The Cincinnati Bearcats improved to (17-12, 6-10 Big 12) following their 74-72 victory over Kansas State. Wes Miller and the Bearcats held off a late rally from the Wildcats in the final minutes to pick up their first conference win in two weeks.
However, Cincinnati had to do so without leading scorer Dan Skillings who entered tonight’s showdown averaging 12 points and seven rebounds for the Bearcats. Dan Hoard mentioned on the pregame radio show that Skillings suffered a hip injury over the last 24 hours, which led to him being unavailable for tonight’s contest.
“Dan had two great days of practice and had a freak thing with his hip,” Wes Miller told reporters following the game. “Dan is so important to this team it was a tremendous loss. He will get an MRI tomorrow and I hope for the best.”
Cincinnati was led by John Newman who finished with a game-high 18 points on (8-12 FG) with 13 of those coming in the second half. The veteran guard did a great job eliminating Arthur Kaluma from the picture as the talented junior finished with just seven points on (2-11 FG).
In extended minutes this evening, Simas Lukosius continued to showcase his clutch shooting abilities after knocking down the game-winning three with 10 seconds left. Lukosius finished with 13 points and four assists in the Bearcats victory.
How it Happened
Cincinnati struck first, taking an early 5-0 lead following a Simas Lukosius triple. Kansas State junior Dai Dai Ames followed with a triple of his own to get the Wildcats on the board. However, both teams struggled to find some rhythm on offense as both teams shot a combined 3-13 to start the game. Cincinnati gave the Wildcats fits in the paint early, as all five of the Bearcats points came off turnovers in the opening segment.
Ames’s triple sparked an eight-to-zero run where they led the Bearcats 8-5 with 14:22 remaining in the first half. Day-Day Thomas silenced the Wildcat’s momentum with a huge corner three prompting the Bearcat’s offense early. Cincinnati would start the game 3-5 from deep after John Newman’s made three gave him the last five points for the Bearcats, where they held a 13-12 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the first half.
Lukosius would will the Bearcat’s offense early after knocking down three of his first four field goal attempts on the night. It appeared to be a night where the Bearcats would rely on Lukosius’s scoring abilities with Skillings out due to injury.
Lukosius would go down hard following a layup attempt where he hit his head following the play. Lukosius would walk off the court under his power a few moments later. Lukosius would return moments later following the Bearcats 7-2 run, where they led the Wildcats 28-21 with four minutes remaining in the first half.
Cincinnati was clicking on all cylinders as Kansas State struggled to get any offense going after a nearly four-minute scoring drought after Perry knocked down two free throws. However, Cincinnati would hold the Wildcats without a field goal for the last 5:26 of the first half, where they took a 34-27 lead to the break.
Cincinnati stayed calm and poised in the first half as they committed just three turnovers, while the Wildcats coughed up 11 turnovers through the first twenty minutes of play. Cincinnati scored 15 points off those 11 turnovers in the first half and that was the difference maker through the first twenty minutes of action. Safe to say, The Wildcats were simply flustered, to say as Arthur Kaluma and Cam Carter were a combined 1-8 for just four points in the first half.
Thomas’s defensive abilities were making it nearly impossible for Carter to get going on the offensive end as Thomas was making sure to let the Wildcats know he was here to stay.
The Bearcats would take a 40-31 lead following six unanswered points to start the second half as Cincinnati made it a priority to get downhill and attack the basket led by Newman and Thomas in the opening segment. Newman would then take over after burying a contested corner three to give the Bearcats a 47-35 lead with 16:01 remaining in the second half. The Wildcats had no answer for the sixth-year wing as he continued to spread the Wildcat’s defense apart to start the second half.
Thomas would pick the pocket of Carter and instantly took the roof off of Fifth Third Arena following an acrobatic windmill dunk in transition. Kansas State quickly responded with a 7-1 run after consecutive triples from Carter and Kaluma. The Wildcats knocked down five straight field goals to trim the Bearcats lead to six with 11:30 remaining to play.
Things would trend south for the Wildcats from there as their offense would go ice cold following that run, missing six of their next seven shots. Cincinnati would build off their defensive effort, knocking down four straight field goal attempts to take a 67-54 lead following the Reynolds and-one.
Tylor Perry would propel a 10-point run for the Wildcats after scoring eight consecutive points to trim the Bearcats lead to three. Now for the Bearcats, momentum quickly shifted back to their favor after a Thomas steal led to a Newman dunk in transition as Cincinnati led 71-66 with 3:25 to go.
Cincinnati would not make a field goal for the next three minutes of play as the Wildcats were doing it on both ends of the court down the stretch. Perry scored six straight for the Wildcats including a miraculous three to give the Wildcats a 72-71 lead with just over forty seconds remaining, the Wildcat’s first lead since early in the first half.
When it looked like Kansas State would come away with this one, Simas Lukosius buried a clutch shot like he has all season for the Bearcats. The Lithuanian guard buried the game-winning three with just over ten seconds.
Final Thoughts
This was a performance the Bearcats needed in hopes of keeping their NCAA chances alive. I thought Day-Day Thomas had the best game of his young Bearcat career after finishing with 14 points. Now, the biggest takeaway from this game was the Bearcats ability to create turnovers, as they forced the Wildcats to 19 turnovers, and it all started with the gritty play of Thomas.
Of those 19 turnovers, Cincinnati was able to capitalize and score 29 points on the other end. That was something they haven’t been able to do much of this season, so it was great to see that come to fruition this evening. Cincinnati also responded to the adversity very well, especially after Skillings wasn’t able to play tonight, it was a game where it could have been a tale of two stories.
I thought Thomas had his best all-around performance of the season, and it showed that when the Bearcats take care of the ball, they are a dangerous matchup for many opponents.
“Coming into this game, I said whichever team won this game would go to the NCAA Tournament,” said Jerome Tang. “I think they’re an NCAA Tournament team especially if Skillings is healthy,”
From Wes Miller
“It’s good to see some smiles in the locker room after the game. We have felt like we have been right there for the most part. We felt like we got away from who we were at TCU. I was proud of our execution down the stretch. Simas makes another big-time shot for us like he has done over and over for us.”
