Winners and Losers From Cincinnati's 62-59 loss to Baylor

The Bearcats fall victim in consecutive games following their 62-59 loss to Baylor as missed opportunities haunt in the final seconds.

Author:
Neil Meyer
Updated:
Jan 14, 2024 1:16 PM EST

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Cincinnati Bearcats

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats (12-4, 1-2 Big 12) fell to #14 Baylor (14-2, 3-0 Big 12) 62-59 in a dominant defensive effort this past Saturday.

The Bears took advantage of the Bearcats early in the second half following a huge 15-point momentum swing propelled by freshman phenom Ja'Kobe Walter. The Bears were close to sparking a blowout before Dan Skillings took over for the Bearcats after 17 huge second-half points.

The sophomore guard willed the Bearcats down the stretch after scoring twelve straight points. From there, the Bears responded with six quick points to regain a 59-50 lead with 3:16 remaining. That is when Skillings flashed his NBA potential, with 10 unanswered to cut the deficit to three.

The Bearcats then got a huge defensive stand, followed by a huge layup from Day-Day Thomas to make this a 60-59 game with 1:44 remaining. A game that felt similar to Tuesday night.

Not only did they get the stop, but they went down and got a great look as Skillings slashed through the Bears' defense, but the layup rolled in the Bears' favor and bounced right out. However, the Bearcats got another huge stop but couldn't get the shot to fall in the final seconds after Simas Lukošius's three-point attempt was just a bit too strong, resulting in a Bears rebound.

The Bears would hold on and sneak away with the 62-59 victory in front of a sold-out Foster Pavillion in a strong defensive effort.

Winners

Dan Skillings: The sophomore guard willed the Bearcats on Saturday finishing with a game-high 24 points, and six rebounds, on an efficient 9-of-14 field goal shooting. The 6-foot-7 wing affected the game in many ways across both sides of the court, using his long length and wingspan to get downhill and finish at the rim. Skillings entered the night a 27% three-point shooter but buried four big made three-point attempts, while the rest of the Bearcats shot just 0-of-15 from behind the arch.

Skillings continued to show his ability to score the ball and be that offensive threat, playing with that much aggression, and looking to get downhill is the strength of his game. He continued to rise to the challenge after outplaying a projected NBA lottery pick in Walter.

Day Day Thomas: This was a much-needed performance from the junior point guard after finishing with more turnovers than points throughout the first two conference games.

Thomas didn't have the best of nights shooting as he shot just 6-of-15 from the field but came up with the Bearcats' biggest basket of the game there down the stretch to cut the Bears deficit to one. Thomas finished with 15 points, complementing Skillings, as the duo finished with 39 of the Bearcats' 59 points.

Thomas looked more poised against the Bears on Saturday night after combining for eight turnovers in the Bearcats' first two conference games. Thomas (zero turnovers) really took care of the ball, which is a positive sign for the Bearcats after a rough two-game stretch.

John Newman: The sixth-year forward did a great job at containing Walter throughout this matchup after holding the NBA prospect scoreless in the first half. Newman made it difficult for Walter to get anything going offensively all night, until late in the second half. However, Newman takes a lot of pride in having the scout for the opposing team's best player, and did he ever answer the bell on Saturday.

Despite only finishing with two points, Newman grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and dominated the glass against a very physical Baylor team. Anytime you can hold a potential top-five NBA draft pick to just 4-of-11 shooting, that is a win for the Bearcats.

Losers

Simas Lukošius: The Lithuanian finished the night with just two points, on 1-of-10 shooting. However, Lukošius willed the Bearcats over the last two games and was due for a cold shooting performance after scoring 15 or more points in two of the last three games. Despite an off-shooting night for Lukosius, the wing finished with a team-high five assists and did a fantastic job creating for guys like Thomas and Skillings.

Viktor Lakhin: The Russian big man was held to just seven points on 3-of-5 shooting in 24 minutes of action. Lakhin fouled out with nearly three minutes to go and was haunted by an early technical foul after his emotions got the best of him in the contest. That ended up being a huge blow for the Bearcats down the stretch.

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