TicketsCINCINNATI — Minnesota closed the game on a 9-0 run, capped by Bobby Durkin’s go-ahead 3-pointer in the final seconds, to beat the Cincinnati men’s basketball team 63-61 Monday night at Fifth Third Arena.
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The Bearcats led 61-54 with 2:37 to play after a contested Eric Mahaffey layup, but Jaylen Crocker-Johnson sparked the Golden Gophers’ rally, and Durkin finished the comeback from deep.
“It was a tough loss,” Cincinnati head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “There’s a lot to learn from, situational awareness and different things. Hats off to Niko [Medved] and his group to come in on the road. It's hard to win on the road. We certainly had our chances but could not close and win the game.”
Senior guard Tylen Riley scored 25 points and went a career-best 6-of-9 from 3-point range. He also added five rebounds and three assists. Tyler Tejada scored 10 points, and Elijah Perryman matched a career high with four steals in just seven minutes.
Cincinnati forced 17 turnovers and tallied eight steals, which led to 16 points. Minnesota won the rebounding battle 40-28, and both teams struggled from behind the arc. Cincinnati shot 7-of-29 (24%) and Minnesota shot 8-of-25 (32%).
Kyan Evans posted a double-double for Minnesota with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and he added five assists.
Crocker-Johnson’s 3-pointer scored the game’s first points, and the Golden Gophers held the lead for most of the first half. A Nolan Groves layup pushed it to 16-9 with 13:30 remaining.
Cincinnati then took control with a 10-0 run. Riley hit his third 3-pointer of the game to tie it at 23-23, and a Mahaffey free throw gave the Bearcats their first lead, 24-23, with 6:45 to play. Tejada capped the run with a contested layup that made it 30-23 with 4:03 left. During that stretch, Cincinnati held Minnesota to 1-of-12 shooting from the floor.
Minnesota closed the half with seven straight points to even the game at 30-30.
Evans led all scorers at the break with 16, and Riley led Cincinnati with nine. The Golden Gophers held a 21-15 rebounding edge, while the Bearcats recorded five steals and forced nine turnovers that led to 10 points. Both teams struggled from long range, with Cincinnati shooting 3-of-16 (18.8%) and Minnesota 4-of-14 (28.6%).
The opening minutes of the second half were back-and-forth until Riley scored seven straight points to give Cincinnati a 44-39 lead with 12:37 left. Trevian Carson, listed at just 6-foot-3, then hustled for back-to-back offensive rebounds off missed 3-pointers, leading to a Mahaffey dunk. Adlan Elamin later added a turnaround jumper to stretch the lead to 49-41.
With 3:27 to go, Myles Colvin hit his first 3-pointer of the game, sending Fifth Third Arena into a frenzy and giving Cincinnati a 59-54 lead. After a Minnesota turnover and a media timeout, Mahaffey drove downhill and finished through contact at the rim to make it 61-54.
Amani Lyles then planted his feet and drew a charge on Crocker-Johnson, who fouled out on the play. The call gave Cincinnati the ball back with 1:35 left and a 61-56 lead.
Minnesota kept chipping away, and the Bearcats led 61-60 with just under 10 seconds to play. After Colvin drew a foul on the inbound attempt, he stepped to the line for a one-and-one but missed, and Isaac Asuma grabbed the rebound. Colvin fouled Asuma to stop the fast break with six seconds left, and Carson then followed with a foul on Asuma, sending him to the line. With Fifth Third roaring, Asuma missed, and MJ Collins Jr. hauled in the rebound to keep Cincinnati up 61-60 with five seconds left.
Collins Jr. then missed at the free-throw line. Asuma grabbed the rebound and threw it ahead to Durkin, who knocked down a deep 3-pointer for a 63-61 Minnesota lead. The Bearcats had just 0.4 seconds left, but their shot was off the mark.
The Bearcats travel to Dayton for a 7:30 p.m. Saturday matchup at UD Arena.