UC Bearcats coach Wes Miller, Jalen Celestine plus WVU reaction
UC Bearcats coach Wes Miller, Jalen Celestine plus WVU reaction on Mountaineers win
- The Cincinnati Bearcats lost to the West Virginia Mountaineers 62-60, dropping to 0-2 in Big 12 play.
MORGANTOWN, WV – The Cincinnati Bearcats have started Big 12 play in a hole, losing to West Virginia on the road Tuesday night, Jan. 6, 62-60. UC came back from a 13-point deficit in the first half, had a late lead, but for a second straight Big 12 game couldn’t close.
Up 57-52 with 4:46 to go on a Moustapha Thiam dunk, the Bearcats wouldn’t score again until a Jizzle James 3-pointer with three ticks left on the clock. They would get a final steal and a desperation heave that didn’t fall, and now are winless in two Big 12 starts with 16 remaining on the schedule.
The Mountaineers have recorded all of their wins at Hope Coliseum and are 10-5 (1-1) while UC drops to 8-7 (0-2). Hope Coliseum attendance was 9,903.
Honor Huff led West Virginia with 24 points and, at 5-foot-10, pulled down eight rebounds. Chance Moore added 14 points and Treysen Eaglestaff had 10, including the go-ahead 3-point heave with 1:12 left in the game.
“We’ve got to finish, we had a five-point lead there,” Miller said. “The shot Eaglestaff hits, you’ve just got to go play the next possession. You can’t defend it any better than that. You can’t foul the 3-point shooter (Huff) and we’ve got to step up and make some plays. We’ve got to convert more plays. Sometimes, guys are going to jump up and make a crazy shot. That’s just basketball.”
It’s the first loss this season for the Bearcats when they’ve led with two minutes remaining in the game. Last season, they were 19-0 in such situations, and overall, Wes Miller’s teams are now 88-8. But, on this night, Eaglestaff was “eagle eye” avoiding a shot-clock violation and nailing a “prayer” in Miller’s terms.
“I picked it up and was looking for Honor (Huff) because he was the hot hand,” Eaglestaff said. “I’m looking for him and I heard ‘3-2-1, I’ve got one second left, I’ve got to throw it up!’ I’m like praying, ‘Please go in!’”
As called by a couple of coaches as he released it, it tickled the nylons and gave West Virginia the lead for good.
Jalen Celestine led UC with five treys and 15 points. Day Day Thomas had nine points, making a pair of second-half 3s early to give UC a brief lead early in the second half, but didn’t score over the final 18:30.
The Bearcats were 12-of 35 from the arc, with West Virginia making 11-of-23. West Virginia takes a 14-12 lead in the all-time series and has now won eight of the last 10 meetings. In the Big 12, the Mountaineers are now 4-2 against the Bearcats and have won the last three contests.
“When you win a game like that, you feel really fortunate,” West Virginia coach Ross Hodge said. “A lot of things had to go right in the last four-minute stretch. They had a belief that they could still win the game, not necessarily knowing how we were going to win it, but just our belief that we could still win it.”
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UC’s Wes Miller: Us against world
Miller made the comment on his post-game radio show with Dan Hoard and Terry Nelson. When asked in the post-game media conference, he clarified.
“I think our locker room has to have that mentality,” Miller said. “The noise is loud and people are going to doubt and everybody’s going to be against us. If we’d have won the last two games it wouldn’t be that way. Sometimes you have to recognize that’s fickle. We have to just make sure we stay tight and resilient as a team and we will. We’re right there very night against really good teams. We’ve just got to keep pounding the rock. It’ll crack.”
Top scorer Jalen Celestine, UC’s second-oldest next to Kerr Kriisa, agreed.
“We’re only two games in the Big 12,” Celestine said. “We’ve got a lot of basketball left.”
Tyler McKinley, Kerr Kriisa injury updates
Kerr Kriisa was greeting West Virginia friends in sweats before the game and did not play. He was officially listed “out” on the Big 12 game day injury report. Kriisa was recruited by Bob Huggins and played for the Mountaineers in 2023-24, including three games against UC.
As for Kriisa’s next availability, Miller said it was “day to day”.
Tyler McKinley practiced in Morgantown on Monday and was available for Tuesday’s game. Still, Halvine Dzellat was the first post player off the bench.
“I thought he looked good tonight,” Miller said. “I thought that was the best he’s looked. Yesterday (Jan. 5) was the first time he’s practiced since the day before the Georgia game (Dec. 13). It feels like ages ago. He looked good and felt good.”
McKinley finally came in at 8:57 of the first half and 47 seconds scored his first points since the Xavier game. Before halftime, he made a putback that cut the West Virginia lead to three points at the break. He finished with six points, making all three of his shots in just under nine minutes on the court.
West Virginia’s Brenen Lorient, a 6-foot-9 forward, didn’t play vs. No. 3 Iowa State, but returned against the Bearcats.
Cincinnati Bearcats dig early hole
Treysen Eaglestaff had the first five points of the game for West Virginia. UC got it to 10-6 less than five minutes in on a turnaround jumper by Thiam, then they would score for nearly four and a half minutes. West Virginia’s biggest lead was 19-6.
Within six minutes, UC was able to whittle it down to 25-24, as the crowd let out a handful of boos. McKinley’s putback before half cut the deficit to three at 31-28.
The Bearcats came back to lead early in the half, and again late in the game with an 11-0 run that flipped the script from 52-46 WVU to 55-52 UC with a timeout at 3:49. The lead would go to 57-52 before the Bearcats went cold once again.
Honor Huff hoists
The 5-foot-10 transfer from Chattanooga was hot early in the half, making his first five shots before finishing the stanza 5-for-9 with 16 points. The Bearcats were more effective with him in the second half. But late, Huff delivered with his final 3-pointer and a pair of clutch free throws. He was 6-for-10 from the arc, but was most impressed with his eight rebounds among UC’s towers.
“That’s good for me, eight rebounds,” Huff said. “I’m going to have to help no matter what my size is. I put emphasis on putting myself in the right positions to grab rebounds.”
Baba Miller, 13 inches taller than Huff at minimum, led UC with seven rebounds. West Virginia beat the Bearcats on the boards 37-33.
10 Bearcats played before halftime
Down 13 with some of the starters cold, Wes Miller played 10 guys in the first half, including McKinley’s first minutes since the Georgia game.
“Kerr’s injury has been difficult,” Miller said. “We were starting to find real rhythm with older players. Kerr goes down and that’s difficult, but we have some young guys that are ready to contribute.”
Miller mentioned Keyshuan Tillery, who played almost nine minutes and hit a big 3-pointer and Shon Abaev (four points in less than 12 minutes), making key plays in the second half.
“He’s been waiting to break out,” Miller said. “It’s coming.”
Cincinnati Bearcats injuries have been critical
“It’s been something like I’ve never experienced, because it’s been so inconsistent,” Miller said. “Jalen Celestine with the back, we’re getting him where he can practice. T-Mac (McKinley) has been up and down. Kerr now, Jalen Haynes (transfer big man still out). It’s felt like one thing after another. It’s been hard to figure out and Jizzle wasn’t with us. There’s been quite a lot to deal with in terms of roster consistency. It hasn’t been the easiest month, but good things are ahead for us.”
Cincinnati Bearcats Big 12 schedule
The Bearcats are back on the road in Orlando, where Moustapha Thiam returns to face his old UCF team on Sunday at 5 p.m. on ESPN2. The Knights played in Stillwater against Oklahoma State Tuesday night, Jan. 6. The Bearcats return to Fifth Third Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 14 vs. Colorado at 7 p.m.
