TicketsCINCINNATI – The Cincinnati men's basketball team fell to fifth-ranked Houston, 67-62, on Saturday at Fifth Third Arena in front of a crowd of 12,715 – the most in attendance since the arena reopened in 2018.
After trailing by 3 at halftime, Houston used a 19-3 run early in the second half to take control of the game.
The Bearcats dropped to 15-8 and 4-6 in the Big 12 with the loss. The Cougars improved to 21-3 and 8-3 in the league with the victory.
Sophomore Dan Skillings Jr. led Cincinnati with 13 points, while senior wing John Newman III secured a double-double with 10 points and a career-best 10 rebounds and helped hold Houston star guard Jamal Shead to 6-of-25 shooting.
Houston, who was led by forward J'Wan Roberts (18 points), shot 48 percent in the second half and held a 41-34 advantage on the glass, becoming just the third team to outrebound UC this season.
After a putback by Newman put Cincinnati in front 38-31 three minutes into the second half, Houston used a 9-0 run to take back the lead for good.
Roberts' second-chance dunk gave Houston a 40-38 advantage with 13:40 remaining in the game and marked the visitors' first lead since before halftime.
Point guard Day Day Thomas' layup at the 6:44 mark ended a six-minute field goal drought for the Bearcats and his second-chance 3-point swish with 5:50 left brought Cincinnati within 6, 54-48.
The Bearcats refused to go away and cut their deficit to 3 with under three minutes left after Simas Lukosius buried a triple and Skillings converted a fastbreak layup before a monster Newman tip slam brought the crowd to its feet and made the score 58-55.
A pair of Jamille Reynolds free throws brought UC within 61-59, with 1:41 left. A Shead jumper and a block by Roberts on the next possession ended the Cincinnati threat, and a dunk by Ja'Vier Francis put Houston up 65-59 with 30 seconds left.
Cincinnati trailed by as many as 13 in the first half, but used stifling defense to limit Houston to just one field goal in its final 13 attempts of the first half to grab a 32-29 lead at the break.
The Bearcats had a 15-2 run over the final five minutes of the first frame. Newman's corner 3 sparked the game-altering run and was followed up by a Lukosius 3-pointer he banked in from the wing. After center Aziz Bandaogo buried a pair of free throws, Skillings had a tip in to make the score 28-27 for UC's first lead of the game 1:48 before the break.
FROM WES MILLER
"I am certainly disappointed in the result. I thought we had a real opportunity there against a top five team in the country. The environment was as good as you can have in college basketball. We all really appreciate everyone coming out and supporting us like that. It matters so much, and I am sorry we couldn't get over the hump tonight. We are going to need that same energy from the crowd on Tuesday night because we have another huge game but that's how this league is. I am proud of some of the moments when we came back and figured out how to get in the game, especially how we finished the first half. When they have 17 offensive rebounds, it is hard to overcome, and we pride ourselves on being a rebounding team. They set the tone right from the start and we only had nine offensive rebounds and we were out rebounded 41-34. We are trying to establish an identity on the board and it's frustrating and it's hard to overcome the 17 offensive rebounds. We almost had a chance though but give LJ [Cryer] credit coming out of that timeout. His shot was a big-time shot by a big-time player, and we guarded it well. He was jumping off one leg away from the basket, one of the hardest shots in college basketball. We had it down to a four-point game after the shot from LJ [Cryer] and we got them to shoot quickly and miss but unfortunately, we couldn't box out and get the rebound. The thing I was most disappointed about in the game was the rebounds. We have to learn from this quickly and bounce back because we have another great team coming in here on Tuesday night."
DAY DAY THOMAS
"Every game is a big game to us; we have to come at the beginning of the game playing hard. We need to be the type of team that rebounds the ball like coach said, we gotta keep playing at a high level for Cincinnati basketball, we need to make sure we work on rebounding the ball, and make sure we transition."
