Cincinnati hands Baylor third straight loss thanks to late 3

Field Level Media|published: Tue 25th February, 21:52 2025

Feb 25, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jizzle James (2) drives to the basket against Baylor Bears guard VJ Edgecombe (7) in the first half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Jizzle James scored 18 points and Day Day Thomas hit a huge 3-pointer late in the game for the deciding points as host Cincinnati outlasted Baylor 69-67 on Tuesday in a Big 12 Conference game.

Cincinnati (17-11, 7-10 Big 12) led by 13 points at halftime before surrendering the front with 8:12 to play after a torrid Bears comeback spearheaded by freshman V.J. Edgecombe. The Bearcats built their advantage back to six points with six minutes to play but Baylor again pulled to within a bucket on a 3-pointer with 4:21 left.

Thomas canned a long 3-pointer with 1:55 to expand the Cincinnati lead to 69-64. Baylor countered with a third-chance 3-pointer by Edgecombe with 54 seconds left to get back within two points.

After empty possessions by both teams, Edgecombe missed a contested driving shot with 6 seconds to play. A held ball on the rebound gave the ball back to Cincinnati with 1.5 seconds left, and the Bearcats held on.

Dillon Mitchell finished with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds for Cincinnati, while Josh Reed had 11 points and Thomas scored 10.

Edgecombe led Baylor (16-12, 8-9 Big 12) with 18 points with Norchad Omier adding 15 points and 10 boards. The Bears have dropped three straight games.

The Bearcats led early on before Baylor swung back, going up 22-17 at the 10:12 mark of the first half when Robert Wright poured in a second-chance 3-pointer. Cincinnati answered, reeling off the ensuing nine points with the run capped with a trey by Mitchell with 7:54 to play in the half.

The Bearcats stoked the margin to 35-24 after back-to-back 3-pointers by James and Simas Lukosius while they held Baylor without a field goal (and just two free throws) for nearly eight minutes.

Omier's hook shot with 2:17 left ended that streak without a bucket, but his points were immediately countered with a layup and then a turnaround jumper by Reed to grant Cincinnati a 39-26 lead at the break.

Reed and James scored nine points apiece for the Bearcats before halftime. Jeremy Roach's six points led the anemic Baylor offense in the first half.

Baylor whittled its deficit to nine points on a Langston Love 3-pointer four minutes into the second half. They briefly grabbed the lead at 57-56 after Edgecombe's third 3-pointer of the half with 8:13 remaining.

--Field Level Media