KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The quest for a spot in “The Dance” continues for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats as they move to a quarterfinal matchup with Baylor in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship.
The Bearcats advanced with a 20-point dismantling of Kansas, though the Jayhawks were without their two top scorers in Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. UC led for more than 38 minutes of the contest and never trailed after the opening minutes. They’re at 20 wins now, two shy of what Baylor and Kansas have collected this season.
It’s the first time the Jayhawks have not made the Big 12 quarterfinals and it dropped Bill Self’s league tournament record at Kansas to 36-10.
UC’s 2-0 with Baylor coming in fresh
Because of a seeding bye, the third-seeded Bears coached by Scott Drew haven’t played since last Saturday. They lost that game to No. 4 seed Texas Tech in Lubbock, 78-68.
“We gotta get out of here and get some rest to get ready to go three in three days,” UC coach Wes Miller said after the Kansas win. I’m not trying to say there’s any type of disadvantage but when you played a team once and it was a long time ago and you’re in a game every couple days, that’s just a different dynamic.”
Bears briefs
Scott Drew is in his 21st season at Baylor with well over 400 wins with the Bears, including a 22-9 (11-7 Big 12) record this season.
UC lost at Baylor Jan. 13 in the middle of a streak of games against ranked teams. The Bears were No. 14 at the time and UC held a 38-31 lead in the second half with 16:40 left. Baylor surged in front, but UC had the ball with 20 seconds remaining and the shot clock turned off, down 60-59. Baylor held on, adding a pair of free throws to prevail 62-59.
Aziz Bandaogo was injured and didn’t play in that game. Dan Skillings Jr. got the start and responded with 24 points and six rebounds. With Bandaogo out, rebounds were even at 32. John Newman III led with seven, while Jamille Reynolds had six off the bench.
“Baylor was a fun game, but we didn’t get what we wanted,” Skillings said. “That was a good team. They’re tough, they play together and they’re really physical. We’re ready for that man. We get better every day as a team. I’m looking forward to this matchup.”
3 keys to taking down Baylor in Big 12 quarterfinals
1. Keep the score down
Baylor averages 81.5 points per game. In 10 games scoring 73 or less, they won only three. In games played in the sixties, the Bears were 2-7. Unfortunately, one of those was the UC game back in January. Baylor has six players averaging in double figures. Freshman 6-foot-5 guard Ja’Kobe Walter had 14 in the last meeting with 6-foot-5 Langston Love coming off the bench for 14, including three of the team’s five 3-pointers.
2. Hope trifectas fall
UC is not going to hit 16 each night like they did in the opening round against West Virginia, but they only made four in their loss at Baylor with three coming from Skillings Jr. Lukošius only had two points in the game and was 0-for-7 from behind the arc in Waco.
When asked if this is a payback game, Lukošius smiled.
“Hopefully it is,” the long-range Lithuanian said. “We’ve got to win for it to be the payback tour. We’ve been pretty good in road games.”
3. Hope to gain some fans
Some may be angry over UC’s defeat of nearby Kansas, but some could be won over. America likes an underdog and the Bearcats surely will not be favored against Baylor. Fans from both schools have a fair amount of travel to get to Kansas City with Waco (9 hours, 19 minutes) slightly farther than Cincinnati (8 hours, 47 minutes).
Series
The Jan. 13 loss in Baylor’s Foster Pavilion was the first matchup of the two teams.
Players to watch
Freshman Ja’Kobe Walter tops Baylor in scoring at 14.7 points per game and had a high game in November of 28 vs. Auburn. Recently, he’s had nine straight games scoring in double-digits.
For the Bearcats, it could be a question of can Aziz Bandaogo be a factor? He missed the last game in Waco and the Bears also have a 7-foot center in Yves Missi. You would have to think he’d be good for some extra rebounds and changed shots.
Bandaogo Wednesday dunked his only shot, but did pull down nine rebounds. He is fourth among Big 12 players in rebounding with a 7.1 average and tied for the league lead in blocked shots average at 1.5.
TV/Radio
The game will be on ESPN2, while Dan Hoard and Terry Nelson have the radio call on 700WLW.
Rankings (as of Wednesday)
NCAA NET: Baylor is No. 14, UC No. 43
KenPom.com: Baylor is No. 14, UC No. 33
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How UC Bearcats basketball can win Big 12 quarterfinal game vs. Baylor
