Cincinnati will try to move past one of its most disappointing losses in recent memory when it hosts Tarleton State Monday night.
Cincinnati (5-2) was beaten on its home court on the night before Thanksgiving by Eastern Michigan, 64-56. The Bearcats trailed by 13 points at halftime and never led in their game as heavy favorites against the Eagles, who lost by 41 two nights earlier at Louisville.
Cincinnati hasn’t found a way to deal with two significant injuries. Star big Baba Miller has missed the last two games due to a hip injury while guard Jalen Celestine (lower body) was not able to play against Eastern Michigan, significantly affecting the guard rotations and forcing head coach Wes Miller to use untested combinations.
Those combinations resulted in disjointed offense against Eastern Michigan. Monday’s game presents another opportunity for the Bearcats to work out the kinks before Friday night’s inter-city rivalry game against Xavier.
“I’m very disappointed,” Miller said. “Adversity struck not the way we wanted it to, but now we have to handle it the right way. That means that we can’t accept it, we have to learn from it and we have to become a better team because of it. That will be our approach moving forward.”
With Miller out, point guard Day Day Thomas leads the Bearcats at 13 points per game while Shon Abaev is scoring at an 11.7 clip. Moustapha Thiam is averaging 11.3 points.
While Cincinnati is trying to forget its last game, Tarleton State (5-3) rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit by outscoring Division II Midwestern State 42-21 in the second half on the way to a 67-57 win on Friday for its third straight victory.
The Texans pulled off the win without two of their three top scorers as Dior Johnson and Chris Mpaka did not dress. Johnson has come off the bench in all seven games he’s played, averaging 23.6 points a contest, while Mpaka is averaging 10.0 points in seven games.
Jordan Mizell led the Texans in scoring for the first time this season with a season-best 14 points while adding a team-best five steals.
