Wes Miller and the Bearcats dropped a hard-fought battle to Oklahoma on Tuesday as they now fall to (17-13, 6-11 Big 12) on the season heading into Saturday’s regular season finale vs West Virginia.
A game in which the Bearcats led by as much as 12 points after a 15-3 lead to start the game was quickly erased near the end of the first half. In a must win game for both respected programs, The Sooners overcame the early deficit and fought to the very end to potentially secure their at large bid to this month’s NCAA Tournament.
The Bearcats were led by Jizzle James who finished with a team-high 16 points on 7-14 shooting. James, provided a huge spark for the Bearcats in the second half especially down the stretch following a personal six-to-zero run. The true freshman has shown that he can be relied on as one of the go to options for this Bearcats team when desperately need be, and it showed here tonight.
Dan Skillings returned to the lineup following a one game absence due to a hip injury, where he finished with 13 points and nine rebounds in the loss. Skillings continued to look like his old self and really impact the game on both ends of the floor. Skillings rebounding presence was desperately missed on Saturday vs Kansas State, but he played a huge part in the Bearcats efforts tonight as Cincinnati outrebounded Oklahoma 35-32.
Simas Lukosius had eight of Cincinnati’s first ten points to start the game, but the Lithuanian would finish with just ten points on the night. Peter Moser did a great job at slowing Lukosius down after the opening segment, holding him to just two points over the finals 35 or so minutes of this contest. The Sooners knew in order for them to be able to compete they would have to find a way to contain Lukosius and they did just that here this evening.
How it Happened
Cincinnati jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after Aziz Bandaogo found a slashing Simas Lukosius on the give and-go. Cincinnati would go on to knock down three of their first four field goals, led by Simas Lukosius, who had eight of Cincinnati’s first ten points.
Porter Moser and the Sooners had no answer for the Bearcats as they jumped out to an early 15-3 lead following eight unanswered. The Bearcats knocked down six of their first seven shots, while Oklahoma on the other hand started this game just one for five through the opening segment. The Bearcats were disruptive on the defensive end, as the Sooners would really miss leading scorer Javian McCullum early in this one, as their offense was flat to start.
Oklahoma had no answer Cincinnati in the opening minutes after knocking down eight of their first nine field goal attempts of the night. Cincinnati knew they would need a great start vs a tough Oklahoma team on the road and man, did they do just that. Oklahoma struggled to find any rhythm on the offensive side of the ball after shooting just 2-10 through the first eight minutes of action.
Oklahoma would force five turnovers over the next five minutes of play, which allowed Oklahoma to claw away at Cincinnati’s early double-digit lead. Cincinnati was just becoming lackadaisical on the offense end as three of those five turnovers were on passes intended for Dan Skillings. Oklahoma point guard Milos Uzan would pick up his second foul with nearly eight minutes remaining in the second half, but was forced to stay on the court, as Oklahoma only had one healthy guard available for this matchup.
The Sooners offense would capitalize off Cincinnati’s turnovers as they cut the lead to single digits heading into the final segment of the first half. Rivaldo Soares led the Sooners comeback after seven points as the junior point guard sparked the fire the Sooners needed. Oklahoma would erase Cincinnati’s twelve-point lead after Soares buried a huge three with just over a minute to play in the first half.
Oklahoma erased a 12-point deficit after Cincinnati failed to keep their foot on the gas in the early segments. The Sooners trailed 28-27 at the half following a 13-4 run over the final ninety seconds of the first half. Oklahoma finished the first half shooting 40% from the field despite starting the game 2 for their first 10. The biggest takeaway from the first half was that Cincinnati was unable to get to the foul line as they were held without a trip to the charity stripe through the first twenty minutes of play. That has been something Cincinnati has struggled with as of late following just eight free throw attempts vs Kansas State.
However, Cincinnati was led by Simas Lukosius who finished with eight first half points. All in which, came in the opening four minutes of play, as Oklahoma did a fantastic job at disrupting the talented guard after his hot start. Oklahoma forced nine first half turnovers, which came back to bite Cincinnati which sparked the Sooners comeback over the final six minutes.
