By Henry Rawn

3 11 2025

GAME NOTES

https://gobearcats.com/documents/2025/3/10/2024-25_B12T_Game_Notes_vs._OSU.pdf

KANSAS CITY — The 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships kicks off Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. ET with Cincinnati and Oklahoma State battling for the second-straight game, this time from the T-Mobile Center.

THE RUNDOWN

• For the second-straight year, Cincinnati’s opening-round matchup of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship is a rematch of its regular-season finale.
• Last year’s contest featured a spell-binding 20-4 run over 4:21 to eventually win, 90-85 over West Virginia. Simas Lukosius’ 31 and Day Day Thomas’ 29 points were both career-highs. UC defeated the Mountaineers, 92-56, three days prior on Senior Day.
• The Bearcats are 3-2 in the T-Mobile Center under Wes Miller, which includes two of his six ranked wins, and both of those were by 20 points (2021-22 against No. 14 Illinois and last year in the Big 12 Tourney against No. 16 Kansas).
• UC turned an 18-point deficit into a one-point game with 4:06 left, but Oklahoma State finished on a 12-2 run to win, 78-67, on Saturday in Stillwater.
• Jizzle James has scored in double-figures for 10-straight games. He and Thomas have been the team’s top two scorers in five of the last seven contests. His 2.09 assist-turnover ratio is fifth in the league.
• Skillings, a freak on the boards (especially offense) did not have a rebound for only the fourth time in his 95 career games, though he still managed to have a highly versatile performance. His 15 points were his most since Jan. 7, the end of a three-game streak of 18 points to open league play, and he added a season-high four assists with two steals and a block.
• Thomas scored in double-figures only twice until assuming the starting job for good on Feb. 2. He is shooting a team-high 37.8 percent from deep, up from 28.0 last year.
• Oklahoma State’s nine 3-point attempts were the fewest by an opponent in Miller’s four years, though it made seven. UC was uncharacteristic with 13 turnovers, falling to still only 30th nationally with 10.0 per game.
• Bandaogo had eight points and eight boards with three blocks Saturday. He averaged 5.3 rpg in non-conference but was 6.7 over the league slate. He has seven games of three or more blocks this year, ranking fifth in the Big 12 with 1.5 per game, and he had four in only 15 minutes versus Baylor in last year’s quarterfinal.
• UC is 4-3 in conference tournaments under Miller, and he led UNC Greensboro to a three-game sweep and title in the 2020-21 season, his last there.

CONFERENCE TOURNEY OUTINGS

• Several Bearcats have had notable outings on this stage in their careers, whether it be before or during their time in the Red and Black.
• Simas Lukosius scored 27 points as a freshman in the 2022 Big East Tournament First Round, which included 12 points in overtime alone to eliminate Xavier, and 23 against St. John’s as a sophomore in Butler’s first-round loss the following season. His career-high 31 points came in UC’s opener against West Virginia last year.
• Thomas’ career-high 29 points came in that same first-round game, meaning he and Lukosius combined for 60 of UC’s 90 points.
• Dillon Mitchell had 13 points (6-of-6 shooting) with six rebounds and two assists for Texas to defeat K-State last year.
• Skillings averaged 17.7 ppg over the Bearcats’ three contests in Kansas City last year, including 25 with seven boards in practically a road game blowout over No. 16 Kansas. His first 20-point game came against Temple as a freshman in 2023, which was also his fourth double-digit scoring game.

SERIES HISTORY

• Last year saw UC erase a seven-point, second-half deficit, but Oklahoma State shot 56 percent to out-duel Cincinnati, 80-76, in Fifth Third Arena on Feb. 21.
• Oklahoma State has 13 newcomers to this year’s team, so that result had no bearing on last Saturday’s matchup.
• The prior meeting between the teams came during an interesting seven-game stretch for the Bearcats in 2002-03.
• They lost three C-USA games in a row before toppling the No. 11 Cowboys at home on Feb. 9, then lost two more before defeating No. 4 Louisville, 101-81. That matchup pitted coaching legends Bob Huggins against Eddie Sutton.
• OSU won the previous meeting, which was the 2001-02 season opener in Stillwater.
• The first two meetings came during the 1957-58 season as juggernauts of the Big 8 and Missouri Valley Conference, with the home team taking each one.

COURTESY UC SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS