What we learned from Cincinnati Bearcats basketball loss at BYU Saturday night in Big 12

Posted by author January 26, 2025 Basketball

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PROVO, Utah – In their first of two games along the Wasatch Range, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats men’s basketball squad got punched in the mouth by the torrid shooting of BYU Saturday night, 80-52.

To add insult to injury, BYU’s Elijah Crawford hoisted a good 3-pointer at the buzzer. UC has now given up 80 or more points in back-to-back games. BYU coach Kevin Young apologized for the shot, but it did give the 17,483 at the Marriott Center free subs from Jersey Mike’s in a local promotion.

BYU was 15-for-24 from behind the arc, where their marksmanship was far from a secret. The Bearcats could only make 5-for-28. 62.5% easily trumps 18%. In the second half, the Cougars blistered the nets at 73.3% from deep going 11-for-15.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of that,” UC coach Wes Miller said.

The Bearcats only had one scorer in double figures: Simas Lukošius, who scored 14 points. Richie Saunders scored 21 for BYU, and Egor Demin scored 15. UC led in rebounding 20-17 at halftime but lost 34-28 at the end of the game.

“We weren’t good enough in the second half,” Miller said. “I’m not going to go on a rant about it. I know it, our team knows it. We did some good things in the first half, but you’ve got to play 40 (minutes). We didn’t do that tonight.”

BYU now leads the series 3-2. The Cougars are 13-6 (4-4 Big 12), while UC drops to 12-7 (2-6 Big 12).

BYU hits gas, outscoring UC by 23 in 2nd half

The Bearcats had a chance at a halftime lead, but after a Day Day Thomas missed three-ball, BYU freshman Egor Demin scored the last five points of the first half and the first three of the second half and the Cougar crush was on from there.

It was the first loss for Aziz Bandago in the Marriott Center. He had defeated the Cougars with his old Utah Valley team and had 12 points and 11 rebounds in last year’s UC win. Saturday, he was limited to four points and four rebounds. Jizzle James was only 3-for-13 with six points. Dan Skillings Jr. was held to six points and a rebound, albeit with an eye injury. Dillon Mitchell was limited to four points.

UC is now 0-6 in quad 1 games. They are 4-1 in quad 2 games and 8-0 in the rest. Their last quad 1 win was in last year’s Big 12 tournament against Kansas.

BYU’s Demin lit Cougars spark

BYU freshman Egor Demin was held scoreless in the first half until the final 47 seconds. After Lukošius hit a triple to tie the game at 23, Demin was fouled and made both free throws. When UC’s Thomas couldn’t convert a three on UC’s end, Demin rifled one in from the top of the key to put the Cougars up 28-23. There were seven lead changes in the first half, but none after that.

“We’ve got to shoot it better,” Miller said. “We’re 5-for-28 from three, 3-for-15 at half. We’ve got to shoot the ball better. We have a chance to be a good shooting team this year. Point blank. we’ve got to shoot it better. We get a good look coming out of the timeout. They come down for the last shot. Demin’s shooting 28% coming into the game tonight from three. He’s a projected lottery pick for a reason, but he hasn’t shot it prolifically yet, but he did against us tonight (5-for-7).”

Lukošius had tied the game with 1:04 remaining in the opening half, which felt like a momentum changer.

“I had hoped so,” Lukošius said. “We did some good things in the first half. We were in the game at halftime, then in the second half we didn’t play how we should have.”

The Bearcats now have two days to prepare for the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City. Utah does own a 73-72 overtime win over BYU in Salt Lake City.

Takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats at BYU Cougars

How was Saturday night’s Marriott Center crowd?

Given the remaining venues, this game will likely be the biggest crowd the Bearcats see until the Big 12 tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City in March. The Marriott Center holds 19,000 with T-Mobile Center at 18,000. Saturday night saw most seats filled at 17,483. At halftime, the BYU fans were greeted by Kalani Sitake’s returning football players from his winning Alamo Bowl team that defeated the Colorado Buffaloes. Not coincidentally, it was a recruiting weekend.

Assessing UC’s 3-ball defense

UC was near the top of the nation in three-point defense percentage before Texas Tech scored a dozen on them last Tuesday. Despite that, they still came into BYU at No. 7 in the nation, holding teams to 28%. BYU has averaged over 10 made threes per game.

At the half, Demin’s 3-pointer boosted the BYU lead from two to five at the break. That put BYU 4-for-9 and 44% while UC was limited at 3-for-15. UC is 11-31 under Wes Miller when trailing at halftime.

The long-range blue-and-white bombing continued in the second half. By 10:49 of the second half, the Cougars were in double digits from the three-point line. When they reach that figure they have been victorious. Saturday they dropped in 15 long balls for the fourth time this season and the first time in the Big 12.

Cincinnati Bearcats shot four more treys than BYU

Wes Miller says they were looking for good shots. BYU coach Kevin Young didn’t mind at all.

“We wanted to force them to beat us from the outside,” Young said. “They’re a team that lives in the paint. That was part of the game plan. We’re not disrespecting guys but we’re trying to force contested threes and keep them out of the paint and off the line.”

UC did win points in the paint 28-22 but only got to the free throw line four times, missing three. BYU was 9-for-11.

UC’s Dan Skillings Jr. takes a poke

Midway through the first half, Skillings drove to the basket and pulled UC within a pair at 16-14. He took a poke in the eye and immediately hit the floor. Referees went to the monitor and determined there was no flagrant foul, but Skillings played with a swollen eye the rest of the game and didn’t score in the second half.

UC in ‘Black Cats’

UC again chose the Black Cats road look, black with silver trim “Cincy” in front. After wins against Xavier, Dayton and Colorado, the unis and those wearing them are now 3-1 in that combination.

Next on Big 12 menu?

UC will spend five days in the “Beehive State” when it’s said and done and will return early Wednesday morning after their 10 p.m. (Eastern) tip with Utah Tuesday night.

“We can’t change what happened tonight,” Miller said. “It’s college basketball. People get their *sses kicked. It happens It’s happening more to us than I’d like it to happen but it happens. You’ve got to respond. We’ll respond.”

For those familiar with John Brannen’s teams, Gabe and Mason Madsen briefly were Bearcats and now play for the Utes. Mason played in Wes Miller’s first season at UC. Gabe left early in his first season for Utah, while Mason played two seasons, then went to Boston College before reuniting with his twin in Salt Lake City.

From Dayton, Mike Sharavjamts who played for San Francisco against UC in last year’s NIT is also on the Utah roster. Utah defeated BYU 73-72 in overtime Jan. 18 and is coming off of losses at Houston and at home vs. Baylor. Because of that, they no longer represent a quad 1 win opportunity for the Bearcats as they dropped to No. 89 in the NCAA NET rankings Saturday.

The University of Utah is 50 miles north on Interstate 15 from BYU’s campus in Provo.

Comeback win for UC women’s team

A dominant fourth quarter by the Cincinnati Bearcats women’s team gave them a 73-66 win in Tempe against Arizona State. UC outscored the Sun Devils 29-13 in the fourth quarter. Jillian Hayes had 14 of her 25 points in the final frame. Coach Katrina Merriweather’s squad is 12-6 (4-4 Big 12). UC hosts Houston Wednesday at Fifth Third Arena at 6:30 p.m.