By Stretch Jenkinson

3 26 2024

GAME BOOK

https://gobearcats.com/documents/2024/3/27/UC_at_Indiana_State.pdf

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State’s 3-pointer with 1:01 left served as the game-winner, and the Cincinnati men’s basketball team fell 85-81 in the NIT Quarterfinals on Tuesday night.

Indiana State moved to 31-6, while the Bearcats finished 22-15.

Simas Lukosius’ banked 3-pointer from the wing with nine seconds left not only pulled UC within 82-80 but also put him past the 1,000-career-point threshold. Following a 1-of-2 trip at the foul line by ISU, Lukosius was fouled in the backcourt as his shot hit the rim. It was called on the floor, and his intentional miss was not rebounded in time.

The UC defense forced a 1-for-8 stretch that allowed the Bearcats to tie it at 77 on Lukosius’ trey with 2:54 left.

Several major offensive bursts in the second half told the story of the game after UC led 36-32 at the half.

Cincinnati made its first five field goals (the last a Lukosius triple) and six free-throws over the first 5:42. While it gained its largest lead of the night at eight 48-40 and 50-42, the Sycamores also started 7-for-10 and knocked down two deep balls to force a Cincinnati timeout at 14:07, leading 53-49.

A sequence of five-straight made 3-pointers, with three by Indiana State, helped it to a 59-all draw at 11:04.

Indiana State regained the lead at 9:41, its first since 13:12 of the first half, but Jizzle James nailed a mid-range jumper to put UC back ahead.

Indiana State took a nine-point lead at 7:17 on an 8-0 run, helped by a Wes Miller technical foul arguing a push on Aziz Bandaogo’s dunk attempt, but it fueled the Bearcats. They responded with an alley-oop and triple to pull within 74-70 at 5:47, and ISU called timeout.

James’ steal and subsequent pass and fastbreak dunk to Dan Skillings Jr. gave UC a 25-20 lead at 7:19 and forced an ISU timeout, the largest separation by either team.

Jamille Reynolds gave Cincinnati his biggest boost of the postseason, blocking a layup and hitting his third 3-pointer of the season. Cincinnati had missed its last four shots before that bucket gave it a 34-30 lead late in the first half.

FROM WES MILLER
“Congratulations to Indiana State. They’re a very good basketball team. I’m certainly disappointed in the outcome. We were in position to win the game. I was really proud with how our guys prepared and how they came ready to play. We just couldn’t close it out, and we’ve been in that situation a lot this year. It’s frustrating to end like that. Listen, we did some really good things, especially short-handed and some guys playing a lot of minutes, and I thought they handled that very well. I didn’t like the way we defended in the second half. We didn’t get back in transition as well as we should, something we did well in the first half. Indiana State shot the three well in the second half. I’m proud to be the coach of this team, I’m excited about the future of this program, and this group did a lot to set this foundation that I’ll remember forever.”

NOTABLE
–Jizzle James minutes played a career-high 39 minutes after 38 against Bradley on Saturday, his first-career start.
-With 21 points on the heels of 25 against the Braves, he ended the season with his two highest-scoring games.
-Dan Skillings collected his third double-double of the season (No. 10 Iowa State, Stetson) and fourth of his career.
-Skillings ended the season with eight-straight double-figure scoring games.
-Simas Lukosius averaged 23.7 ppg over the three NIT contests, including 19-for-37 (51.4 percent) from deep.

COURTESY UC SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS