Bearcats Season Ends With 85-81 Loss to Indiana State: Special Group 'If The Nucleus Stays Together'

Cincinnati now turns its attention to the offseason.

A referee hands off the ball to Cincinnati Bearcats guard Simas Lukosius (41) on Tuesday, March 26, / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY

CINCINNATI —  The Bearcats 2023-24 season is over after an 85-81 loss to Indiana State. 

Jizzle James (21 points in a career-high 39 minutes) and Simas Lukošius (26 points, four rebounds) did their best to keep up with the Sycamores, but some questionable missed fouls and another scorching ISU night from outside did Cincinnati in (13-of-30 from deep).

"Congratulations to Indiana State. They're a very good basketball team. I'm certainly disappointed in the outcome," UC head coach Wes Miller said after the game. "We were in a position to win the game. I was really proud of how our guys prepared and how they came ready to play. We just couldn't close it out, and we've been in that situation a lot this year. It's frustrating to end like that. Listen, we did some really good things, especially short-handed and some guys playing a lot of minutes, and I thought they handled that very well. I didn't like the way we defended in the second half. We didn't get back in transition as well as we should, something we did well in the first half. Indiana State shot the three well in the second half. I'm proud to be the coach of this team, I'm excited about the future of this program, and this group did a lot to set this foundation that I'll remember forever."

Now comes transfer portal season as Cincinnati has never felt closer to high-level contention in the Wes Miller era.

They are arguably just one scoring wing away from having something special in the mix next season. Lukošius and James hit a big stride down the stretch, and Dan Skillings Jr. proved throughout the final weeks that he's a cornerstone piece of the program.

"Obviously, we're devastated about losing," Lukošius said about the loss. "I think we've turned the corner. I think we can be building something really special here. I'm really glad we played this game. It was really important for our development, for everything."

Miller echoed a similar appreciation for the tournament experience.

"We're in pain right now, but for a number of reasons, this was the right thing to play this event," Miller said. "It baffles me that some people turned it down."

Now things turn to the portal as the staff tries to keep this group together and add a big-time talent(s) to it.

"We'll get back real late tonight and we'll start meeting with the guys over the next week," Miller said about the next steps. "This is a different era now right? You can see it looking around the country. We want to keep this group together, there's no doubt about it. I think we have a group if the nucleus stays together it could be the makings of something really, really special. So that'll be a priority."

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