TicketsCINCINNATI — Graduate guard Day Day Thomas hit a pair of clutch midrange jumpers down the stretch, and the Cincinnati men's basketball team held off a late rally by No. 2 Iowa State to secure a 79-70 victory Saturday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena, marking its highest-ranked win since defeating No. 2 Syracuse, 71-68, in the 2012 Big East Tournament.
With the Bearcats' lead trimmed to five at 69-64 with 4:38 remaining after Milan Momcilovic hit his sixth 3-pointer of the game, Thomas and junior guard Jizzle James answered with consecutive midrange jumpers. Momcilovic missed back-to-back 3-point attempts on the ensuing possessions, and Cincinnati pushed its advantage back to nine at 73-64 with 2:15 left.
Momcilovic connected on his seventh triple with 56 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 75-67, then hit another moments later, but the Bearcats sealed the victory at the free-throw line.
Thomas led Cincinnati with 19 points, while James added 15. Junior guard Sencire Harris and graduate guard Jalen Celestine each contributed 12 points. Graduate forward Baba Miller delivered an all-around performance with eight points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Momcilovic finished with 34 points on 8-of-14 shooting from 3-point range, but Iowa State couldn't overcome 20 turnovers and a lack of bench production.
Cincinnati held decisive advantages in bench points (20-5) and fast-break points (13-2), while forcing the Cyclones into 20 turnovers. Iowa State attempted 27 free throws but converted just 17.
The Bearcats built their largest lead at 67-50 following a Thomas 3-pointer with 7:37 remaining, but Momcilovic scored nine of the next 11 points to spark a rally. A Nate Heise layup off a Cincinnati turnover cut the deficit to 69-61 with 5:17 left before Momcilovic's triple made it a five-point game.
Early in the second half, Cincinnati connected on six of seven shots during a 13-4 run, capped by a James baseline jumper, to build a 56-42 advantage with 13:05 remaining. Harris extended the lead to 62-45 with a layup at the 9:19 mark before Momcilovic ended the spurt with a 3-pointer.
Iowa State opened the second half strong, tying the game at 38 on a Joshua Jefferson layup less than two minutes in. Miller answered with a 3-pointer from the right wing and Thomas followed with a layup to push Cincinnati back ahead 43-38 with 17:09 left.
Cincinnati trailed 8-5 early after connecting on just two of its first 10 shots, but hit seven straight field goals - including three triples from Celestine - to go on a 20-6 run for a 25-14 advantage with 9:40 left in the first half.
After Iowa State trimmed the deficit to 28-22 on a Dominykas Pleta free throw with 5:25 remaining, Cincinnati answered with a pair of second-chance buckets from Moustapha Thiam and Tyler McKinley to extend the lead back to 10 at 32-22 with 4:21 left. Following a Thiam 3-pointer from the top of the key that pushed the lead to 35-24 with 3:06 remaining, Momcilovic scored seven straight points to close the half with the Bearcats ahead 35-31.
Cincinnati overcame 35.1% shooting (13-of-37) in the first half by outrebounding Iowa State 23-16 and connecting on six 3-pointers. Celestine led the Bearcats with nine first-half points, while Momcilovic paced the Cyclones with eight.
Cincinnati travels to Tucson to face top-ranked Arizona at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday.