Preview: Wes Miller, UC Bearcats on guard for Tulsa Golden Hurricane visit
At 0-4 in American Athletic Conference play, it would be easy to overlook the Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball program. But that could be a grave mistake based on the slim margins that comprise Tulsa's winless mark in league play.The Golden Hurricane have lost their four AAC games by just 15 combined points, and the narrowest defeat was a two-point loss on Saturday to then-No. 11-ranked Houston.
Clearly, the Cincinnati Bearcats (13-5, 3-2 AAC) will be on guard against a desperate Tulsa team Thursday at Fifth Third Arena (9 p.m.).
Houston, which was admittedly depleted on the personnel front, nearly relinquished all of its 17-point halftime advantage before Tulsa went scoreless on its home court over the final 1:03 of the game.
As Cincinnati learned last week, closing out games is a valuable, learned skill. Tulsa has so far failed to demonstrate the skill in the AAC, and that plays to the Bearcats' advantage.
It doesn't mean Tulsa is incapable of stealing a road win at UC, though.
The Bearcats rebounded from surrendering a narrow lead in the final minute at Memphis Jan. 9 to defeat East Carolina and Wichita State in tight affairs.
Head coach Wes Miller's Bearcats will have to be on high alert against a Tulsa team that's managed to put a scare in each of its AAC opponents so far this season.
THE GAME
Tipoff: 9 p.m. ET on Sunday at Fifth Third Arena
TV/Radio: ESPNU/WLW-AM (700)
Series history: UC leads the all-time series against Tulsa, 30-13.
SCOUTING REPORT
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-9, 0-4 AAC)
Coach: Frank Haith – eighth season as Golden Hurricane head coach (133-97 overall)
Offense: 68.1 ppg
Defense: 67.4 ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position, Height, Key Stat)
Jeriah Horne (F, 6'7'', 17.2 ppg)
Darien Jackson (G, 6'3", 7.9 ppg)
Anthony Pritchard (G, 6'3", 4.3 ppg)
LaDavius Draine (G, 6'4'', 2.6 ppg)
Nikita Konstantynovskyi (PF, 6'10'', 2.2 rpg)
Cincinnati
Coach: Wes Miller, first season (13-5, 3-2 American)
Offense: 71.1 ppg
Defense: 62.4 ppg
Projected lineup
Player (Position, Height, Key Stat)
David DeJulius (G, 6’0", 12.9 ppg)
Mika Adams-Woods (G, 6’3”, 8.2 ppg)
John Newman III (G, 6’4”, 7.4 ppg)
Jeremiah Davenport (G, 6'7", 12.9 ppg)
Abdul Ado (F, 6’11”, 2.8 ppg)
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Jeriah Horne
The Tulsa forward is the program's leading scorer this season by a wide margin, and he showed especially well against Houston. Horne's team-high 24 points resulted from a 17-point outburst in the second half. Unfortunately for Horne, the only teammate to manage double-figure scoring was Sam Griffin (10 points) and that made the Golden Hurricane offense pretty top-heavy against the Cougars. A quiet night for Horne at Fifth Third Arena could mean a quiet night for the entire visiting team. Conversely, UC's shown an inability to lock in on some of the star players and known commodities of its opponents. One way or the other, Horne's performance seems likely to be a significant factor in the outcome of UC-Tulsa.
Hayden Koval
Koval's got a hot hand at the moment as he scored eight points on Jan. 12 against East Carolina and 13 points on Sunday at Wichita Stata. His 13-point outing constituted his best night offensively since transferring to the Bearcats for 2021-22. You expect big offensive contributions from David DeJulius and Jeremiah Davenport, but Koval is a threat that opposing teams can't afford to sleep on. UC won't mind if Tulsa makes that mistake.
Rankings
NET: Cincinnati 63, Tulsa 161
KenPom: Cincinnati 69, Tulsa 132
RPI:
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Preview: Wes Miller, UC Bearcats on guard for Tulsa Golden Hurricane visit
