The Bearcats (17-13, 7-12 Big 12) have officially seen their NCAA Tournament hopes go right out the window following their 54-49 loss to Kansas State.

The Bearcats honored their four seniors, Aziz Bandaogo, CJ Fredrick, CJ Anthony, and Simas Lukosius prior to tonight's contest vs Kansas State for all of their contributions to the University of Cincinnati and the Men's Basketball program over the years.

However, Senior night did not go quite as planned, as the Bearcats completely played down to the level of Kansas State. The Bearcats simply looked like a team that was not currently sitting on the outside of the NCAA Tournament bubble to say the least.

"Tonight’s performance was unacceptable." said Wes Miller. "The effort tonight was unacceptable. It is in the head coach. I am the leader of this operation. I have to do a better damn job. It is on my ass. That’s the truth of it. That is unacceptable, I’d boo our butts too. I would boo myself too, God damn, that was unacceptable. I have never seen that team. I don’t even know who that team was. I apologize for everyone that bought a ticket and watched that, I apologize. You guy should be on my butt, I deserve it. Tonight was unacceptable and it starts with the head coach.”

Now, for Cincinnati, their NCAA Tournament hopes have sailed out the window following the loss to Kansas State, unless they make a deep run-in next week's Big 12 Championship out in Kansas City, Missouri.

"It's March in college basketball. You live for this as a competitor. You work the entire year for this opportunity to play in March. I don't think I have to motivate competitors to play in the month of March, are you kidding me. It is March, in college basketball. You live for these moments and opportunities. You control your own destiny. You live for that opportunity to come in here and compete tonight to try and show the NCAA Tournament committee why you belong in the tournament."

Meanwhile, The Wildcats on the other hand kept their NCAA Tournament hopes alive, behind the return of Coleman Hawkins, who finished with nine points and eight rebounds in the victory. However, Hawkins didn't have the performance he had back vs Cincinnati back in December, where he finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Although, he gave the Wildcats a huge lift despite playing banged up, as the veteran forward rocked a heavy knee back supporting his right knee.

"He wanted to play tonight," Jerome Tang told reporters. "The moment Coleman found out the diagnosis surrounding the injury, he told everyone he was going to come back and play no matter the circumstances. I told him to let me know when he was ready to play, and we would go from there. He came to me this morning after shootaround that he was ready, and I told him I would start him."

David N'Gussan Anchored the Wildcats tonight and was simply the difference maker in this game, as the senior wing finished with a game high 18 points on (8-10 FG). However, N'Gussan simply took over the second half with Cincinnati so focused on finding ways to contain Hawkins due to his ability to control the game.

Meanwhile, for Cincinnati, they were led by guards Day-Day Thomas (12) and Jizzle James (10), who combined for 22 of the teams 49 points. A game in which, many expected Cincinnati win in every facet of this game, was simply proven wrong. Not only was Kansas State beating Cincinnati on the boards, but they also dominated the offensive boards which resulted in multiple second chance opportunities, keeping the Wildcats afloat.

The Bearcats may have won the offensive rebounding margin (10-8), but they weren't playing to the standard that many are used to seeing. Once you saw Kansas State starting to crash the boards, you knew this game could swing in Favor of the Wildcats at any moment.

Miller did note postgame that he didn't like his teams' efforts on the defensive glass early and was trying to find ways to change the attack throughout the game, but unfortunately the cards fell in favor of Kansas State this evening.

However, for Cincinnati, things haven't gone as planned this season, after starting the season ranked #20 in all of college basketball. Just four short months later, the team currently finds themselves ranked 12th in the Big 12 standings, despite being projected to finish 6th in the preseason voting, it is safe to say, the Bearcats have not quite lived up to the expectations they once had.

The Rundown

The Bearcats jumped out to an early 7-4 lead after five quick points from Thomas, as the senior guard set the tone early for Cincinnati. Meanwhile, for the Wildcats, Coleman Hawkins returned to the starting lineup after missing the last four games due to a knee injury. However, Hawkins was moving much slower than when Cincinnati saw him back in December, where the senior forward finished with 20 points and ten rebounds in the Wildcats 70-67 win over Cincinnati. Now for Cincinnati, they were doing a much better job defending Hawkins tonight, compared to their contest back in December, as Hawkins was held scoreless over the first 12 minutes of play.

