Observations from UC Bearcats Big 12 basketball victory at Texas Tech
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UC’s Wes Miller, Simas Lukosius plus Texas Tech’s McCasland on UC win
UC’s Wes Miller, Simas Lukosius plus Texas Tech’s Grant McCasland on Bearcat victory Feb. 3 in Lubbock.
LUBBOCK, Texas – Facing the No. 15 team in the country Saturday evening in the windy Great Plains, the Cincinnati Bearcats pulled off a dramatic conquest downing Texas Tech 75-72.
With 35 seconds left Tech’s Pop Isaacs delivered a 3-pointer for the 13th lead change of the game and a 72-71 lead. Undeterred, Simas Lukošius delivered what would be the game-winning bucket 14 seconds later for a 73-72 lead and 14th and final lead change. One defensive stop later, John Newman III was all alone for the icing on the cake dunk.
Lukošius led UC with 16 points, Dan Skillings Jr. had 14, Newman 11 and Aziz Bandaogo had the 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Isaacs led Texas Tech with 22 points. The Red Raiders drop to 16-5 (5-3 in the Big 12). It was their first home loss of the season. UC is now 15-7 (4-5 Big 12).
The streak ends
Texas Tech was 11-0 at home. Their last loss on the Lubbock lumber was March 4, 2023 vs. Oklahoma State. In 2021-22, the Red Raiders went 18-0 at home.
5 takeaways from UC’s Quadrant 1 win at Texas Tech
1. A tape session made the difference after disappointment in Morgantown
For the second game in a row, UC had a road lead with less than six minutes to play. They relinquished it twice but put it away this time. With No. 4 Houston in town next Saturday, consecutive blown road games might have been too much to overcome.
“We tried to get the guys together, show some film and address some things,” Miller said. “It’s obvious that our guys responded. We tried to address the things that we were unhappy with from Wednesday.”
The Bearcats were perfect from the foul line for the first time all season (10-for-10) and outshot the Red Raiders from behind the arc 35% to 33%.
“10-for-10 from the free throw line is humongous,” Miller said. “Aziz going 4-for-4 is a huge lift because he can shoot free throws well but he has not.”
Also giving the Bearcats confidence was Newman III starting after not practicing for two days. His nearly 33 minutes of playing time was second only to Lukošius, who was on the floor for 35-plus minutes.
2. Lukošius gets his moment
Isaacs was a master at drawing fouls in this game and made a huge trey late similar to what RaeQuan Battle of West Virginia did Wednesday against UC. This time Lukošius would be the hero, hitting a jumper with 21 seconds left.
“I can’t say I was thinking of what happened in the previous game,” Lukošius said. “I knew the play call, I knew that I had the ball in my hands. Nothing really changed. If Pop hit the three or didn’t, the play call was going to be the same. I knew we were down one so I was ready to make a play.”
3. “Please refrain from throwing objects on the floor”
This was the request from the Texas Tech PA announcer after Bandaogo was awarded two free throws with UC leading 53-50. The 7-footer drained both as…
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