-75.

Following the emotions of that big win, the Eagles went to Asheville where a hungry UNCA awaited. For context, that pair is about as tough of a week as there is in the Big South. Behind Kody Clouet's 21 points and 24-30 team foul shooting, the Eagles polished off the amazing week with a 69-67 road win.

What does it all mean?
Winthrop has a distinct matchup edge vs. High Point's preferred defensive alignment which has now been exposed. The next matchup will be fascinating to see how High Point adjusts from that, or if they stick to their guns. Winthrop is now in a three-way tie in the loss column at the top of the conference, and confidence has never been higher that they can become the Big South rep this season despite the bevy of resources infused at High Point.

FLORIDA

This past Gator week featured two SEC road wins at Oklahoma and Vandy. Gators are right in the mix at the top of the SEC. They have shown they are on the rise, and were a Top 15 squad all along in my eyes with some rough breaks late in games (at Mizzou, at Duke, etc.). Today, they find themselves at 4-1 in the SEC and tied for first place with Texas A&M.

The dominant win at Oklahoma was as thorough of a domination as you can find on the road anywhere. The imposing front line of the Gators was impossible to match by the Sooners. A 43-31 glass edge set the tone, and Rueben Chinyelu had a memorable night. He hit all five of his free throws, had six offensive boards and 12 total, plus 19 points. That took the load off of everyone else.

Then it was time for a road tilt at a packed Memorial Gym in Nashville to face an electric Vanderbilt Commodore club. The crowd was an all-timer for Vandy standards:

This game had high-level precision as Vandy operates similarly to Gonzaga in a way that gets its offense from rim-to-rim in a hurry and spaces you in a brilliant way to create looks. Florida had two major runs, one in each half. The 16-2 run early had the Gators leading by 11 early. The second one put them ahead by nine. But in the other segments, the Commodores had the edge. It was truly a heavyweight battle in that way.

The Gators forgot a few uniforms and Xavian Lee was wearing #99 for example, but that didn't mean UF forgot how to close out wins. Pristine execution down the stretch was the difference for a 98-94 critical high Quad 1 road victory.

What does it all mean?
Florida is tied for 1st Place in the SEC at 4-1 and right on track to claim another SEC title. If anyone thought this team wasn't elite any longer, the Gators are showing the nation once again they are built to destroy at the rim and they are staying patient with guard play as a staff. Sky is the limit here.

VIRGINIA

Wahoos! They are back in the national spotlight once again. Road damage is the key to awards around here, and Virginia has the hang of it. The Cavs went to both Louisville and SMU last week and won both fairly convincingly. Hard to be much more impressive than a week like that.

My old pal Malik Thomas (via San Francisco) is one of the players who played dynamite last week. He has been getting it done on both ends of the floor. Against Louisville, Thomas finished with 19 points, five rebounds, and three assists on 6-8 shooting from three-point range. He repeated that vs SMU and recorded a double-double, finishing with 23 points and 11 rebounds. He did a lot of his damage on the offensive glass and kept possessions alive for the Cavs. Thomas was unconscious from three-point range, going 6-10. His performance was major for the Cavaliers. 

What does it all mean?
Virginia has the 3rd-best eFG% defense in the nation. They are 4th nationally in blocked shots rate, all while having a Top 15 offense. This team is getting so good on both ends of the floor it's becoming Final Four-level scary. From a bracket forecasting perspective, this team is clearly a protected top four seed in one of the regions. They came in as the 4-seed in the Midwest as part of the Bracketeer debut bracket last Friday and are clearly trending up.

SANTA CLARA

Is this HC Herb Sendek's deepest team? On several of the good nights, it has appeared that way. A week at the Leavey Center that had memorable moments with these deeper Broncos, and they needed everyone.

The Wednesday tilt with improving Pacific became a better battle than most anticipated across WCC circles. Eventually, Santa Clara erupted for a needed 18-3 run to take it from a one-point game to a 16-point lead. The Broncos ultimately put away the Tigers, 85-69. That set the stage for a circled game against Saint Mary's.

