Cincinnati coach Wes Miller wants to keep pushing the pace on offense when the Bearcats host Mount St. Mary’s on Sunday.
There have been some rough patches along the way. The Bearcats (3-0) racked up 24 turnovers in a 74-62 home win against Dayton on Tuesday, but Miller has seen the benefits of transition basketball.
“Everyone in recruiting says they want to play fast,” said Miller, whose team had a 15-13 edge in fast-break points against the Flyers. “They practice it in the summer and talk about it and maybe do it a little in the fall. But when you get to it and it’s getting a little wacky out there, you want to get back in control. If we are ever going to be the kind of running team I think we can be, we’ve got to play through some stuff.”
Day Day Thomas scored a game-high 20 points for the Bearcats. Shon Abaev added 14 points and Baba Miller had eight points and 10 rebounds for Cincinnati.
Miller chalked up the turnovers to collateral damage.
“We cracked them in transition in the second half,” Miller said. “It’s a collective effect. It’s not always going to happen early, but I thought it had some signs that it can be really good.”
Meanwhile, the Mountaineers (1-2) picked up their first win of the season on the road when they downed St. Francis (Pa.) 74-66 on Tuesday. Mt. Saint Mary’s connected on 13 of 30 3-point shots. It was an atypical shooting performance according to coach Donny Lind, who wants the Mountaineers to focus on the establishment of a post game.
“We’re not really built to make a ton of threes,” Lind said. “We’ve got some very good shooters, but we want to really play inside out.”
Patrick Haigh came off the bench to lead the Mountaineers with 15 points. He hit a career-high five threes in a gym he knows well. His father, Joe Haigh, was the St. Francis (Pa.) women’s coach for seven seasons.
“He’s made more shots in that gym than any gym in his life,” Lind joked. “His dad was the women’s coach there for so long.”
