Cincinnati bounces No. 16 Kansas from Big 12 tourney

Field Level Media|published: Thu 14th March, 24:06 2024

Cincinnati Bearcats guard Day Day Thomas (1) hits a 3-point basket as Kansas Jayhawks guard Elmarko Jackson (13) defends in the first half of the Big 12 Conference tournament game between Cincinnati Bearcats and Kansas Jayhawks at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. credits: Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Dan Skillings scored a game-high 25 points as Cincinnati defeated Kansas 72-52 in the final game of the Big 12 Championship second round Wednesday night.

The 11th-seeded Bearcats (20-13) advanced to the quarterfinal, where they will face No. 3 seed Baylor on Thursday night.

Sixth-seeded and 16th-ranked Kansas (22-10) played without leading scorer Kevin McCullar Jr., who has missed five full games and parts of several others with a bone bruise on his left knee, and second-leading scorer Hunter Dickinson, who separated his right shoulder in the last game.

Kansas coach Bill Self is confident that both will return for next week's NCAA Tournament, but they were obviously missed against the Bearcats.

Cincinnati also got 12 points from John Newman, 11 from Jizzle James and 10 from Simas Lukosius.

KJ Adams Jr. had 22 points for the Jayhawks, who shot 33.9 percent (21 of 62) from the field for the game.

After trailing 38-25 at the half, Kansas got back into the game with a 7-0 run to start the second half — including the Jayhawks' first 3-pointer of the game. Kansas got as close as 40-38 at the 13:29 mark, but they were not able to tie the game.

When Lukosius hit a 3-pointer with 8:02 left, the Bearcats once again led by double digits, 53-42. Kansas never got closer than nine the rest of the way.

Cincinnati took control early as Kansas appeared disinterested. The Bearcats led 12-11 before they went on a 7-0 run. They eventually led by 17 points (36-19) before heading into the locker room with the 13-point lead.

Kansas couldn't find the basket in the first half, shooting just 10 of 29 (34.5 percent. They missed all eight of their 3-point attempts in the first half. Adams led the Jayhawks with 10 points, but none of his teammates had more than five.

Skillings led a balanced scoring attack for Cincinnati with 10 points in the opening frame. Three other players had at least six as the Bearcats were 5-for-12 from 3-point range — a better percentage than they shot from inside the arc. The Bearcats also outrebounded the Jayhawks 24-18 in the half.

—David Smale, Field Level Media