Kansas State came out to a slow start on offense though, starting the game just 2-8 from the field, 0-5 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, the offense didn't get any better for the Wildcats, as the shot just 21% from the floor over the first 11 minutes of play. Cincinnati held the Wildcats scoreless for nearly five minutes which allowed the Bearcats to extend their lead to six, with 9:11 left to play in the first half.

The Wildcats were able to cut the Bearcats lead to three, after a Max Jones triple sparked a 5-0 run for Kansas State. That is when, Hawkins started to wake up for Kansas State, as the 6'10" forward went on to score the next five for the Wildcats to tie the game at 21 with 1:29 left in the first half. However, the Wildcats offense didn't get much going after the Hawkins run.

Cincinnati finished the first half with a 25-22 lead over the Wildcats after a Skillings layup out of the inbounds play extended the Bearcats lead. Meanwhile, the Bearcats were locked in on the defensive end for majority of the first half, especially after a huge block from Mitchell got the fans of Fifth Third on their feet as the teams went to the locker rooms for halftime.

Although, it wasn't an offensive fire show in the first half, we were witnessing a great defensive showing from Cincinnati over the first twenty minutes of play. Now, it is safe to say the Bearcats three point lead should realistically feel like eight or nine, but the Bearcats are dialed in on the defensive end and have done a terrific job on Hawkins over the first twenty minutes of play. Hawkins would finish the first half with just five points, all in which came over the final two minutes of the first half. Now, if you're Wes Miller, you ought to be pretty happy with the teams defensive efforts over the first twenty minutes of play to say the least.

However, Cincinnati finished the first half down on the rebounding margin, as Kansas State outrebounded the Bearcats 20-16 in the first half. Now, it is worth noting that six of those came on the offensive boards and that was what keep the Wildcats within striking distance to say the least.

Cincinnati extended their lead to six out of the break as they quickly looked to establish the ball inside to Aziz Bandaogo, who had all six of the Bearcats second half points to start the second half. Hawkins, then cut the lead to three, before a Thomas jumper gave the Bearcats a 34-28 lead with 15:40 left to play. The Wildcats then turned it over on the ensuing possession, sparking a Kansas State timeout, as Hawkins was seen trying to do everything, he could light some fire into the Wildcats before things potentially get out of hand.

That moment from Hawkins sparked the fire for Kansas State, as they the went on to score eight unanswered to take a 36-35 lead with 11:53 to play. Cincinnati was forced to take timeout following the Hawkins layup following the Cincinnati turnover, and just in a matter of seconds, Cincinnati was searching for anything on the offense end, with hopes of silencing the Wildcats momentum.

They did just that following the James layup. However, Kansas State responded with another five-point run, after James was whistled for a flagrant one foul. McDaniel, extended the Wildcats lead to six, with nine minutes to play. Wes Miller's Bearcats were desperately searching for some offense down the stretch, especially if they were looking to keep those NCAA Tournament At Large hopes alive.

The Bearcats came within one, but the Wildcats responded following consecutive buckets from N'Gussan to give Kansas State a 50-45 lead over Cincinnati with 4:48 to play. The Bearcats kept fighting until the very end, with hopes of keeping their NCAA Tournament hopes alive, as James knocked down the floater to make this a three-point game with 1:45 to play.

The Bearcats offense then went silent despite Kansas State not making a field goal over the final four minutes. The Bearcats finished the game shooting 1 for their final 9, including six straight misses to end the game. Cincinnati, just failed to get the job done over the final twenty minutes as they quickly watched their NCAA Tournament hopes to go out of the window.

Up Next

The Bearcats (17-13, 7-12 Big 12) will look to bounce back following Wednesday's loss as they head out West to Stillwater, Oklahoma on Saturday to take on Oklahoma State in their final Big 12 regular season contest. Tip-off is set for 3pm.