Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Falls 69-56 to Houston in AAC Tournament Quarterfinals

The Bearcats led by 10 points at one moment, but it all quickly slipped away.

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats 2021-22 season came to a close Friday afternoon in a 69-56 quarterfinal loss to top-seeded Houston.

Wes Miller's team posted its worst shooting performance of the season against a top-10 defense in the country. Houston used physicality on both ends to overcome a 10-point second-half deficit and outscore Cincinnati 28-14 in the paint.

Here's the Three Man Weave on the Bearcats sixth-straight loss to Houston.

Houston Weathers The Storm

Cincinnati had the upset formula working early against Houston. The Cougars committed seven turnovers in the opening 20 minutes and shot 1-of-9 from deep. Cincinnati led by five at the break and took the lead largely due to free throws and taking care of the ball on its own end.

That wasn't sustainable after they woke up Houston with a 10-point lead early in the second half. Fabian White (18 points, eight rebounds) and the Cougars shot 64% in the second half and out-rebounded Cincinnati 20-13.

"You've got to tip your cap to Fabian White Jr.," Miller said. "We had a ballot for the player in the league and that's who I would have voted for. He just wasn't on the ballot. You can't vote for your own players. If I had a chance to vote for anybody I wanted, I'd vote for Fabian White for player of the year in this league. Tip your cap to him. He's a kid other young people can learn from. I don't think Fabian White two, three years ago looks like Fabian White today. He's improved every year. He's added to his game and he's become a really difficult mismatch because he takes it out and shoots it. He drives it so well from the perimeter. He's an elite offensive rebounder, and he's a problem in the post."

The defense from Houston was impressive, to say the least. John Newman III was the only Bearcat to attempt multiple shots and finish with an effective FG clip over 39%. Houston switched well, showed athletic versatility, and leaned on its principles to win the game. Kelvin Sampson's team showed exactly why they rank seventh nationally in defensive bayesian performance rating.

Offensively, Houston bludgeoned Cincinnati like they have all year—near the basket. 

White and the Cougars outscored UC 28-14 in the paint as the three-pointer refused to fall (3-of-13). Houston tied its lowest made three-pointer total of the season, but sprinkled in enough mid-range jumpers, along with 16 made FTs to comfortably win.

Frontcourt Frustration

One thing's for certain, Cincinnati has to get more offensively out of its entire frontcourt next season. Abdul Ado (one point, five rebounds, two steals) is a huge part of the defense, but it wasn't enough to overcome a 4-on-5 disadvantage offensively throughout this season.

Ado scored two or fewer points in 20 games this season. He had three games all season with four-plus FG attempts.

Cincinnati's inability to get easy looks or clean up chances at the rim hurt them against Houston and in nearly every game against a team sporting a leg up in athleticism. The backup bigs provided next to nothing on Friday scoring-wise. All in all, the frontcourt posted six points in the AAC Tournament quarterfinals.

The energy is commendable—14 rebounds helped Cincinnati get more chances, but at some point this game becomes simple: big fellas have to score more than six points as a group.

We'll see how Miller and the staff address this hole in the offseason. Viktor Lahkin (one rebound, team-worst -13 +/-) regressed throughout the season, while Ody Oguama (two points, five rebounds) and Jarrett Hensley (three points, three rebounds) flashed a bit down the stretch.

John Newman III Finishes Strong

The Connector is coming back for the 2022-23 season, and he carried some good vibes into the spring. Newman stuffed the stat sheet against East Carolina and did it once again in UC's season-closing loss.

The guard finished with 13 points on a 72% eFG clip, four rebounds, and four assists in 31 minutes. He was the only Bearcat with an eFG% over 40%. He and Jeremiah Davenport (13 points, five rebounds) led the team in scoring on a day where there wasn't much offense to be found inside.

"Yeah, I don't think I've seen the best of me yet," Newman said about catching a rhythm lately. "I don't think anyone has. So I just tell my teammates in the locker room it's going to get a lot better. I've started to hit my stride towards the end of the year. I just lock it in the gym more. That's what I'm going to keep doing. I'll get better. So we haven't seen the best of me yet."

Newman has struggled shooting the ball this year, but his stroke has looked more confident down the stretch. He hit multiple open jumpers off of well-placed pin downs Friday afternoon. All that while earning his nickname by pinging the ball on offense and sniffing it out on the other end.

The guard had multiple deflections and did a nice job when matched up with Kyler Edwards (12 points, 4-of-11 FGs). Unfortunately, Newman couldn't muster another great performance out the entire Bearcats backcourt. David Dejulius (nine points, 3-of-16 FGs) tied for his second-worst FG% of the season. And as mentioned above, when the backcourt isn't humming, Cincinnati can't score.

"It's never over until it's over," Newman said about the team bouncing back to start the AAC Tournament after a tough scheduling stretch to end the season. "We had that approach every day. We came in ready to work every day. We didn't get the results we wanted, but I think there's a lot of progress on that. I think we grew as people, because sometimes you go through a tough time, and you need tough times, you know what I'm saying, to get better for what's next. 

"And I think a lot of the struggles we went through over those weeks, I think it prepared us even better for coming into this tournament. And then the result that we got, the guys returning, it will make us better for next year. So I think it's just all about having a growth mindset and just continuing to get better every single chance we get."

The Bearcats finish 18-15 in Year One of the Wes Miller era with heightened expectations coming their way in 2022 as the young coach gets a full offseason to keep molding the roster in his image.

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