Cincinnati Bearcats basketball took on BYU in Provo in a Big 12 road contest Saturday night. Here is what we learned from beat reporter Scott Springer …

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 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 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 tops in the nation in three-point defense percentage before Texas Tech rang up 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. Much of the second half, BYU was over 60% from the perimeter.
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.
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. 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.
Source: Utah News