The NCAA Tournament still is in reach for West Virginia while host Cincinnati will look to get healthy and take better care of the basketball when the Big 12 rivals meet Thursday night.
Both teams are coming off losses on Saturday.
Cincinnati (11-11, 3-6) committed 19 turnovers in a 76-54 road loss to then-No. 10 Houston.
West Virginia (14-8, 5-4), in turn, dropped a 63-53 home decision to Baylor.
The Bearcats, who have been battling injuries all season, lost 7-foot-2 Moustapha Thiam to a lower-body injury before halftime.
Outside shooter Shon Abaev remains out with an ankle injury that Cincinnati coach Wes Miller has said could sideline him for the next three weeks. Defensive specialist Sencire Harris took IV fluids to try to play against Baylor on Jan. 28 but couldn’t go against Houston three days later.
Tyler McKinley is dealing with lingering knee soreness while Kerr Kriisa has had shoulder issues since early January.
“When Moustapha went down, that puts us in a position where we’re playing lineups we’ve never played before,” Miller said. “It’s going to be difficult enough to try and compete with these guys at home. That makes it a little more difficult. I didn’t think we played great, but I thought our guys showed some character.”
Thursday’s game will feature two of the better defensive teams in the country. West Virginia is allowing an average of just 63.8 points per game, ninth-best in the nation, while Cincinnati is yielding 67.4 (38th-best).
The two teams met in West Virginia on Jan. 6, with the Mountaineers rallying for a 62-60 victory.
“These games have such small margin for error, and I think the biggest thing you can’t forget in all these things is you’ve got to be good in the margins,” West Virginia coach Ross Hodge said. “You’ve got to get loose balls, you’ve got to get second-chance points, and you’ve got to do your best to continue to rebound the ball really well.”
Honor Huff has 78 made 3-pointers this season after leading the country with 131 in 2024-25.
–Field Level Media