A quality early start saw Santa Clara get up on Saint Mary's and really frustrate the Gaels. Building a 10-point lead a couple of times, eventually the squads went to halftime in a 32-25 tussle. Impressively, the Broncos continued to frustrate Saint Mary's well into the second half, and built a 42-26 lead at one point. It took the Gaels nearly seven minutes to score in the half. Just incredible effort and attention to detail by the Bronco defense, who held Saint Mary's to 4-for-22 downtown shooting on the day.

Then the SMC storm hit for a 15-2 run and it was tight down the stretch. Ultimately, the Broncos were too much as they continued to respond. A Bukky Oboye slam with 30 seconds left sealed it.

The most impressive thing to me was the size of Santa Clara and the ability to matchup with the towers of Saint Mary's with 7-3 Andrew McKeever, 7-1 Harry Wessels, and the 6-10 Paulius Murauskas. Its overwhelming for many, but it wasn't for the Broncos. That bodes well for future meetings.

A glance at the current Santa Clara resume:

What does it all mean?
It's a fresh morning in Santa Clara! The win, as you can see above in the resume chart, gets the Broncos into the Quad 1 win column. For the long-term, though, this was gigantic to shake off the long losing streak to the Gaels and create a realistic path to 2nd Place, which has not happened for this program during the Sendek era. It would be monumental to have a bye until the Monday semifinals at the WCC tournament. The at-large picture also became more possible. The Monday AM WAB update told us that Santa Clara cracked the Top 50. It's a big if, however, SCU has the opportunity to handle business the rest of the way and slip into the Top 40 of the WAB. If so, I think the committee would likely be selecting the Broncos. Tons of "ifs" in there! But exciting to dream.

STRONGLY CONSIDERED FOR AWARDS

SOUTHERN UTAH - T-Birds finally picked up their first WAC win of the season and also earned head coach Rob Jeter his 250th career coaching victory. Dylan Jones led the victorious T-Birds with 22 points, and Tanner Hayhurst scored 20 for the winners. Jaiden Feroah contributed 17 points for the cause, and Jalen Lee was the fourth SUU player in double-digits with 14. A 106-105 OT thriller over Tarleton was largely unexpected. A viral moment here between Tarleton superstar Dior Johnson on the bench begging to get back in.

SUU took full advantage of the Texan dysfunction. The momentum impressively carried into the weekend as the T-Birds hosted and dominated Abilene Christian. What got into this team? A suddenly dominant frontcourt made ACU life miserable in stretches as the SUU lead grew to as many as 24 points. Final score was a suffocating 74-52 victory. Great to see these guys enjoy some success (now 6-13, 2-4 in WAC) after such a tough campaign. Coach Jeter summed it up well afterwards:

OLE MISS - Chris Beard's Rebels have been searching and searching and searching... for answers. What are the right lineup combinations? Which players have the highest motors? Who should we run our offense through? It has been quite messy in Oxford over the first 10 weeks or so of basketball season.

Perhaps that began to change this past week as Patton Pinkins, one of the few bright spots this season, came through with a critical game winner to win at tourney-forecasted Georgia:

The 18 from Pinkins aided an explosive 27-point effort from AJ Storr off the bench. Ilias Kamardine is the most skilled Rebel, and the team continues to expand dependance on the French sensation. But it was Pinkins who delivered the biggest play of the season so far.

The following game was back on the road in an early Egg Bowl clash in Starkville. Both the Rebels and Bulldogs had disappointing non-conference results in total, which made this a desperate Egg Bowl for both parties. It played out that way.

Resume Outlook: This squad barely had a pulse before the week started. Now with a Q1 tourney-level road win and a solid Q2A road win in hand, the Rebels have hope. Those are their two best wins of the season to date. Plenty of SEC chances are coming, and with deeper defined roles becoming clearer, they could really get it rolling. As of now, well out of the projected field with a 5-7 record in games not in Q4. Need to get to .500 there and add a few more tourney-caliber W's to truly flip their fate.

