TicketsLUBBOCK, Texas – Simas Lukosius' floater with 21 seconds left, after a go-ahead 3-pointer by Texas Tech, powered Cincinnati to a major 75-72 win over the No. 15 Red Raiders on Saturday night.
Following Lukosius' shot, Dan Skillings Jr. picked up a defensive rebound with nine seconds left and fed it to an all-alone John Newman III, who stalled the final seconds before dunking with three left to ice it.
Aziz Bandaogo picked up his fourth double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds), while Lukosius led UC with 16 points. Skillings added 14 (including 10 at the half), and Newman scored 11 after being a game-time decision following an agonizing rib injury late Wednesday at West Virginia.
It was Cincinnati's third top-20 win of the season, previously at No. 12 BYU and at home against No. 19 TCU in overtime. TTU was 11-0 at home entering the night as well. The last time UC defeated three ranked teams was 2013-14, its first in the AAC (Memphis, Louisville, UConn and Memphis again).
Cincinnati was also 10-for-10 at the foul line, its first perfect performance on eight or more makes since the 2005-06 season.
The second half started well for the Bearcats, keyed by Skillings' block of a wing 3-pointer and a subsequent fastbreak feed from Day Day Thomas to Newman. The 46-43 lead prompted a Texas Tech timeout at 12:51.
An alley-oop got the Red Raiders fired up, but Lukosius' immediate transition trey gave UC a 51-49 lead to quiet the crowd. Two TTU free-throws at 4:52, which was most of its offense for that stretch, gave it a 60-59 lead at 4:29, its first in seven minutes.
UC fought past its own cold spell for a 66-63 lead at 3:12, forcing a Texas Tech timeout, by virtue of a Newman corner trey, Bandaogo dunk and Lukosius layup.
Lukosius' top-of-the-key triple at 2:36 gave the Bearcats a four-point lead. It was UC's fourth-straight made field goal, and Thomas followed with two foul shots.
The Red Raiders called timeout with 49.5 seconds left, down 71-69.
Cincinnati led 13-4 in the first six minutes, holding TTU to 2-of-7 shooting and three turnovers. Thomas picked up his second foul, however. He checked back in at the 7:23 media timeout, with UC up 20-19. The Red Raiders' 21-7 run after that initial shock gave them a 25-20 lead at 5:48.
Skillings' twisting layup in the final seconds kept Cincinnati within 37-36 at the break, a game-high 10 for the sophomore at that time. Jizzle James also provided seven points off the bench for a spark.
FROM WES MILLER
"I'm proud of my team tonight. And if we would've lost one possession versus winning one more possession, I would still be proud. I thought we did not approach it over 40 minutes the way that we that we set a standard to play at West Virginia a couple night ago. But tonight I thought we responded and bounced back and had a great approach against a great team in a very, very, very difficult place to play. I have never been here before. I've heard that this is an underrated place (to play). That is understated because this is a very difficult place to play. What an environment. (Texas Tech head coach) Grant (McCasland) is obviously doing as good a job as anybody in college basketball this year – getting this program to where it is. I am tremendously happy with the win. I was blown away with this environment.
"A couple things with our guys…John Newman didn't practice the last couple days with an injury. He tried. We didn't know if even was going to go today, but he was terrific. (Texas Tech guard) Pop Isaacs, he is about as good of an offensive player as I have seen on the perimeter in college basketball this year, and he's a tough, tough cover. I thought John (Newman) did as a good of a job as anybody I've seen all year on tape (on Isaacs). And I thought Day Day (Thomas) did a really nice job in the last couple of minutes when we switched him on there. What a terrific player. I was really proud of John.
"I thought Simas (Lukosius) we've been rolling and riding him so hard down the stretch of games. He's got a lot on his shoulders to make plays and make shots. He's had some nights when he's really done it. He's had some nights where I know, he wishes a few more went down. He's stayed with it everyday and continued to improve defensively. He made some big time plays for us down the stretch tonight.
"But I don't want to single out too many guys because that was a team effort. We had a good mentality against one of the best teams in one of the best environments in college basketball."
NOTABLE
-Cincinnati entered the night as the No. 8 rebounding team nationally and won the glass again, 39-35. Only Oklahoma and TCU have beat the Bearcats on the glass this year.
-Dan Skillings Jr. is Cincinnati's leading scorer in overall and Big 12 play (12.1 and 13.4, respectively).
-Cincinnati is 15-3 in his career when he scores in double-figures, including 11-3 this year.
-The only other meeting came in the first round of the 1961 NCAA Tournament, kicking off Cincinnati's first of back-to-back national titles.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati has a week off before reuniting with Houston in Fifth Third Arena, Saturday at 4 p.m.
