The Rundown
The Bearcats would take an early 4-0 lead a with 15:58 remaining in the first half as Simas Lukosius would kick off the party in front of a sold-out crowd. The junior guard was looking to be aggressive and attack early, which was a great sight to fans. Oklahoma was struggling to get anything going early, as the duo of Viktor Lakhin and Aziz Bandaogo made it impossible for the Sooners to play to their strength early, as the duo recorded three blocks in as many minutes.
The Sooners started the contest 0-5 from the field before Otega Oweh went up and under for the layup. However, the Bearcats length and physicality continued to give the Sooners some trouble in the early minutes, as this time it was Jamille Reynolds. A huge four-minute segment after a defensive stop, resulted in points on the other end, as Lukosius buried a corner three.
A huge opportunity loomed ahead for Reynolds, due to the physicality that John Hugley brings to the table for the Sooners, with that 6’10”, 275-pound frame. Reynolds would be active in the opening minutes on the offensive end after cleaning up the Jizzle James miss, for a huge putback slam through traffic. Reynolds, missed a huge opportunity on the easy layup, but was making a huge impact early, which is something Bearcats fans have been waiting on.
The Bearcats offense would go ice cold, as they went on to shoot just one for their last eleven over a four-minute span. The Sooners, 2-3 zone was just creating a lot of difficulties for the Bearcats, as it appeared that a lid was quickly put over the Bearcats basket. The Sooners would have to play significant minutes after starting center Sam Godwin picked up his second foul early in the first half.
The Sooners scored six unanswered after a Jalon Moore made three to take a 12-11 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half. Lukosius was looking to be aggressive early, after ten quick points after five unanswered points gave the Bearcats a 20-16 lead, forcing an Oklahoma timeout with seven minutes remaining.
Lukosius playing aggressive allowed the Bearcats to play inside as Jamille Reynolds flushed his third dunk of the afternoon. The Sooners were looking to make an adjustment to keep the Bearcats out of the paint as 14 of their first 27 points came in the paint. Something, the Bearcats were utilizing in their favor as they were looking to go over the top, after James connected with Bandaogo for the ally-oop to make this a 26-23 ball game.
This game would be tied at 31 heading to the half, after a strong first half from Lukosius, who had a game high 13 points. Outside of Lukosius, the Bearcat’s next leading scorer was Jamille Reynolds with six points, who provided a huge spark for the Bearcats in the paint. The Bearcats shot just 33% from the field, and just 23% (2-11) from behind the arch, with both makes coming from Lukosius. The difference in the first half, was the Sooners buried all nine of their free throws, as they were able to convert at a successful rate, while the Bearcats finished the first half shooting 60% from the foul line.
John Newman set the tone early for early for the Bearcats after a quick steal led to an easy layup in transition. Followed by another huge stop by the defense after an Oklahoma turnover resulted in points at the other end. As the veteran guard was looking to be active on both ends of the court after four quick points, as someone was going to have to step up for the Bearcats down the stretch.
However, the Sooners offense would start to come together after Otega Oweh knocked down a huge three in the corner to give the Sooners a 41-36 lead with 15:50 remaining. Day-Day Thomas would slash the Sooners defense in hopes of a huge three-point opportunity after converting a high floater through contact, however, missed the free throw.
Jizzle James, would do a great job facilitiating the Bearcats offense after finding Josh Reed in the corner with the shot clock expiring to cut the Sooners lead to two. The Sooners, responded with four straights after a questionable foul call, gave them a 47-41 lead with thirteen minutes left. James, then came down and silenced the Sooners, with a huge triple from the top of the key in hopes of sparking some momentum on the offensive end.
James, would find Lakhin with a great post entry feed, for the easy score to cut the Sooners lead to four. Then the high-powered Sooners offense would open the gates a little following an 8-2 run, as Hugley and Darthard buried quick threes to take a 55-46 lead. Wes Miller and the Bearcats were quickly approaching danger zone as Cincinnati was forced to call a timeout to stop the bleeding, after four straight makes for the Sooners.
Cincinnati would respond with a huge three from Lukosius, following the offensive rebound after the Thomas missed three. Aziz Bandaogo would then take a hard fall on a rebound attempt and was very slow to get up following the play but would appear to stay in the game. As Cincinnati looked to claw their way back in this game, they knew they’d have to get some stops on the defensive end, and that is exactly what happened.
Cincinnati would cut the Sooners lead to four, following a seven-to-two run after huge baskets from Newman and Thomas, forcing a Sooners timeout. Just like that, Fifth Third Arena was back on their feet in hopes of a comeback effort down the final stretch. The Sooners would be in the bonus the rest of the way, after Thomas drew the Sooners seventh foul off the half.
The Bearcats offense was starting to come alive after Newman buried a wide open three to make this a 61-58 lead. Lukosius would have a huge opportunity to trim the Sooners lead again, but couldnt convert on the one-and-one opportunity. As free throws, continue to haunt the Bearcats. they knew this one would come down to those at the end it appeared.
The Sooners took advantage of the Bearcats miss, as they responded with four quick points from Hugley and Oweh to extend their lead to 65-58 with two minutes left to play. Newman, would cut the Sooners led to five following two made free throws, but the Sooners would look to drain the clock, before a silly foul on the rebound sent Josh Reed to the line on the other end for two free throws.
Reed would convert both, to make this a 65-62 game with 28 seconds left, before having to foul Oklahoma for a one-and-one opportunity to extend their lead. However, the Bearcats had an opportunity late, after Oweh missed the one-and-one opportunity for the Sooners, it led to the Bearcats shooting two free throws on the other end with a chance to make it a one-point game. Although, Lukosius split the pair making this a 65-63 game with 20 seconds left.
The Bearcats kept it interesting as they encouraged the Sooners to make their free throws down the stretch, after Bandaogo caught an ally-oop to make this a 67-65 game with under five seconds to go. However, Darthard sealed the deal for the Sooners after burying the game sealing free throws to give the Sooners a 69-67 victory.
Up Next
The Bearcats travel to Lawrence, Kansas on Monday to take on the No. 5 ranked Kansas Jayhawks at historic Allen Fieldhouse. “We don’t have time to dwell, that is this league, we have to respond,” Miller said. “You have to get right back to work, once we finish up, we will go watch the film, get ready for Kansas.”
