TicketsCINCINNATI – The Cincinnati men's basketball team fought back from an eight-point halftime deficit to take an early second-half lead in the annual Crosstown Shootout, but Xavier guard Quincy Olivari made five 3-pointers in the second half to lead the Musketeers to an 84-79 victory over the Bearcats on Saturday at Cintas Center.
Olivari led all scorers with 27 points, while Bearcats freshman guard Jizzle James scored a career-best 19 points. Guard John Newman III scored 18 and post Viktor Lakhin added 17.
Cincinnati dropped to 7-1 on the season, ending its best undefeated start since 2017, while Xavier improved to 5-5.
Cincinnati trailed 35-27 at halftime, but came out on fire to start the second half.
The Bearcats made their first five shots out of the break and seven of their first eight attempts. After Lakhin buried a triple and Newman III capped a fastbreak with a ferocious two-handed slam to bring UC within 2, 38-36, and forced Xavier to call timeout with 17:44 left.
After a Lakhin layup tied the game 40-40, a free throw by center Aziz Bandaogo gave UC its first lead of the night, 41-40, with just over 16 minutes remaining.
Less than 30 seconds later, forward Ody Oguama extended the Cincinnati lead to 43-40 with a drive and dunk.
That's when Olivari got hot from deep, making four 3-pointers in a five-minute span to erase the Cincinnati lead and give control back to the home team as part of a 17-4 Xavier run.
Olivari's third triple in the spurt put the Musketeers in front 57-47 with 11:24 left in the game.
Newman stopped a 10-0 Xavier run with a 3 of his own to make the score 57-50.
Minutes later, Olivari made his fifth 3-pointer of the second half while being fouled. He made the free throw and the four-point play gave Xavier a 63-54 lead with 8:34 left.
Xavier led by as many as 12 and the Bearcats cut their deficit to 4 numerous times down the stretch, including to 72-68 before Musketeers guard Dayvion McKnight (20 points) buried a 3 to put the hosts up 7 with 1:27 left.
The Bearcats made just 1 of 13 3-point attempts in the first half. James kept Cincinnati in the game with 14 points before the break, consistently taking the ball strong to the basket and hitting open jump shots.
Down 27-19, the Bearcats forced the Musketeers into six straight missed shots and stayed close behind James, who had a personal 5-0 run. He completed a three-point play to keep UC within 3, 27-24, at the 4:45 mark before the break.
FROM WES MILLER
"Quincy Olivari was incredible behind the line, going 6-for-8 and score 27. We were aware of him in the scouting report and still did not do a good job at defending him...I really like my team. We hadn't been in an environment like this this season, and we'll have plenty more in the Big 12. We hadn't been tested like this. We competed at times and played with passion, but that's expected with putting on the jersey. We got uncharacteristic at times with silly fouls that not only put us in foul trouble, but put them on the line."
NOTABLE
-Jizzle James posted a career-high 14 points by halftime before ending with his 19.
-Aziz Bandaogo's 10 rebounds were a season-high.
-John Newman III's 18 points were the most of his UC career.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati returns home to host Bryant at 7 p.m. on Tuesday (ESPN+).
Olivari led all scorers with 27 points, while Bearcats freshman guard Jizzle James scored a career-best 19 points. Guard John Newman III scored 18 and post Viktor Lakhin added 17.
Cincinnati dropped to 7-1 on the season, ending its best undefeated start since 2017, while Xavier improved to 5-5.
Cincinnati trailed 35-27 at halftime, but came out on fire to start the second half.
The Bearcats made their first five shots out of the break and seven of their first eight attempts. After Lakhin buried a triple and Newman III capped a fastbreak with a ferocious two-handed slam to bring UC within 2, 38-36, and forced Xavier to call timeout with 17:44 left.
After a Lakhin layup tied the game 40-40, a free throw by center Aziz Bandaogo gave UC its first lead of the night, 41-40, with just over 16 minutes remaining.
Less than 30 seconds later, forward Ody Oguama extended the Cincinnati lead to 43-40 with a drive and dunk.
That's when Olivari got hot from deep, making four 3-pointers in a five-minute span to erase the Cincinnati lead and give control back to the home team as part of a 17-4 Xavier run.
Olivari's third triple in the spurt put the Musketeers in front 57-47 with 11:24 left in the game.
Newman stopped a 10-0 Xavier run with a 3 of his own to make the score 57-50.
Minutes later, Olivari made his fifth 3-pointer of the second half while being fouled. He made the free throw and the four-point play gave Xavier a 63-54 lead with 8:34 left.
Xavier led by as many as 12 and the Bearcats cut their deficit to 4 numerous times down the stretch, including to 72-68 before Musketeers guard Dayvion McKnight (20 points) buried a 3 to put the hosts up 7 with 1:27 left.
The Bearcats made just 1 of 13 3-point attempts in the first half. James kept Cincinnati in the game with 14 points before the break, consistently taking the ball strong to the basket and hitting open jump shots.
Down 27-19, the Bearcats forced the Musketeers into six straight missed shots and stayed close behind James, who had a personal 5-0 run. He completed a three-point play to keep UC within 3, 27-24, at the 4:45 mark before the break.
FROM WES MILLER
"Quincy Olivari was incredible behind the line, going 6-for-8 and score 27. We were aware of him in the scouting report and still did not do a good job at defending him...I really like my team. We hadn't been in an environment like this this season, and we'll have plenty more in the Big 12. We hadn't been tested like this. We competed at times and played with passion, but that's expected with putting on the jersey. We got uncharacteristic at times with silly fouls that not only put us in foul trouble, but put them on the line."
NOTABLE
-Jizzle James posted a career-high 14 points by halftime before ending with his 19.
-Aziz Bandaogo's 10 rebounds were a season-high.
-John Newman III's 18 points were the most of his UC career.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati returns home to host Bryant at 7 p.m. on Tuesday (ESPN+).