COASTAL CAROLINA - The 2-4 CCU Teal Chickens, better known as the Chanticleers, hit the road for a pair of difficult road games and not simple travel - with Marshall first, then Georgia Southern. The combo of AJ Dancler and Joshua Beedle resulted in 52 points (26 each), and Coastal managed to stave off a feverish Herd rally, 85-83. The Chanticleers shot it well from deep (10-22) and had a lot of quality possessions in the victory. Next, it was time for a second crack at GSU, who previously came to Conway and dealt CCU a crushing one-point OT loss.

This Coastal-GSU battle would wind up in OT once again! Rasheed Jones was the hero this time, pouring in 28 points and adding eight boards. CCU was able to limit the Eagles to 25-70 shooting overall and keep GSU frustrated.

Two entirely different methods of winning led to an outstanding week of winning on the margins on the road.

SAINT PETER'S - These Peacocks are so scorching hot, I cannot keep up! When I came back to update the Teams of the Week column, SPC had already notched another key win in conference-play over Iona on Monday. So now, Saint Peter's is rewriting its own MAAC history:

The thing is, many who watch this conference with a careful eye could not see this coming. The team was just 2-5 in D1 non-conference games. But here in "MAACtion" the story has been tenacious ball pressure and disrupting shooters. The Peacocks have been relentless defenders on the ball and lead the MAAC in eFG% defense, 2-pt% defense, and are 2nd in overall defense. That is generating the separation needed to pull out victories.

To recap, the Peacocks won at Quinnipiac last week and now have returned to Jersey City to knock off both Rider and Iona.

KENTUCKY - These miraculous endings for the Cats. I mean, wow. Not only are they spectacular in nature, but of course it is valuable to earn these road wins at LSU and Tennessee for its future fate with seeding, or even being selected. The Wildcats won't be in the bubble picture this week because both of these finishes:

HONORABLE MENTION: REMAINING CONFERENCE AWARDS

CAA: STONY BROOK - Who can figure out the Seawolves? I sure cannot. This week's version was outstanding in beating two of the CAA's best in rival Hofstra and Charleston. Erik Pratt continues to provide a weapon in transition that the likes of SBU have not seen in some time. Pratt's 39 points and 13 assists vs. Charleston over the course of a Double OT win were unbelievable. Pratt played all 90 minutes of the two games, both SBU wins, incredible effort.

ATLANTIC-10: DAVIDSON - The Wildcats used a fast start in the nation's capital to build and extend a lead. Davidson's 14-for-25 shooting from deep overwhelmed George Washington in the 84-79 quality road win. One of the best road wins in a while for this proud program. Robert Blums hit six treys off the bench, and it helped propel the Sophomore to a career-high 21 points.

THE AMERICAN: TULSA - Golden Hurricane bounced back with two road wins at Charlotte and at UAB. Tulsa currently sits as a Top 30 offense, Top 10 in eFG% overall, with its myriad of offensive threats. Tulsa now sits one game back of FAU and Memphis with a lot of runway remaining to win the conference.

ACC EXTRA: DUKE - The Blue Devils became the second ACC team in the brief history of Bay Area road trips to get out of Northern California with a 2-0 record. Duke's buzzsaw overwhelmed Stanford early and often to disappoint the sellout crowd. I had the privilege of covering Duke's mid-week win over Cal. The Golden Bears were feisty in the first half. It all unraveled in the second half due to Duke's enormous positional size and some tight whistles essentially sucking the air out of an amazing Haas Pavilion environment.

MAC: KENT STATE - The Golden Flashes are now 5-1 in MAC play behind two more key wins: at Buffalo last Tuesday and at Toledo in Friday's national MAC showcase contest. Kent State has emerged with second-chance points generated by stellar offensive rebounding. Most of which can be attributed to star forward Delrecco Gillespie. The big one comes this coming week, with 19-0 Miami-Ohio visiting the M.A.C. Center and a chance to spoil the run and earn a 1st place tie with the RedHawks.

MISSOURI VALLEY: UIC - Flames were thirsty for more after being a national team of the week one week ago. An impressive win at Northern Iowa is quite a headliner. The Flames also corralled Drake as well. Since the Christmas Holiday, UIC is the top team in the Valley per Torvik. That is pretty amazing. The data shows that the Flames have been continuously dominant defensively. Now 9th in the country since that break in the season in Defensive eFG%.

