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

[ad_1]

Simas Lukosius and the Cincinnati Bearcats offense had their struggles Saturday night at BYU.

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 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%.

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

BYU takes a 3-2 lead in the series. The Cougars are 13-6 (4-4 Big 12) while UC drops to 12-7 (2-6 Big 12).

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.

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 Simas Lukošius hit a triple to tie the game at 23, Demin was fouled and made both free throws. When Day Day 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. They were seven lead changes in the first half.

The Bearcats now…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/learned-cincinnati-bearcats-basketball-loss-055251462.html

Author : The Enquirer

Publish date : 2025-01-26 05:52:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.