Well, that escalated quickly.

Despite leading at halftime, BYU fell 84-66 to Cincinnati Saturday afternoon on the road.

The Cougars have now lost consecutive games after winning four straight, falling to 15-8 on the season and 6-6 in Big 12 play.

3 takeaways

The Cougars’ second half blues returned. Cincinnati came out firing after halftime, going on a 23-2 run across nearly eight minutes to all but bury BYU.

After an 8-0 run put had put the Cougars ahead by three to end the first half, the Bearcats’ post-intermission dominance resulted in a 1-of-7 BYU shooting stretch with five turnovers.

Additionally, the Cougars’ starting five contributed a meager six total points in the second half. When guys like Egor Demin and Richie Saunders become non-factors, it becomes excruciating for BYU to score, let alone win.

Jizzle James was unstoppable. There’s a new villain within BYU basketball lore, and his name is Jizzle.

Jizzle James, the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Edgerrin James, absolutely cooked the Cougars, scoring a season-high 24 points with six made 3-pointers and three assists.

Prior to Saturday, James had averaged 41.4% shooting from the field and 25% from long distance. Against BYU, he shot 64.3% and 75%, respectively. Whatever he wanted, he got.

James wasn’t the only Bearcat to feast against the Cougars. Cincinnati, one of the lowest-ranked offenses in the Big 12, made 58.6% of its field goals, 50% of its 3-pointers and dished out 17 assists.

My math might be a bit off here, but those kind of numbers result in wins about 99% of the time, especially considering BYU lost the rebounding battle by a 32-17 margin and didn’t produce a single second chance point on the evening.

BYU needs to clean up its act, and fast. A week ago, the Cougars had won their fourth consecutive contest and seemed prepared to face a tough opponent in Arizona back home at the Marriott Center.

Now, BYU has lost two straight, having been humbled by the Wildcats and slayed by Cincinnati.

The Cougars picked an inopportune time to slow down. They will now head to West Virginia — one of the most daunting road environments in the Big 12 — before returning to Provo to host both a red-hot Kansas State squad and a perennial power in Kansas.

It’s hard to believe how much we still don’t know about this BYU team at this point in the season, yet here we are. The coming three-game stretch should tell us all a great deal about where to expect Kevin Young’s first season to conclude in March.