CINCINNATI — One to build on.
Sean Miller watched his team respond to a three-game home losing streak by coming up with a thrilling win over their crosstown rival
Quincy Olivari scored 27 points while Abou Ousmane scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help host Xavier knock crosstown rival Cincinnati from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 84-79 win in the 91st edition of the series.
Olivari finished 6-for-8 from three-point range for Xavier (5-5), which snapped a three-game home losing streak and registered their fifth straight win in the series, which Cincinnati still leads, 51-40.
Dayvion McKnight, who finished with 20 points and eight rebounds, sealed the game with a 3-pointer with 1:35 left to put Xavier ahead, 75-68.
Jizzle James led Cincinnati (7-1) with 19 points while John Newman III had 18 points and eight rebounds. Viktor Lakhin added 17 points as Cincinnati remained winless at Cintas Center since their last win in 2001.
The tone was set early for another tense battle between the two teams, as Xavier’s Abou Ousmane and Cincinnati Aziz Bandaogo battled for a loose ball rebound under the Xavier basket in the opening two minutes.
The went into a frenzy as Desmond Claude drove in for a reverse layup on the ensuing jump ball possession to give Xavier a 4-2 lead, a lead they would hold for the rest of the first half.
Simas Lukosius returned from a one-game absence after being struck by a car on the Cincinnati campus on Dec. 1.
The Bearcats shot just 1-for-13 in the first half, including a pair of misses in the final 30 seconds as the Musketeers took a 35-27 lead to the locker room. Jizzle James kept the Bearcats in the game with 14 first-half points.
While neither team displayed efficient offense in the first half, the second half was more reflective of one of the nation’s great college basketball rivalries.
The frantic half began with the Bearcats going on a 16-5 run to take their first lead of the night. Cincinnati drove to the basket early and often in the second half and dominated in the paint.
But Olivari drained a pair of threes that capped a 10-0 run during a 17-4 Xavier surge that put the Musketeers back ahead by double figures, 57-47, with 11:24 left.
With the crowd at deafening levels after the Olivari threes and two unforced Cincinnati turnovers, the Bearcats scored the next five points.
Xavier built its biggest lead, 68-56, before Cincinnati scored eight straight, highlighted by a pair of blocks from Bandaogo, to close within four, 68-64.
