Three Man Weave: Cincinnati's Season On Life Support Following 80-76 Loss to Oklahoma State

Cincinnati is still looking for back-to-back wins in Big 12 play.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Feb 21, 2024 10:07 PM EST

In this story:

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats season is on the brink of collapse after an 80-76 home loss to Oklahoma State.

The Cowboys shot 56% from the floor, marking the highest tally given up by UC this season. It didn't get answered by Simas Lukošius (17 points, five rebounds, four assists), Dan Skillings Jr. (nine points, 10 rebounds) & Co., despite another strong rebounding showing from UC (32-26).

The Cowboys entered this game tied for last in the Big 12 with four wins and it marks just the second Quad 3 or Quad 4 loss this season.

Seven different Bearcats scored five-plus points as UC's rotation didn't quite do enough to make up for a terrible defensive night. Cincinnati is now 2-3 all-time against OSU.

Cowboy Platoon Puts UC Season in Jeopardy

Cincinnati's defense was anything but special on Wednesday night as their strongest attribute failed them. OSU produced five players that scored in double figures on a night where they shot the best of any team this season against UC from the field.

It was another close, close affair on Wednesday with Cincinnati playing its fourth game in the past five decided by five or fewer points. OSU's offense had the most to do with that as the wing-heavy lineup from Cincinnati couldn't keep up with OSU's matching speed and strong play from center Brandon Garrison.

The loss was filled with multiple missed rotations, slow closeouts, and an overall lack of intensity in a must-win game. OSU posted a whopping 20 assists to tie for the most from an opponent this season against Cincinnati. All in all, it was a disastrous defensive night.

Losing four of the past five games at Fifth Third Arena is hard to swallow for Bearcats fans.

Garrison Goes Strong

OSU's one big option in their rotation performed efficiently throughout the game on Wednesday as Brandon Garrison (14 points, four rebounds) had the game's second-highest efficiency score (18). The near 7-footer swallowed up plenty of boards to help the Cowboys keep pace on that end.

He showed off a nice arsenal of interior moves to lead the Cowboys in scoring.

The back-to-basket game flashed well and made some circus shots to make this one a sweat for UC. The nimble feet were especially good at getting Cincinnati defenders to jump, leading to easier positioning or drawn fouls.

The freshman was a top-40 recruit entering the season and he's really found a stride over the past five games. He just dropped 21 against BYU in a win and averaged 12.8 points with 5.5 rebounds over that stretch. He's the most offensively skilled big man UC's faced since the West Virginia loss and it showed on Wednesday.

Lukošius, Skillings Cementing Wing Duo

The Bearcats are seeing two guys rise to the top of the go-to scoring list as we wind down conference play: Skillings and Lukošius.

Both were nearly strong enough steadying forces for Cincinnati to pull off the win. Skillings came out strong again to help lead in the opening half but only had two points in a quiet second half. Lukošius made his biggest impact in the second frame for a spark that still ended in defeat.

Lukošius made a great effort to patiently probe the lane for good looks and nail open three-point attempts (3-of-4 from deep). The Lithuanian's also done an awesome job improving his rebounding of late, posting a nice tally on Wednesday (five boards).

Speaking of rebounds, Skillings is a vacuum on that front with his elite wingspan and nasty attitude around the rim. His energy is staying stable on that front despite a big (and well-justified) uptick in minutes of late (31 MPG past five).

Jizzle James (10 points) added his scoring spark as the game got later and later into the second half. He showed off some disgusting dribble pull-up moves in another flashy performance for his potential.

Unfortunately, the defense wasn't as good as the offense from this crew.

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