Following Lukosius' shot, Dan Skillings Jr. picked up a defensive rebound with nine seconds left and fed it to an all-alone John Newman III, who stalled the final seconds before dunking with three left to ice it.
🎥 The scene from Lubbock! pic.twitter.com/XZdjOkG1BM
— Cincinnati Men's Hoops (@GoBearcatsMBB) February 4, 2024
Aziz Bandaogo picked up his fourth double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds), while Lukosius led UC with 16 points. Skillings added 14 (including 10 at the half), and Newman scored 11 after being a game-time decision following an agonizing rib injury late Wednesday at West Virginia.
It was Cincinnati's third top-20 win of the season, previously at No. 12 BYU and at home against No. 19 TCU in overtime. TTU was 11-0 at home entering the night as well. The last time UC defeated three ranked teams was 2013-14, its first in the AAC (Memphis, Louisville, UConn and Memphis again).
Cincinnati was also 10-for-10 at the foul line, its first perfect performance on eight or more makes since the 2005-06 season.
The second half started well for the Bearcats, keyed by Skillings' block of a wing 3-pointer and a subsequent fastbreak feed from Day Day Thomas to Newman. The 46-43 lead prompted a Texas Tech timeout at 12:51.
An alley-oop got the Red Raiders fired up, but Lukosius' immediate transition trey gave UC a 51-49 lead to quiet the crowd. Two TTU free-throws at 4:52, which was most of its offense for that stretch, gave it a 60-59 lead at 4:29, its first in seven minutes.
UC fought past its own cold spell for a 66-63 lead at 3:12, forcing a Texas Tech timeout, by virtue of a Newman corner trey, Bandaogo dunk and Lukosius layup.
Lukosius' top-of-the-key triple at 2:36 gave the Bearcats a four-point lead. It was UC's fourth-straight made field goal, and Thomas followed with two foul shots.
The Red Raiders called timeout with 49.5 seconds left, down 71-69.
Cincinnati led 13-4 in the first six minutes, holding TTU to 2-of-7 shooting and three turnovers. Thomas picked up his second foul, however. He checked back in at the 7:23 media timeout, with UC up 20-19. The Red Raiders' 21-7 run after that initial shock gave them a 25-20 lead at 5:48.
Skillings' twisting layup in the final seconds kept Cincinnati within 37-36 at the break, a game-high 10 for the sophomore at that time. Jizzle James also provided seven points off the bench for a spark.
FROM WES MILLER
"I'm proud of my team tonight. And if we would've lost one possession versus winning one more possession, I would still be proud. I thought we did not approach it over 40 minutes the way that we that we set a standard to play at West Virginia a couple night ago. But tonight I thought we responded and bounced back and had a great approach against a great team in a very, very, very difficult place to play. I have never been here before. I've heard that this is an underrated place (to play). That is understated because this is a very difficult place to play. What an environment. (Texas Tech head coach) Grant (McCasland) is obviously doing as good a job as anybody in college basketball this year – getting this program to where it is. I am tremendously happy with the win. I was blown away with this environment.
"A couple things with our guys…John Newman didn't practice the last couple days with an injury. He tried. We didn't know if even was going to go today, but he was terrific. (Texas Tech guard) Pop Isaacs, he is about as good of an offensive player as I have seen on the perimeter in college basketball this year, and he's a tough, tough cover. I thought John (Newman) did as a good of a job as anybody I've seen all year on tape (on Isaacs). And I thought Day Day (Thomas) did a really nice job in the last couple of minutes when we switched him on there. What a terrific player. I was really proud of John.
"I thought Simas (Lukosius) we've been rolling and riding him so hard down the stretch of games. He's got a lot on his shoulders to make plays and make shots. He's had some nights when he's really done it. He's had some nights where I know, he wishes a few more went down. He's stayed with it everyday and continued to improve defensively. He made some big time plays for us down the stretch tonight.
"But I don't want to single out too many guys because that was a team effort. We had a good mentality against one of the best teams in one of the best environments in college basketball."
NOTABLE
-Cincinnati entered the night as the No. 8 rebounding team nationally and won the glass again, 39-35. Only Oklahoma and TCU have beat the Bearcats on the glass this year.
-Dan Skillings Jr. is Cincinnati's leading scorer in overall and Big 12 play (12.1 and 13.4, respectively).
-Cincinnati is 15-3 in his career when he scores in double-figures, including 11-3 this year.
-The only other meeting came in the first round of the 1961 NCAA Tournament, kicking off Cincinnati's first of back-to-back national titles.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati has a week off before reuniting with Houston in Fifth Third Arena, Saturday at 4 p.m.