Daxter Miles, Jr. probably is not having the best Friday. After proclaiming that their Sweet 16 opponent, the mighty 36-0 Kentucky Wildcats, would suffer their first loss of the season on Thursday night, the freshman guard from Baltimore was on the receiving end of some cold-blooded heat.
There is nothing wrong with showing confidence in your team’s abilities, as was case when Cincinnati was preparing to take on Kentucky in the Third Round. Bearcats’ head coach Larry Davis simply said he and all of his players are entering the game with the expectation of winning. Almost no one was giving them a chance and Davis wanted to remind everyone that they weren’t showing up in Louisville with the sole purpose of losing. Fair enough. However, Miles’ prediction of sending UK home with a 36-1 record clearly didn’t sit well with the Wildcats, evidenced by their brutal postgame comments.
Unsurprisingly, he was asked about the game and was clearly disappointed, only saying (via the New York Post), “They played great” over and over.
So, how did Miles perform in the game? Stat lines can be awfully misleading but his was pretty reflective of his play and that of his team:
19 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocks. He missed all three field goal attempts, including 0-for-1 from three-point land and also missed his only two free throws.
It’s tough to kick a college student-athlete while he’s down but that line cannot be ignored, especially after issuing a bold prediction before the biggest game of your life. At least he’s a freshman and will have plenty of opportunities over the next three years to remove the “Kentucky predictor” tag from his legacy.
Photo Courtesy: AP
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