By Henry Rawn
1 21 2025
CINCINNATI – Texas Tech knocked down 12 threes and poured in 32 bench points, defeating the Cincinnati men’s basketball team, 81-71, at Fifth Third Arena on Tuesday night.
The Red Raiders excelled from behind the arc, shooting 39 percent (12-of-31, including 8-of-17 in the first half) while recording 10 offensive boards.
Cincinnati shot 52% (27-of-52) from the field and tallied 40 points in the paint. JT Toppin led the way with 20 points for Texas Tech, shooting 9-of-15 from the field, while Christian Anderson (18), Chance McMillian (15) and Kevin Overrton (14) also reached double figures.
Jizzle James shined for the Bearcats, recording 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting, his best game in Big 12 play. Dillon Mitchell added 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and had three blocks.
With 6:16 remaining in the game, Simas Lukosius sparked the crowd with a steal that set up a transition slam by James, electrifying Fifth Third Arena. Moments later, a clutch three-pointer by freshman wing Tyler Betsey brought the arena to its feet as the Bearcats trimmed the deficit to five, making it 68-63.
Texas Tech responded with a quick 7-0 run, putting the Red Raiders up by 12, quieting the Fifth Third crowd with 3:42 remaining. Cincinnati was held at bay for the remainder of the game.
Cincinnati shot 60% in the first half, but Texas Tech connected on 8-of-17 3-pointers to take a 42-38 halftime lead. After starting 1-of-8, the Red Raiders caught fire behind Overton and Anderson, who combined for 25 points at the break.
James had a strong first-half performance, tallying 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting at the half.
With 13:24 remaining in the first half, senior Day Day Thomas came off the bench and immediately provided a spark for the Bearcats with four quick points, putting the Bearcats up 12-5.
FROM WES MILLER
“Needless to say, I’m disappointed. It was a big opportunity here at home against a good team, and we didn’t do our part. They’re a very, very good offensive team. I believe we have the ability to be a great defensive team. We didn’t defend tonight. Our offense is continuing to find its rhythm and improve. There were some good moments tonight. Obviously, I don’t like how we executed in the last two and a half minutes of the game, three minutes of the game, I was very frustrated with that. The defense didn’t hold fort tonight, generally defensively when you’re geared up, your deflection numbers look right the offensive rebounding is consistent with defensive effort because it’s just movement to the ball and effort to the ball loose balls. We didn’t win those battles tonight and that was very frustrating.
“Some positive stuff… AP [Arrinten Page] is sitting right here. He’s starting to grow as a young player. We’ve been talking about some little things that he can do to be more effective. He was very effective in his minutes. Tyler Betsey had a couple of good moments there. That’s really important, He was effective. We need those young guys to keep coming, to give us depth and they’re very gifted to make an impact. So that was positive, proud of those two, you know. And it was good to see the lid come off for Jizzle James, you know, it’s been, been a stretch for him. So, it’s good to see him make some shots.”
Arrinten Page on his recent play, including nine points in 10 minutes
“I would say that coach has made my role more clear. So it’s easier for me to go onto the floor and know what I have to do to help my team win…me being aggressive down in the post can really help our team.”
UP NEXT
Cincinnati hits the road for a five-day road swing in Utah against BYU at 10:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and Utah on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET.
COURTESY UC SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS
