The Cincinnati Bearcats have one more game remaining on their schedule against TCU before the Big 12 Tournament, and they’re coming off a major upset win against BYU, 90-68, on Tuesday. It was Jalen Celestine and Jizzle James who led the way for Cincinnati with 18 points each, but BYU head coach singled out Day Day Thomas in his postgame press conference, as per Neil Meyer of The Front Office News.
Following BYU’s loss to Cincinnati, Kevin Young expressed his relief at not having to face Day Day Thomas anymore in Big 12 Conference play.
“Is he officially done, because he has killed us over the last few years,” Young explained. “Alright, he’s done. Good. His motor is so unique and high. He’s a key reason for their success right now.”
For BYU, this was just another of a couple of disappointing losses they’ve had this season.
With Cincinnati’s win, they improved to 9-8 in Big 12 standings. They were tied with BYU at 8-8 in conference play prior to the game, so the win had massive implications on the conference tournament seeding. This wasn’t Cincinnati’s first major upset win as they beat Kansas earlier this season.
In the win against BYU, Thomas finished with 12 points, two rebounds, six assists, three steals and one blocked shot in 28 minutes of play. He was a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.
Young was right in his assertion that this is Thomas’ final season of college basketball eligibility. After two seasons of playing junior college basketball, Thomas transferred to Cincinnati ahead of the 2023-24 season. He’s been playing with the Bearcats since then.
This year, Thomas has appeared in 30 games, all starts, at a little over 29 minutes per game. He’s been averaging 11.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 37.6 percent shooting from the field, 39.5 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 89.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
