TicketsKANSAS CITY – Led by 24 second-half points from junior wing Simas Lukosius, the Cincinnati men's basketball team completed the largest comeback of the Wes Miller era, erasing a 16-point second-half deficit, to defeat West Virginia, 90-85, on Tuesday in the opening round of the 2024 Big 12 Championships at the T-Mobile Center.
The Bearcats will now play No. 6-seed Kansas on Wednesday night at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Lukosius finished with a career-best 31 points and junior guard Day Day Thomas tallied a career-high 29 points. Thomas' corner 3-pointer with 12 seconds left gave Cincinnati a 90-85 lead to seal the game. He kept Cincinnati close in the first half, scoring 16 points and making 4-of-5 3-point attempts. West Virginia held a 38-36 lead at halftime.
The 16-point comeback marked Cincinnati's largest under Wes Miller, besting a 15-point one in November 2021 against Illinois, also in the T-Mobile Center. The Cardiac 'Cats now have five double-digit comeback victories this year, with four against Big 12 teams.
Lukosius and Thomas each buried seven 3-pointers apiece, combining to make 14 of 22 trey attempts.
Sophomore forward Daniel Skillings Jr. added 13 points, while senior center Aziz Bandaogo grabbed 13 rebounds.
The Mountaineers came out of halftime on fire, making 10 of their first 12 shots to take a 16-point lead before the under-12 media timeout.
Trailing 64-48, Lukosius sparked a 20-4 run to get the Bearcats back in the game – at one point scoring or assisting on 12 consecutive points.
Following a technical foul on WVU guard Kobe Johnson, Lukosius buried a pair of free throws and then hit a 3-pointer. Following a steal, he led the fastbreak and flicked a pass to Skillings Jr. for a ferocious one-handed dunk that cut Cincinnati's deficit to 64-55 with 10:20 left.
Lukosius drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the game to bring UC within 8, 66-58, with 9:24 to play.
After another technical foul on the Mountaineers, Lukosius buried both free throws to bring UC within 6, and a free throw by Skillings, Jr. cut the deficit to 5.
Lukosius continued his hot streak by burying another 3-pointer to bring Cincinnati within 4, 68-64, with 7:24 left.
The junior from Lithuania buried two free throws after another West Virginia technical and Thomas hit a pair of his own to cap a game-changing UC run that tied the game up 68-68 with 7:24 left.
Lukosius buried his fifth 3 after halftime to give Cincinnati its first lead of the second half, 71-70, with 6:30 left.
His sixth 3 put UC back up 74-72 with just over five minutes left.
The teams traded baskets until West Virginia appeared to pull away, taking an 82-77 lead with four minutes left. However, Thomas buried back-to-back triples to put Cincinnati in front 83-82 with 2:46 left.
Edwards made a strong layup, but Skillings Jr. answered with a spinning lay-in to keep Cincinnati in front by 1, 85-84 with 1:10 left.
After initiating a steal, Lukosius was fouled and made both free throws to put Cincinnati ahead, 87-84, with one minute left.
After Edwards split a pair of free throws with 45 seconds left, Cincinnati had the ball up, 87-85, when Skillings Jr. found Thomas for the game-clinching deep ball.
NOTABLE
- Day Day Thomas finished with a career-best 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including 7-of-10 on 3s. By halftime he already had made four 3-pointers to surpass his season high of 3 treys set at West Virginia on Jan. 31.
- Simas Lukosius scored a career-best 31 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 7-of-12 from deep and 8-of-8 from the free throw line. He had 24 points in the second half. Lukosius notched his first 20-point game as a Bearcat and his third 20-point game of his career.
- Lukosius' prior two 20-point games, both at Butler, came in the BIG EAST Tournament (St. John's as a sophomore, Xavier as a freshman).
- Lukosius' 31 points was the first 30-point game by a Bearcat since David DeJulius scored 30 versus SMU on March 5, 2023.
- Thomas and Lukosius both made a career-best seven 3s – the most by a Bearcat since Landers Nolley II buried nine 3-pointers against Arizona at the Maui Invitational on Nov. 22, 2022.
- Aziz Bandaogo's 13 rebounds marked his seventh time in double-digits this season.
- Cincinnati is 18-6 (14-6 this year) when Dan Skillings Jr. scores in double-figures.
- The 16-point comeback win was the largest of the Wes Miller era, surpassing the 15-point comeback in the 71-51 win over No. 14 Illinois on Nov. 22, 2021 at the Hall of Fame Classic – in a game that was also played at the T-Mobile Center.
- Cincinnati now has eight double-digit comeback wins in Miller's three years, including five this year. Four of those were against Big 12 foes (at BYU, TCU, UCF, vs. West Virginia).
- The Bearcats improved to 6-7 when trailing at halftime this season.
- The 16 made three-pointers matched the team's season-high (Detroit Mercy on Nov. 10).
- Cincinnati's two highest-scoring Big 12 games have come in consecutive fashion, and both against WVU. It was UC's first time playing an opponent in consecutive games since St. Louis in 2000.