How would the Cougars respond after a massive segment from the Bearcats? An 8-0 run following back-to-back made threes from Knell and Sheldon Spencer Johnson that would force Wes Miller to call a timeout to stop the run, as the Cougars regained a 26-19 lead with 3:28 left in the first half. For Knell, that was his fourth made triple of the night, while the rest of the team was just 2 for 12. Now the damage wouldn’t stop there after another turnover by the Bearcats, Noah Waterman came down and buried another three for the Cougars to make it an 11-point difference in just under 90 seconds.
Viktor Lakhin would respond with a huge made three pointers to cut the Cougars lead to five, but that wouldn’t last long after Khalifia dished out his fourth assist of the first half as Johnson beat Skillings on the backdoor cut to give the Cougars a 31-24 lead at the half. The Bearcats would have an opportunity to get a quick bucket before the break but Day-Day Thomas’s jumper would fall just short.
However, the tale of the first half was turnovers, as both teams combined for just 18 field goals, while 25 first half turnovers. Now for the Bearcats, silly turnovers are what hurt them in this one after going five straight possessions at one point with a turnover, this game was on the verge of danger zone a few times, but their defense is what kept them in this one. Not like the Cougars were doing anything to cause a lot of trouble for the Bearcats on the defensive side, like we have seen other teams do throughout non-conference play. However, 13 turnovers are unacceptable vs a very good team like the Cougars, and they knew they would have to clean it up quickly here in the second half.
The Cougars were led by Trevin Knell, who had a game high 12 points at the half, as the Cougars sharpshooter was everything as advertised in the first half after burying four of his first six three attempts. The rest of the team shot just 3 for 15 from behind the arch, and for a team that shoots nearly 40% from deep, that is a great sign for the Bearcats after a slow shooting half for the Cougars.
The Cougars would come out of the break on fire after Knell buried two quick threes to give the Cougars an early 37-26 lead. Something they just can’t afford to do and that is leave Knell open anymore at this rate or it would get out of hand quickly. The Cougars continued to depend on the three ball as 30 of their 42 points came from behind the arch through the first 25 minutes of play.
Knell would continue to be the bright spot for the Cougars as the junior guard simply could not miss tonight, as he had 27 points on a 9-12 shooting, as the Cougars took a 51-47 lead over the Bearcats with 12 minutes remaining. However, the Bearcats were hanging around as Lakhin and Skillings started to will the Bearcats on offense after both were looking to get inside and attack the rim, which is what the Bearcats needed to do all along in this one.
Jizzle James would slice and dice through the Cougars defense and convert on a tough and-1 opportunity to cut the Cougars lead to 51-50 with just 10 minutes left in the second half. James, would come and weather the storm and provide a huge spark for the Bearcats as they looked to open the floodgates with Knell on the bench.
James, provided a huge spark on both ends of the court as the Bearcats took a 56-51 lead following a nine-point run that all started with James here in the second half. The Cougars were looking to give Knell some rest ahead of the final stretch, but the Bearcats second half effort had Mark Pope thinking otherwise about that decision. A decision that was very interesting after a huge run by the Bearcats, but it looked like Pope was going to switch things up defensively following the timeout.
Pope and the Cougars would switch to a 1-3-1 defense in the final segment forcing consecutive turnovers from the Bearcats, but nothing seemed to fall for the Cougars outside of Trevin Knell as they were just 1 for 10 shooting during that stretch. The Bearcats would continue to pour it on the Cougars after a 14-2 run over the last 7 minutes sparked a 61-53 lead with just over 4 minutes remaining at the Marriott Center.
Viktor Lakhin buried his second three of the game to give the Bearcats their largest lead of the game as they led the Cougars 66-55 with 2:30 remaining. The Bearcats huge second half quickly flipped the momentum of this game as they outscored the Cougars 47-29 behind huge scoring efforts from James, Bandaogo, Lakhin who combined for 31 of the Bearcats 47 second half points.
Final Stats
The Bearcats flat out dominated the Cougars after Jizzle James set the tone for the Bearcats on both ends of the floor. James finished with 12 points, 10 of those points coming in the second half, in a time the Bearcats needed it the most. Wes Miller noted that James was “unbelievable” tonight for the Bearcats as it appears the freshman steps up when needed the most during big games, and that was the case tonight.
Aziz Bandaogo finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, recording his fourth-double-double of the season in his first game back in nearly a month. The Bearcats knew they would need a huge night from Bandaogo if he was able to go, and that was the case tonight as the seven-footer provided a much-needed rim presence and rebounder vs one of the nation’s top rebounding teams in BYU. Having Bandaogo back healthy provides a much-needed firepower to the Bearcats arsenal as they desperately missed his presence over the last three games. Now for Bandaogo it will be all about how he responds after a physical contest like this coming off a back injury.
Along with Bandaogo, Viktor Lakhin also finished with a team high 17 points and six rebounds, as the Bearcats front court gave BYU a lot of trouble here tonight in Provo. The Russian big man finished with 11 points in the second half as the Bearcats quickly knew they had to find ways to use their size inside and attack during the second half. Lakhin’s 17-point performance was now his 10th game of the season scoring with 10 or more points.
The Cougars were led by Trevin Knell who finished with a game high 27 points on 9-16 shooting, all 27 coming from range of three. However, the Cougars just couldn’t get any offensive production outside of Knell and that was the difference maker tonight.
Up Next
The Bearcats (12-2, 1-0 Big 12) will be back in action when they welcome in No. 20 Texas (11-3, 0-1 Big 12) to Fifth Third Arena for their first ever home Big 12 home basketball game with tip-off slated for 7 pm.
