Blown lead prices Cincinnati coach Wes Miller his job

[ad_1] The Cincinnati Bearcats have been two minutes away from a win that will break their seven-year NCAA Event drought. However blowing an eight-point lead down the stretch price them a probable berth in March Insanity and value their coach his job.

Cincinnati fired head coach Wes Miller after 5 years on the helm. Miller received a variety of video games at Cincinnati, going 100-74 in his 5 seasons, however missed the Huge Dance once more after Wednesday's 66-65 extra time loss to UCF.

Wes Miller was simply wanting adequate at Cincinnati Miller's Bearcats performed very properly down the stretch this season. They received seven of their 9 video games going into the Huge 12 event's quarterfinals, the place they confronted fellow bubble workforce UCF. Earlier than the sport, ESPN "bracketologist" Joe Lunardi had UCF at No. 65, one of many final groups within the event, and Cincinnati at No. 72, making them the fourth workforce out.

That made the sport a must-win for each applications, with the profitable workforce seemingly punching their ticket and the loser left on the incorrect facet of the bubble. Thanks to 3 straight turnovers down the stretch, that loser ended up being the Bearcats.

It is an unlucky finish for Miller, who went 23-13 in 2022-23 and 22-15 in 2023-24. That was adequate to make the NIT, however not March Insanity. Shifting into the Huge 12 helped the standard of Cincinnati's schedule, but in addition made it a lot more durable to earn their approach in a brutal convention event.

Cincinnati has to make a vital rent The Huge 12 has been the hardest convention in faculty basketball, so the Bearcats want a coach who can deal with the elite stage of play. Miller was a reasonably good coach, however Cincinnati's determination confirmed they are not content material with "fairly good" anymore.

Might Miller have saved his job with another win and an NCAA bid? It is very attainable, particularly since Cincinnati would have been a harmful early opponent, having soundly overwhelmed Kansas and BYU previously month.

Whoever they rent has their work minimize out for them with a program with an illustrious historical past and a disappointing current. The primary precedence? Holding large leads on the finish of essential video games.