Visiting Cincinnati pulled off an upset in its first Big 12 game, stunning No. 12 BYU 71-60 at the Marriott Center on Saturday night.
BYU led by as many as 10 points in both halves, but the Bearcats (1-0, 12-2) went on a 10-0 run midway through the second half to take a 57-51 lead, leaving the Cougars (0 -1). 1, 12-2) their first loss since December 16th.
Cincinnati overcame BYU's 13 3-pointers – on 46 attempts – by going 19 of 24 from the free throw line. The Cougars, who shoot fewer free throws than any team in the country, were just 5 of 10 from the charity stripe.
The announced attendance for BYU's Big 12 opener was 16,879.
Here are 3 keys to Cincinnati's away win:
• BYU's Trevin Knell made nine 3-pointers, second-most in school history, but everyone in blue and white went cold in the second half as the Bearcats heated up after a miserable first half.
After Richie Saunders made a layup and was fouled, the Cougars had nine consecutive empty possessions and Cincinnati went on a 10-0 run to take control.
In a battle of the two best rebounding teams in the country, Cincinnati grabbed 44 caroms compared to 37 for BYU.
• BYU had no one to stop the bleeding down the stretch and was unable to regain the lead after leading by as many as 10 points early in the second half. Jaxson Robinson, BYU's leading scorer, had five points on 2 of 7 shooting.
Of BYU's 30 shot attempts in the first half, 22 came from 3-point range and only eight came from inside. BYU had no interior presence while former Utah Valley star Aziz Bandaogo and Co. dominated Cincinnati's team.
• The Cougars came away with flying colors, leading by as many as 10 points in the first half as Cincinnati (28%) was even colder and more turnover-prone (13 in the first half).
The Bearcats had a losing streak of nearly seven and five minutes in the first half before improving a bit and only trailing 31-24 at halftime.
Conclusion: When the Cougars had a chance to put some distance between themselves and the visitors in the first half and early in the second half, they couldn't do it.
Viktor Lakhin led the Bearcats with 17 points.