CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati men's basketball team erased a seven-point second-half deficit, but Oklahoma State used red-hot shooting to hold on for an 80-76 win on Wednesday at Fifth Third Arena.
Junior wing Simas Lukosius led UC with 17 points, making 3-of-4 3-point attempts, while freshman guard Jizzle James and junior center Jamille Reynolds each scored 10 off the bench for the Bearcats, who dropped to 16-10 overall and 5-8 in the Big 12.
Junior point guard Day Day Thomas added 10 points and sophomore forward Daniel Skillings Jr. scored nine points to go along with 10 rebounds.
OSU shot 55.6% from the field, and UC made 50% of its attempts. The Bearcats held a 32-26 edge in rebounding, while the Cowboys shot 93% (13-of-14) from the charity stripe compared to 69% for UC.
Thanks to 59% first-half shooting, Oklahoma State led 37-32 at halftime and extended its lead to 7 early in the second half. James sparked a 9-0 run that gave the Bearcats control of the game midway through the second half.
James' lightning quick crossover freed space for the rookie to swish a 15-footer that tied the game at 50-50 with 10:29 remaining, and his alley-oop lob to center Aziz Bandaogo gave the Bearcats their first lead since the 10:31 mark in the first half.
On Cincinnati's next possession, James used a wicked pump fake to set up a turnaround jumper that give UC a 54-50 advantage with 9:06 left, forcing Oklahoma State to call timeout.
The Bearcats could not land the knockout blow, though, and the Cowboys hung around, taking back the momentum over the final minutes.
A Lukosius jumper put Cincinnati up 5, 63-58, with 5:25 left.
Oklahoma State responded with a game-defining 8-2 run. Cowboys guard Jamyron Keller was fouled attempting a 3-pointer with 3:43 left and he made all three free throws to put OSU back in front 66-65.
After Bandaogo converted a three-point play, OSU's Eric Dailey Jr. put the Cowboys back in front for good, 69-68.
A second-chance 3-pointer by John-Michael Wright extended the OSU lead to 72-68 with two minutes remaining and Williams' free throws put the visitors up by 6.
Lukosius kept Cincinnati close with a pull-up trey to bring UC within 3, 74-71, with 1:17 left. A layup by Skillings Jr. pulled the Bearcats within a point, 74-73, with 24 seconds left.
After Oklahoma State's Javon Small knocked down both of his free throws to put OSU back up by 3, John Newman III tipped in a missed shot with eight seconds left to bring UC within 1 point, 76-75.
Small again knocked down both free throws after being fouled by Newman.
Up by 3, Oklahoma State fouled Thomas with 4.2 seconds left, bringing the UC point guard to the line for a 1-and-1. He made the first and purposely missed the second, but it was rebounded by OSU's Keller, who made both his free throws to seal the victory for the Cowboys.
FROM WES MILLER
"First off, congratulations to Mike (Boynton) and his team. He's had a tough go of it with all the young kids. He's got him not playing like young kids and they're playing their best basketball now. So maybe a little unlucky, we didn't get to play them a lot earlier but he's done a hell of a job coaching his team held a job bringing a bunch of young players with a couple of older guys along in this league and if you look at how they've played over the last couple of weeks to play with everybody and get you know, they beat BYU handily, the other night, they had a chance to win at Oklahoma. Then they come in here I mean, I think number one Mike Boynton is doing an unbelievable job coaching his group so give credit to those kids.
"I think the first thing and it's kind of what I told him in the locker room, I love my group of guys. That's not a coaching line. That's not for the media. I really, really like this team. I really like these guys. We got awesome guys. We just respond to this point it's got to keep happening, but we get down, we come out. We find a way to fight back and games we've done it all year. And that quality that character. I'm proud to coach them. I'm lucky to be able to coach these guys. We just haven't quite figured out as a group, the little stuff that you got to do to get over the hump. And the reason that I like them is because we respond and we're tough and we have good kids, and they're good players. So that's why we're in every game. We're in every game because of the character and quality they have. But we're in every game, even when we shouldn't be because we haven't turned that corner on what this winning thing is really all about. And I told him that's on me to get us there."
SIMAS LUKOSIUS
"My confidence is going up game to game and coach is going to me a lot more and I am feeling more comfortable in this offense every day. I am more comfortable playing with my teammates and that is a big part of it. I don't believe my play is where I want it to be yet because there is a lot where I can get better at, especially defensively. There are some silly mistakes I make sometimes on offense that need to be eliminated from my game."
UP NEXT
Cincinnati travels to TCU for a 3 p.m. matchup on Saturday on ESPN+ before heading to Houston to face the Cougars on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
Cincinnati Rallies Late, but Drops Game to Oklahoma State
The Cincinnati men's basketball team erased a seven-point second-half deficit, but Oklahoma State used red-hot shooting to hold on for an 80-76 win on Wednesday at Fifth Third Arena.
