Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Pulls Off Huge Upset 75-72 Over No. 15 Texas Tech

Cincinnati completed its second meeting ever against Texas Tech.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Feb 4, 2024 10:58 AM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — A crucial road win for Cincinnati 75-72 over No. 15 Texas Tech as the Bearcats got complementary halves from Simas Lukošius (16 points, four rebounds) and Dan Skillings Jr. (14 points, seven rebounds) to pull off an upset.

Tech guard Pop Isaacs (22 points) got his in this one, but Cincinnati's defense kept him to an inefficient 5-of-19 from the field and continued to show how high this team's ceiling can be. The Bearcats are now 2-0 all-time against TTU and earned a massive Quad 1 win.

The Red Raiders' streak of 45 straight home wins when tied or leading at half came crashing down for TTU as Cincinnati got a massive triumph to get right back in the thick of the NCAA Tournament race.

Clutch Time Breaks Right Way

Cincinnati got exactly what it needed on offense after a great timeout call by Wes Miller to settle down a sloppy second-half offense. Lukošius and his teammates took advantage with three straight makes to silence the Tech crowd.

Plays and moments like this are what Cincinnati needed across five Big 12 losses by less than 20 combined points. Lukosius offered it on Saturday during a game where he went 2-of-6 in the first half. He was smooth as butter in the second half (4-of-6 with two triples.)

Pure magic.

That's what the Lithuanian brought with a nasty midrange jumper to answer Pop Isaacs' go-ahead three down to less than thirty seconds left. Lukošius has done stuff like that before this season and it came through once more in a game Cincinnati needed in its pursuit of nine conference wins or more.

Bearcats Bring Elite Defense

Robert Jennings (career-high 14 points) posted a big night in this game, but Cincinnati's defense was otherwise fantastic led by Skillings and Aziz Bandaogo (10 points, 10 rebounds).

Texas Tech went on a few multi-minute scoring draughts in a game where they had a home crowd advantage, but nothing close to a rebounding advantage (39-35 rebounds for UC). Cincinnati paired that with sound, pestering on-ball defense.

The shooting fouls did hurt them in this one though as TTU outshot UC at the line 19-10 at the foul line. Still, Cincinnati effectively handled top Big 12 scorer Pop Isaacs and sucked his energy out of the game.

Day Day Thomas (nine points, four assists) was a hounding defender again in this one, as the great overall play helped Cincinnati weather a stretch of 12 missed shots in 13 attempts during the second half. The Bearcats had a top-15 defense nationally entering this game, and it showed throughout.

Skillings Strong

The sophomore was silky around the basket throughout the first 20 minutes on Saturday night as he went 5-5 in the paint and proved to be Cincinnati's most effective player on the trip to Texas. That cooled off the final 20 (1-of-7), but the bad shooting didn't affect his other traits.

The sixth-man role is red-hot for Skillings who skied for nice touches around the basket and played a good game despite continuing to struggle from deep (0-of-3). His defense impacted the game throughout and led to one of UC's best wins under Miller.

These splash performances are turning into waves for his first premier recruit in Clifton. Skillings has now posted four straight games in double figures and is averaging nearly six rebounds per game in that stretch. He's proving to be one of the best bench players in the Big 12 and is top 10 among B12 players in offensive rebounding.

He cemented that status with a fantastic tip-in with a foul in traffic during a crucial part of the second half. It was a half to forget, but that powering opening 20 minutes helped Cincinnati end Tech's 11-0 home record and astounding mark when leading (or tied) at the half.

Skillings helped Cincinnati stay on track in another hostile road environment on Saturday night. They now have a week off to get CJ Fredrick healthy before facing Houston at home on Saturday.

Catch Bearcats athletics action on fuboTV! Start your free trial here.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel on all things Bearcats athletics and Bearcat Blitz on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Make sure you bookmark All Bearcats for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.

You may also like:

Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Suffers Brutal Loss to West Virginia 69-65

Look: Former Cincinnati Head Coach Bob Huggins Attends Game Against West Virginia

2025 Cincinnati Football Target Shekai Mills-Knight Talks Relationship With Bearcats

Local 2024 Linebacker Tofa Luani Commits to Cincinnati as Preferred Walk-On

Look: Big 12 Releases 2024 Football Schedule, Cincinnati's Full Slate

New Cincinnati Defensive Coordinator Tyson Veidt Discusses Scheme: 'We Need to Find Out What Our Depth Looks Like'

Winners And Losers From The Cincinnati Bearcats 68-57 Victory Over UCF

Watch: Jason, Travis Kelce Share Special Moments On Field Following Chiefs Latest AFC Championship Win