3 keys to Cincinnati’s upset of No. 12 BYU in both teams’ 1st Big 12 game

Visiting Cincinnati pulled off an upset in its first Big 12 game, surprising 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 grab a 57-51 lead and handed the Cougars (0-1, 12-2) their first loss since Dec. 16.

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.

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Announced attendance for BYU’s Big 12 opener was 16,879.

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Here are 3 keys to Cincinnati’s road victory:

• BYU’s Trevin Knell hit nine 3-pointers, tied for second-most in school history, but in the second half everybody in blue and white went cold while the Bearcats heated up after a miserable first half.

After Richie Saunders made a layup and was fouled, the Cougars had nine straight empty possessions and Cincinnati went on a 10-0 run to take control. 

In a battle of the top two rebounding teams in the country, Cincinnati grabbed 44 caroms, compared to 37 for BYU.

• Down the stretch, BYU didn’t have a go-to guy to stop the bleeding and couldn’t regain the lead after leading by as many as 10 points early in the second half. Jaxson Robinson, BYU’s leading scorer, was held to five points on 2 of 7 shooting.

Of BYU’s 30 shot attempts in the first half, 22 were from 3-point range and only eight were from inside the arc. BYU had no inside presence, while former Utah Valley star Aziz Bandaogo and company dominated in the paint for Cincinnati.

• The Cougars came out firing and led by as many as 10 points in the first half because Cincinnati (28%) was even colder and more turnover-prone (13 in the first half).

The Bearcats had scoring droughts of nearly seven and five minutes in the first half before heating up a bit to trail just 31-24 at the break.

Bottom line was when the Cougars had a chance to put some distance between them 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.