Wes Miller and the Bearcats fell to (12-3, 1-1 Big 12) on the season following their 74-73 loss to No. 25 Texas following the game winner from Max Abmas with 5 seconds remaining. The Bearcats had an opportunity to seal the deal, but ultimately fell just short in front of a sold out Fifth Third Arena for their first ever Big 12 conference home game.
A game where the Bearcats could feel it in the palms of their hands it seemed instead, the Longhorns paved the way and Abmas came up big when the Longhorns needed it the most, something he has done a bunch throughout his collegiate career.
The Rundown
The Longhorns came out firing after taking a 10-4 lead over the Bearcats as Dylan Disu was looking to be an immediate impact in the front court embracing the matchup vs Aziz Bandaogo. A 6-0 run sparked some early momentum for the Longhorns, but Viktor Lakhin found a way to silence the run early after scoring six straight for the Bearcats to make this a 10-10 game with 15:54 left in the first half. A great sign for the Bearcats as Lakhin had eight of the Bearcats first ten points.
The Bearcats would take an 15-10 lead following an 11-0 run and man was Fifth Third Arena rocking. The Longhorns, on the other hand, would silence the Bearcats run after Max Abmas buried his first three-point attempt of the night, that sparked a seven-to-two run as the Longhorns tied this one up at 17 with 11 minutes remaining. The Longhorns would extend their lead to 20-17 after a seven-point run, before Josh Reed silenced the Longhorns momentum after burying his first field goal attempt of the night.
Rodney Terry, and the Longhorns would continue to feed 6’9″ forward Dylan Disu was doing everything for the Longhorns early after twelve quick points. Disu, missed the first eight games of the season due to injury, but would be forced to play big minutes tonight after Kadin Shedrick was ruled out for the Longhorns after suffering some back spasms in warmups.
Aziz Bandaogo would pick up his second foul with eight minutes remaining in the first half as Wes Miller quickly called to Jamille Reynolds for his first minutes of action in a crucial situation. Reynolds, took advantage of his opportunity after putting Dillion Mitchell on a poster to spark some momentum for the Bearcats.
As that would be a huge changing point for the Bearcats in the first half, as the Bearcats cut the Longhorns lead to one, after Josh Reed buried his second three of the night. Reed, has continued to give the Bearcats great minutes and energy since seeing his role expand after CJ Fredrick went down with the hamstring injury.
The Bearcats would have an opportunity there towards the end of the first half to regain the lead after cutting the Longhorns lead to one, but two crucial turnovers lead to a five-point swing in favor of the Longhorns. Disu, continued to give the Bearcats problems as he had a game high 14 points and was taking the Longhorns along for the ride in the first half.
The Longhorns would take a 41-39 lead at the break, but all momentum was in favor of the Bearcats. The Bearcats flipped the switch late in the first half after Skillings put Hunter on an absolute poster through contact. A dunk that had a sold half Fifth Third Arena on their feet, as the sophomore just brough the house down with that one. Skillings would end the half with eight points, five in which came in the final thirty seconds.
However, The Bearcats simply had no answer for Disu, as he had a game high 19 points in the first half, as the forward willed the longhorns along for the ride through the first twenty minutes. Viktor Lakhin led the Bearcats with 11 points but was ice cold after scoring eight of the first 10 points for the Bearcats. However, the Bearcats needed to find ways to get the ball inside to Lakhin, Reynolds, and Bandaogo and put some pressure on the Longhorns, especially without leading shot blocker Kadin Shedrick.
