Cincinnati upends No. 15 Texas Tech 75-72 after Lukosius's go-ahead jumper with 21 seconds left
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Simas Lukosius scored 16 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 21 seconds left, and Cincinnati beat 15th-ranked Texas Tech 75-72 on Saturday night, handing the Red Raiders their first home loss this season.
The 14-footer by Lukosius was the 14th and final lead change of the game, which also had eight ties. That gave the Bearcats (15-7, 4-5 Big 12) a 73-72 lead right after Pop Isaacs made a long defended step-back 3-pointer to put the Red Raiders ahead for the final time.
“They were efficient with the shots they were getting … Lukosius made the difference for the team,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said.
Isaacs, who finished with a game-high 22 points for Texas Tech (16-5, 5-3), missed a potential go-ahead jumper with nine seconds left. The sophomore guard was 5 of 19 shooting from the field with three made 3-pointers, and 9 of 12 on free throws.
“Man, he’s about as good as an offensive player as I’ve seen on the perimeter in college basketball this year,” Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said. “He's a tough, tough cover.”
Robert Jennings added 14 points for the Red Raiders, and Kerwin Walton had 12.
Dan Skillings Jr. grabbed the game's final rebound and passed ahead to breaking John Newman III for a slam dunk, though Isaacs then had a longer than half-court shot ricochet off the front rim as time expired.
Skillings had 14 points and Newman 11 for Cincinnati. Aziz Bandaogo had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bearcats entered the game ranked last in the 14-team Big 12 making only 66.7% of their free throws. They converted on all 10 of their attempts against Texas Tech, including eight in the second half.
“We were not as bad of a free-throw shooting team as the percentages say," Miller said. "We just had some strange things happen on the free-throw line. ... You’re gonna have to do some good things. To tend to the free-throw line was humongous.”
BIG PICTURE
Cincinnati: The Big 12 newcomer won on the road against a Top 25 team for the second time this season, the first time in 10 years the Bearcats have done that. They won at then-No. 12 BYU 71-60 on Jan. 6.
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders had won their first 11 home games in McCasland's first season. They have now lost consecutive games overall for the first time, after an 85-78 loss at No. 25 TCU last Tuesday.
TOURNEY TIME
The two teams had met only once before their first game as Big 12 foes. That was in a Midwest Regional game of the 1961 NCAA Tournament, then a 24-team event, when Cincinnati won on the way to winning the first of their back-to-back national titles.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
After jumping five spots in the AP Top 25 each of the last two weeks, the Red Raiders will definitely fall this week — possibly all the way out of the poll.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati has only one game next week, at home against fourth-ranked Houston on Saturday.
Texas Tech plays at 18th-ranked Baylor on Tuesday night.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
