After dropping two in a row on the road against UCF and Oklahoma State, West Virginia men’s basketball hosts Cincinnati on Wednesday.
The Bearcats are coming off a win at home over UCF where they out-rebounded the Knights 39-29 and forced 12 turnovers. Cincinnati is 14-6 overall, 3-4 in conference play, currently sitting at 10th in the Big 12.
On top of defeating UCF, the Bearcats beat ranked opponents TCU and BYU.
They currently hold a positive scoring margin of 11.2, averaging 77.7 points per game and allowing 66.5 ppg. Cincinnati also out-rebounds opponents on average, grabbing 41.6 rebounds per game compared to opponents’ 31.5 rpg.
Viktor Lakhin, the 6-foot-11 forward from Russia averages the most points for UC with 12.7 ppg, on top of 7.5 rpg and 2.2 assists per game, while shooting 53% from the field, however he did not play in their last game due to an illness.
Just behind Lakhin, is 6-foot-6 guard Dan Skillings Jr., who averages 11.9 ppg and 6.1 rpg, shooting 44% from the field. Skillings had 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a block against UCF as the Bearcats’ leading scorer in the contest.
As for West Virginia, they have struggled after a thrilling win over former No. 3 Kansas.
After scoring 23 points against the Jayhawks, shooting 7-14, WVU G RaeQuan Battle has struggled. Battle had just five points, shooting 2 for 6 before getting ejected against UCF and then had two points against Oklahoma State, going 1 for 6 from the field.
A bright spot for the Mountaineers against the Cowboys on Saturday was Kerr Kriisa.Kriisa shot the lights out, making his first six three-point attempts. Kriisa fouled out late but was West Virginia’s leading scorer, scoring 21 points, to go along with five rebounds, an assist and a steal against OSU.
WVU was out-rebounded by the Cowboys 34-29, shooting better from the field and three while committing one less turnover. West Virginia is 7-13 overall, 2-5 in conference play and sitting at 13th in the Big 12 (second-to-last).
The Mountaineers are 7-5 playing in the WVU Coliseum. WVU has won their last two games at home, beating Texas and Kansas, both in ranked wins.
All-time, the two programs are knotted up at 10-10 against each other, with their first matchup in 1940 and latest in 2012. The Mountaineers are currently riding a four-game win-streak over the Bearcats, but this will be their first matchup as Big 12 opponents.
ESPN Analytics Matchup Predictor favors UC giving them a 76.5% to defeat West Virginia. Tip-off on Wednesday is set for 7:00 p.m. EST, with the game being streamed to ESPN+.