UP NEXT
Cincinnati stays home to welcome No. 14 Iowa State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday inside Fifth Third Arena. The game will air on ESPN2.
After trailing by 3 at halftime, Houston used a 19-3 run early in the second half to take control of the game.
The Bearcats dropped to 15-8 and 4-6 in the Big 12 with the loss. The Cougars improved to 21-3 and 8-3 in the league with the victory.
Sophomore Dan Skillings Jr. led Cincinnati with 13 points, while senior wing John Newman III secured a double-double with 10 points and a career-best 10 rebounds and helped hold Houston star guard Jamal Shead to 6-of-25 shooting.
Houston, who was led by forward J'Wan Roberts (18 points), shot 48 percent in the second half and held a 41-34 advantage on the glass, becoming just the third team to outrebound UC this season.
After a putback by Newman put Cincinnati in front 38-31 three minutes into the second half, Houston used a 9-0 run to take back the lead for good.
Roberts' second-chance dunk gave Houston a 40-38 advantage with 13:40 remaining in the game and marked the visitors' first lead since before halftime.
Point guard Day Day Thomas' layup at the 6:44 mark ended a six-minute field goal drought for the Bearcats and his second-chance 3-point swish with 5:50 left brought Cincinnati within 6, 54-48.
The Bearcats refused to go away and cut their deficit to 3 with under three minutes left after Simas Lukosius buried a triple and Skillings converted a fastbreak layup before a monster Newman tip slam brought the crowd to its feet and made the score 58-55.
A pair of Jamille Reynolds free throws brought UC within 61-59, with 1:41 left. A Shead jumper and a block by Roberts on the next possession ended the Cincinnati threat, and a dunk by Ja'Vier Francis put Houston up 65-59 with 30 seconds left.
Cincinnati trailed by as many as 13 in the first half, but used stifling defense to limit Houston to just one field goal in its final 13 attempts of the first half to grab a 32-29 lead at the break.
The Bearcats had a 15-2 run over the final five minutes of the first frame. Newman's corner 3 sparked the game-altering run and was followed up by a Lukosius 3-pointer he banked in from the wing. After center Aziz Bandaogo buried a pair of free throws, Skillings had a tip in to make the score 28-27 for UC's first lead of the game 1:48 before the break.
FROM WES MILLER
"I am certainly disappointed in the result. I thought we had a real opportunity there against a top five team in the country. The environment was as good as you can have in college basketball. We all really appreciate everyone coming out and supporting us like that. It matters so much, and I am sorry we couldn't get over the hump tonight. We are going to need that same energy from the crowd on Tuesday night because we have another huge game but that's how this league is. I am proud of some of the moments when we came back and figured out how to get in the game, especially how we finished the first half. When they have 17 offensive rebounds, it is hard to overcome, and we pride ourselves on being a rebounding team. They set the tone right from the start and we only had nine offensive rebounds and we were out rebounded 41-34. We are trying to establish an identity on the board and it's frustrating and it's hard to overcome the 17 offensive rebounds. We almost had a chance though but give LJ [Cryer] credit coming out of that timeout. His shot was a big-time shot by a big-time player, and we guarded it well. He was jumping off one leg away from the basket, one of the hardest shots in college basketball. We had it down to a four-point game after the shot from LJ [Cryer] and we got them to shoot quickly and miss but unfortunately, we couldn't box out and get the rebound. The thing I was most disappointed about in the game was the rebounds. We have to learn from this quickly and bounce back because we have another great team coming in here on Tuesday night."
DAY DAY THOMAS
"Every game is a big game to us; we have to come at the beginning of the game playing hard. We need to be the type of team that rebounds the ball like coach said, we gotta keep playing at a high level for Cincinnati basketball, we need to make sure we work on rebounding the ball, and make sure we transition."
UP NEXT
Cincinnati stays home to welcome No. 14 Iowa State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday inside Fifth Third Arena. The game will air on ESPN2.