FORT WORTH, Texas — Cincinnati hoped it was peaking at the right time.
Coming off Friday’s 30-point drubbing of Temple and the team’s best performance of the season, the Bearcats entered Saturday’s AAC tournament semifinal showdown with top-seed Houston full of vigor and confidence.
So did the Cougars. Houston punched first in its eventual 69-48 win, bullying its way to a 19-7 lead midway through the first half. Cincinnati never recovered, even after Houston guard and AAC Player of the Year Marcus Sasser left the game with a groin strain in the first half. The Cougars were up 15 at the break and the Bearcats never cut the lead closer than nine in the second half.
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One day after Landers Nolley II, Mika Adams-Woods and Daniel Skillings Jr. all scored 20-plus points, Nolley was the only player in double-figures for Cincinnati, scoring 14 points on 3-for-13 shooting. David DeJulius followed an uncharacteristic four points on 2 of 10 shooting against the Owls with seven points on just 1-for-10 shooting from the field Saturday. Houston shot 51 percent, led by Jamal Shead (16 points), J’Wan Roberts (16 points) and Jarace Walker (13 points), and held the Bearcats to 25 percent. Cincinnati was also a paltry 16-for-28 from the free-throw line.
“We felt good coming in, but it just didn’t get off to a good start,” Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said. “Tip your cap to Houston. It was not our best shooting night. Certainly it was a tough night not to make your free throws, but outside of the free-throw shooting, give Houston credit for making it difficult. Obviously they are the number-one ranked team in the country for a reason.”
That was 𝙣𝙞𝙞𝙞𝙞𝙞𝙘𝙚 😍#AmericanHoops x @GoBearcatsMBB
— The American (@American_Conf) March 11, 2023
For a third straight year, Houston ended Cincinnati’s run in the AAC tournament and, effectively, any longshot hopes of stealing a bid in the NCAA Tournament. Combined with the 2019-20 season, which ended in COVID-19 cancellations, the Bearcats won’t hear their name called on Selection Sunday for the fourth season in a row.
“It was a mixture of emotions (at the end of the game),” DeJulius said. “Half of them were me taking accountability. I wish I would have played a lot better. My team needed it. I take full responsibility in that regard. The other half was appreciation to be able to play for a great coaching staff and great teammates who believed in me and to be part of something special and bigger than me.”
GO DEEPER
Cincinnati's David DeJulius looks back on his career and ahead to senior day
Cincinnati (21-12) got better in Year 2 under Miller, improving on both offense and defense, reaching 20 wins in the regular season and earning a first-round bye in the AAC tournament. But you can’t roll back the ocean. The Bearcats looked locked in and ready Saturday, but Houston showed why it’s the class of the conference and potential No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
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“It was a tough night to have a shooting night like we did. Our ball security wasn’t good, and it snowballed on us a little bit,” Miller said. “You always want more. We’re at Cincinnati. The standard is to play in the NCAA Tournament, there’s no escaping that. But that aside, I’m proud. This season could have been a disappointment in so many ways and it hasn’t been. It’s something I’m proud of.”
The Bearcats entered this season with eyes on an NCAA Tournament run or at the very least a hearty stint on the bubble down the stretch. But injuries, a lack of marquee wins and fizzled leads in games they should have won ultimately scuttled those ambitions. Now Cincinnati will wait and hope for an NIT bid Sunday — not the end to the weekend they wanted, but a chance to keep playing, practicing and developing for a team that intends to return a number of key roster pieces next season.
“Reflecting is hard for me right now. I’m still hoping we’re playing basketball. My focus is on this team. We’ll reflect when we’re done,” Miller said. “I’m hoping tomorrow night we get a bid to the NIT and we’re still playing basketball. I’m proud of this group and what they’ve done this year and I hope we’ve earned the right to keep playing.”
NIT notwithstanding, attention turns to the offseason for Cincinnati, with an inaugural season in the Big 12 looming. The Bearcats have three incoming recruits signed for next season, and there will likely be additional roster movement with transfer portal departures and additions. In addition to working to get players such as Nolley and John Newman III back in the fold for another year, Cincinnati needs to add to its frontcourt and bolster its depth.
It’s tough for Bearcats faithful to romanticize the program’s time in the AAC, and no one involved will look back when Cincinnati officially joins the Big 12 this summer. But Saturday’s loss marks the end of something for Bearcats basketball, including some difficult, tumultuous years. This season featured improvement, no doubt, but perhaps not as much as all involved had hoped. There was clear development, but on a team still searching for identity and consistency.
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The NIT would offer a chance to continue pushing those efforts forward, which is important for the program at this juncture. Yet for all intents and purposes, this season ended the same way the last two have for the Bearcats: with a frustrating loss to Houston, without an NCAA Tournament appearance and with plenty of work ahead.
(Photo of Cincinnati guard Dan Skillings Jr. and Houston guard Emanuel Sharp: Jerome Miron / USA Today)
