CINCINNATI — The Bearcats finally had a dramatic ending they could live with.
The No. 22 Bearcats rallied from a seven-point deficit in the second half to beat their crosstown rival Xavier Musketeers, 68-65, Saturday in another epic edition of the rivalry on Cincinnati’s campus.
Simas Lukosius had 11 of his team-leading 14 points in the second half for Cincinnati (8-1), which snapped a five-game losing streak to its longtime city rival. Dillon Mitchell added 11 points and 10 rebounds while Aziz Bandaogo was a force inside with three dunks and a layup to finish with 12 points.
Xavier’s Ryan Conwell drained a three-pointer with 16.3 seconds left and was fouled. He drained the free throw to cut the Cincinnati lead to 66-65. Jizzle James hit a pair of free throws with 13.8 seconds left to push the lead back to three.
Zach Freemantle had 16 of his team-leading 18 points in the first half while Conwell added 17 points for Xavier (8-3), which must put this loss behind them with Big East games ahead this week against two-time define UConn and No. 6 Marquette. Freemantle’s potential game-tying three hit the back iron and bounced off as time expired.
THERE GOES THE ROOF OF FIFTH THIRD ARENA pic.twitter.com/iF59fwCGdl
— Cincinnati Men’s Hoops (@GoBearcatsMBB) December 14, 2024
Conwell drilled a three to give the Musketeers their biggest lead, 53-46, with 7:50 left. Lukosius then ignited an 11-2 run with a layup and a three before Dan Skillings Jr.’s layup with 3:22 left gave the Bearcats their first lead since early in the second half.
Cincinnati, which entered with the fourth-lowest free throw percentage in the country, at 59.4 percent, was 19-of-26 from the line to help them overcome the second-half deficit.
The 92nd edition of Cincinnati’s crosstown college rivalry didn’t disappoint as the schools separated by just three miles met on Cincinnati’s campus and the crowd was on its feet for the opening minutes and for the final five minutes of another hotly contested matchup.
The Bearcats used an early 10-0 run to take a 20-13 lead and built their advantage up to nine, 25-16, on Arrinten Page’s dunk with 7:08 left in the first half. Cincinnati dominated inside with four dunks and a layup.
But Xavier answered with stifling defense, holding Cincinnati without a field goal over the final 7:08 of the first half while going on a 15-5 run. The Xavier surge was led by Freemantle, who drained a three at the buzzer to give him 16 points in the opening 20 minutes and stake the Musketeers to a 31-30 halftime lead.
Cincinnati missed their final nine shots of the half, with their last nine points coming from the free throw line. The Bearcats were just 8-for-29 in the first half while Xavier wasn’t much better at 11-for-29.
Dailyn Swain’s three capped a 6-0 Xavier run to give the Musketeers a 39-34 lead just three minutes into the second half. Cincinnati answered to tie the game, 42-42, four minutes later.
UC finally vanquishes Xavier 68-65. pic.twitter.com/rlkv7sjqsu
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) December 14, 2024