SUMMIT LEAGUE: NORTH DAKOTA STATE - Bison won't stop winning Summit League honors! A home sweep of St. Thomas and SDSU continues to turn heads in this tight-knit league. Owning the boards at 40-31 vs. St. Thomas helped generate many more shot attempts than the Tommies. The 13 additional shot volume edge was just enough for a 68-65 win in the Summit League's most important game so far this year.

MEAC: MARYLAND-EASTERN SHORE - These Hawks made noise during non-conference play with wins over Longwood and Binghamton, plus an OT close call with Georgia Tech. UMES has carried that momentum into MEAC play and made the biggest statement you can by going into Norfolk and beating the NSU Spartans in their building. Zion Obanla was hyper-effective off the bench, scoring 20 points on only two missed shots and adding eight rebounds. They are now 4-0 and surprisingly in MEAC command.

CUSA: SAM HOUSTON - The Bearkats recovered from a rough 1-4 start to league play by getting a rare road sweep in CUSA's rugged travel alignment - at JAX State and at FIU. Kats are back to 3-4 in the league with two home games coming up. The SHSU defense only allowed 62 to JSU and 63 to FIU, a great sign for what HC Chris Mudge is looking for in the big picture.

BIG WEST: UC SANTA BARBARA - Gauchos are also in rehab mode after a few surprising setbacks to open up league play. UCSB solved Hawai'i, which was really big, and shrunk the gap at the top of the standings. The week also got started in the right direction when UCSB beat CSUB on the road. In the Hawai'i win, Miro Little had three steals, and the defense held Hawai'i in a funk by the beach. Aidan Mahaney delivered on offense with 24 points. Gauchos are 4-3 after the end of the week and back in the Big West mix.

HORIZON LEAGUE: OAKLAND - The Golden Grizzlies were no match for the State of Wisconsin Horizon League schools this past week. Both Milwaukee and Green Bay were dared to shoot it from deep and combined to go 7-for 44 (far south of 20%), playing right into Oakland's hands. Buru Naivalurua continued his league POTY campaign with a 26 point, 10 rebound effort in Green Bay to get his Golden Grizzlies' squad to 7-2 in league play.

SOCON: CHATTANOOGA - Mocs are finally sorting things out. Terrific SoCon week by winning at Wofford and WCU in a pair of road games. It has been a rough go for most of the journey, but HC Dan Earl's club is starting to work through some of the issues at 3-3 now, which is a warning signal to the rest of the SoCon. The offense really clicked in the 2nd half of the Western Carolina road win, putting up 53 points on 64% shooting in the stanza. In both wins last week, the Mocs erased double-digit deficits.

MOUNTAIN WEST: SAN DIEGO STATE - A resurgence of Reese Dixon-Waters and Miles Byrd has flipped SDSU's performances in a lot of ways. The Aztecs are 7-0 in league play after some shaky non-conference efforts. HC Brian Dutcher attributes the league schedule to helping the team improve: "This team appears to me to be better suited to fewer practices. Now they know they’re not going to be out there long at practice. They’re looking forward to the game, but they’re paying enough attention in practice to know the game plan and what we’re trying to accomplish.” The rhythm of conference play has assisted SDSU in finding the staple of its program again: defense. In MW games, SDSU has the Top eFG% D, blocked-shot rate, steal rate, forced turnover rate, interior defense, and defensive rebounding. That last one is a major area of importance for a team that struggled to rebound a year ago and earlier this season.

ASUN: QUEENS - First place in ASUN alone! Hard to believe, but the third-year program under Grant Leonard is now 6-0 in conference play after their 4th straight ASUN road win. This past week, the Royals conquered road W's at FGCU and at Stetson. The relentless offensive attacks and approach to getting to the rim yielded high-shooting marks in these two games as Queens went a combined 42-62 (near-68%) from inside the arc. In all ASUN games combined, Queens is dominating the conference in 2-point land with over a 64% efficiency success rate. The Royals are now three full points ahead of second-place EKU in overall offensive efficiency in league games. Chris Ashby broke the all-time Queens record for three-pointers in a career when #344 went in at Stetson.

