Houston (24-4, 16-1) and Cincinnati (17-11, 7-10)
3:30 p.m. CST
CBS
KPRC 950
The Bearcats are 13th in the Big 12 standings entering this game. Cincinnati has won their last two games, and are coming off a 69-67 home win over Baylor on Tuesday. Sophomore guard Jizzle James led the Bearcats with 18 points in the victory, and junior forward Dillon Mitchell put up 13 points and 9 rebounds. James has been the leading scorer for Cincinnati this season, with an average of 12.6 PPG and 3.8 APG.
“One of the things Wes did was open up his offense and put the ball in Jizzle and Day Day Thomas’ hands, and those two guys have become their offensive weapons. They’re shooting most of the balls,” coach Kelvin Sampson said.
Junior guard Simas Lukosias is second on the team with 11.2 PPG and Mitchell is third with 10.2 PPG, but is the leading rebounder of 6.6 RPG. Bearcats head coach Wes Miller is in his fourth season at the helm, and has struggled vs Houston and Kelvin Sampson with an 0-8 record.
While Cincinnati owns a 33-16 lead in the head to head series, Houston has won the last 12 matchups. Most recently when these two teams faced off, the Cougars won at home 67-59 almost exactly a year ago. UH has won all six games vs the Bearcats in Fertitta Center, and the last loss at home was in 2017 at Hofheinz Pavilion.
‘They’re in position to win every single game, they’ve just had some bad luck,” Sampson said.
The Cougars have won 20 out of their last 21 games, and clinched a share of the Big 12 title with the win in Lubbock over no. 10 Texas Tech 69-61 on Monday. Junior point guard Milos Uzan put up a career high 22 points and hit a huge dagger three that effectively ended the game. Graduate forward J’Wan Roberts added 16 points and 7 rebounds in the win. Graduate guard LJ Cryer has now won four straight Big 12 titles, two with Baylor and the last two with Houston.
The Cougars created more history by becoming the first team to join a power conference and win the regular season title in its first two years in the league. Houston has won 13 straight conference road games, the longest streak in Big 12 history. Now with the last part of the home schedule here, UH looks to win out in their last two games of the year at Fertitta Center, a home court advantage where the Cougars have won 36 out of their last 37 home games.
“Their success speaks for itself: Their success hasn’t been exclusive to playing Cincinnati, it’s been against everybody in the country,” Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller said.
UH has a big opportunity to celebrate another conference title with its fans at home, and doesn’t miss out on this chance with a comfortable home win over a former AAC, now Big 12 rival in Cincinnati.
