Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Blows Road Lead Against Oklahoma in 74-71 OT Loss

The Bearcats now have to win the Big 12 Tournament to punch a ticket to the dance.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Mar 5, 2024 10:49 PM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats hopes for an at-large NCAA tournament bid largely ended on Tuesday in a 74-71 overtime loss to Oklahoma.

The Sooners shot a whopping 28-of-34 from the free throw line (23 attempts in the second half) and had three players post 15-plus points to steal the joy from UC. Jizzle James (16 points) was fantastic at times and Cincinnati didn't have a lot of rough turnovers but the three-point line decided things.

UC fouled too many shooters on that end and shot 6-of-29 themselves. They entered Tuesday with a 15% chance for an at-large bid on TeamRankings and that's going to keep falling in a debut Big 12 season.

Jizzle James Stares Down Sooners

Cincinnati's impressive freshman point guard took over most of the closing 10 minutes in this one as Cincinnati's lead bled away.

James (STATS) hunted some great shots, put in defensive energy, and showed why he could be next in line on the list of great Cincinnati point guards. It hasn't been perfect all conference play but he's shown more than enough stretches to be very high on his development. Cincinnati had to have his buckets when no one else could find anything

On top of that, OU got a friendly home whistle in the second half. UC didn't help themselves by fouling multiple three-point shooters on a 72.1% foul-shooting team in conference play (FTS). It caused Aziz Bandaogo and Skillings to foul out at key moments of the game.

The ultimate death knell for Cincinnati down the stretch

Soares Soars

The senior guard has really popped in conference play and he had a lot to do with Oklahoma's comeback in the first half with a game-high 10 points in that frame.

Rivaldo Shares (16 points, nine rebounds) was aggressive towards the rim and continued a hot shooting streak from outside. Oklahoma needed all of his offense with leading scorer Javian McCollum missing the game due to injury. Soares really kept Oklahoma from getting blown out of its own gym during the first half.

No one else got going for Oklahoma in the first but the rest of the rotation lit up in the second half. Two players joined Soares in double figures over that frame and the entire OU crew was nifty at hunting fouls and staying within striking distance enough to strip Cincinnati's lineup.

Soares found his spots and a few players joined him just in time to steal another win from UC by less than five points (UC is 4-8 in Big 12 games decided by five points or less).

Starting Halves Hot

Road games can get easier when you start each frame with great ball movement and a scoring cushion to lean on (and ultimately squander). UC opened the game on a 16-5 run in the opening seven minutes and a 15-8 start in the opening nine minutes of the second half.

Those aggressive opening minutes set the tone for Cincinnati. It allowed them to play at their pace without rushing an offense that worked well in the paint (38-24) and the return of Dan Skillings Jr. (35-32) helped Cincinnati on the glass.

It was highly impressive considering he just sat out with a hip injury two days ago, but he still committed too many rough fouls to stay in the game across 45 minutes. Cincinnati now closes the season against West Virginia before a likely early start in the Big 12 Tournament next week.

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