SOUTHLAND: LAMAR - The Cardinals are on the quest to find that magic of 2024-25, when they were able to ascend to second place in the league standings. The 25-26 journey has been middling thus far, but a home win over HCU and a road win at Nicholls, who has been leading the league, is a step in the right direction. Rob Lee had a 20-point effort in the key win at Nicholls. Lamar is now 5-4 in conference play.

SWAC: FLORIDA A&M - Charlie Ward's squad is really beginning to click. A win over Grambling had a ton of significance when you factor in former HC Patrick Crarey II is now coaching the Tigers after a turbulent FAMU exit. Jaquan Sanders dropped 24 points in the substantial win. Then FAMU cooled off a smoking hot Arkansas Pine Bluff squad on the road, 71-67. Sanders had 21 in this one and has emerged as the go-to guy for Coach Ward.

OVC: UT MARTIN - The Skyhawk program continues to stay in its own lane and focus on the task at hand. That has led to some great OVC consistency so far. As UTM has ripped off seven wins in a row, most of the league is cannibalizing itself. Wins over SIUE and Lindenwood could have major implications for OVCT seeding down the road. Sneaky 6-9 Lithuanian, Matas Deniusas, had four blocks against Lindenwood to help distance the Skyhawks.

BIG SKY: SACRAMENTO STATE - The Hornets are beginning to show some signs of life under new HC Mike Bibby. Entering the week at just 1-11 vs. D1 competition, Sac State found a home spark and swept the No. Arizona/No. Colorado combo. The impressive win over the Bears featured a rally from down by 18, took OT, and it was Prophet Johnson who went for 30 in that one. Johnson also had 29 vs. the Lumberjacks in a scoring onslaught to help Sac State dig out of last place in the Big Sky.

AMERICA EAST: NJIT - The America East's most interesting program continues to raise eyebrows when you least expect it. These Highlanders went to Lowell to face the 3-0 UMass-Lowell Riverhawks, and it appeared UML had turned around its season and was well on its way to compete for a conference title. NJIT says not so fast! A 73-64 win was sparked by Ari Fulton's 24 points in a reserve role. NJIT is amazingly 3-1 in league play and in the thick of things for now.

PATRIOT LEAGUE: AMERICAN U. - The service academies were demanded to respect the American Eagles last week. That's right. American went to Army on Sunday and won a 78-67 road game, and that followed its win over league-leading Navy earlier this week, 65-51. A pair of double-digit victories shows that perhaps American is the team to beat at this point in the Patriot League race. The painfully slow pace has thrown opponents off, and the Eagles are finishing better than anyone on the interior, with a 58.5% 2-Pt FG% in Patriot play.

BIG EAST: XAVIER - Let's get the Muskies some love this week for the progress shown in its 89-75 offensively charged win over Butler. The Bulldogs went on to win at Seton Hall later in the week, making this Xavier win all-the-more impressive. Michael Ajayi has been playing nearly as dominantly as his stint with Pepperdine. Ajayi went for 22 points, 12 boards, and five dimes to help Xavier get to 3-4 in league play.

IVY LEAGUE: PENN - The Quaker road win at Dartmouth on Saturday was vital for the logjam at the top of the Ivy. Both teams arrived on the team bus afterward with 2-1 records. Ethan Roberts is a sure-fire 1st Team All-Ivy League talent. His 38 minutes, no turnover effort was music to HC Fran McCaffrey's ears. Roberts also had four triples en route to 25 points.

NEC: STONEHILL - Snail's pace has ruled the season for Gary Manchel's Mercyhurst squad. So Stonehill came ready for the slog. An OT win that only hit 119 total points was a game that meant points were premium. Despite only scoring six points, no Skyhawk was more pivotal than Ethan Meuser, who had seven assists and 10 rebounds to help steady the Stonehill road W.

Cheers! Enjoy another action-packed D1 week. See you next week with more winners!