Cincinnati’s Simas Lukosius comes up big in win over Colorado

Simas Lukosius poured in 16 points that included two 3-pointers in the final two minutes as Cincinnati outlasted Colorado 68-62 on Wednesday in a Big 12 Conference dustup in Boulder, Colo.

The Bearcats (11-5, 1-4 Big 12) led by seven points at halftime and by 12 five and a half minutes into the second half. Colorado rallied, taking its first and only lead of the game at 51-50 on a layup by Trevor Baskin. Lukosius then hit two 3-pointers around a dunk by Dillon Mitchell, with the second deep jumper with 1:46 to play giving Colorado a 60-53 lead.

Cincinnati's Aziz Bandaogo hit two free throws with 1:04 remaining before a 3-pointer by Bangot Dak with 50 seconds left trimmed the margin to four points.

The teams traded free throws over the final 49 seconds, with a pair from Jizzle James and then two more from Josh Reed, the latter with 22 seconds to play, providing the Bearcats enough of a cushion for the victory, their first in league play.

Mitchell added 11 points for Cincinnati while Dan Skillings Jr. and Day Day Thomas scored 10 each and Bandaogo pulled down 10 rebounds.

Dak was the only Buffaloes player in double figures, scoring a career-high 19 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Colorado (9-7, 0-5) is now the only team remaining without a win in Big 12 play.

The Bearcats set the pace early, scoring the first six points and eventually pushing their lead to 17-7 when Bandaogo tipped in a miss by Lukosius at the 10:30 mark of the first half.

The Buffaloes trailed 29-23 with 4:58 left in the first but then went more than three minutes without a field goal. Despite the offensive swoon, Colorado's defense kept it in the game, limiting the Bearcats to just five points over the final 4:36 of the half. The Buffaloes cut the Cincinnati lead to 34-27 at the break.

Dak led all scorers with 10 points before halftime while Skillings had seven points to pace the Bearcats.

The Buffaloes trailed by seven before Dak capped a six-point run with a block and then a jumper from the top of the key to cut the margin to 50-49 with 5:16 left to play.

--Field Level Media