Game 15: Rock Bottom? Bearcats Put Up 40 Points In 54-40 Home Loss To Kansas Jayhawks

The Cincinnati men's basketball team trailed by one point late, but No. 11 Kansas scored 14 straight points to pull away down the stretch to win, 54-40, on Saturday at Fifth Third Arena.

The Bearcats (10-5 overall, 0-4 Big 12) were led by junior forward Dillon Mitchell (10 points) and post Arrinten Page, who scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.

Kansas was led by center Hunter Dickinson, who had a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards. The Jayhawks improved to 12-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference.

Mitchell's jumper with 7:33 left made the score 38-37, but Kansas responded with the game-defining run en route to victory.

Consecutive paint baskets by Kansas center Hunter Dickinson and Shakeel Moore put the Jayhawks ahead 42-37. KU guard Zeke Mayo made a layup and then intercepted a Day Day Thomas pass and found Moore for an alley-oop dunk that extended the lead to 46-37.

Mayo made another jumper and Kansas forward KJ Adams drilled two free throws to cap the run and give the visitors a 52-37 lead with 1:34 left.

Cincinnati's dry spell ended when reserve forward Josh Reed made a 3-pointer at the 1:15 mark. 

Reed (five points) combined with Page and guards CJ Fredrick and Thomas to give the Bearcats a spark off the bench. UC held a 16-10 edge in that category.

Cincinnati led 25-24 at halftime thanks to 18 points in the paint, including eight from Mitchell.

Cincinnati started the game on an 8-2 run with Mitchell skying for an alley-oop dunk for the game's first points.  

The Bearcats led by as many as seven in the first half after junior wing Dan Skillings Jr. scored five straight points to put UC in front 21-14 seven minutes before the break. Mitchell's one-handed slam extended Cincinnati's lead to 25-20, but Kansas' KJ Adams made a layup, and AJ Storr hit two free throws, cutting the Bearcats' lead to 1 at the half.  

FROM WES MILLER
"Needless to say, it's been disappointing couple of weeks, there's no doubt about that. Every part of our team and our program feels that disappointment, I thought our guys came out and played with the kind of energy and the kind of effort and the kind of approach that we should expect, and they played to our standard in that way, coming out of the gates, I was proud of that fight. They've responded well this week to a really disappointing game at Baylor because we didn't have that and I'm proud of that. I'm proud of the way they've stuck together, proud of the way that they're working. I'm proud of the way that they care. 

"We didn't make enough plays in the second half. At the end of the first half, and second half, we didn't make enough plays to get over the home tonight. It certainly was frustrating, because some of the mistakes that we made felt very controllable. Not only did they hurt us from converting offensively, they let the baskets on the other end, and that's where the game gets away from you. The offensive board for Kansas. What was a little frustrating there to start the second half, and at times, because we get them to miss, and we couldn't clear some defensive rebounds. Again, the way we finished the first half and some of those aspects of the second half, I'm very well aware of it. There's a little on it for us right now. We're not making shots and we're not converting. Well, even if we do get easy shots, it'll come off. We'll find our offensive rhythm again. We'll find our swagger again offensively."

Dillon Mitchell on the message within the team
“I think it's just all the little things and we have to stay together. I told the team the other day that we have 16 games left in the conference. I don't even think we've played that many games so far. There's still a lot of season left, and I think we just got to continue to stay together and keep working hard every day in practice, and then translate, bring what we do at practice to the game. It’s all the little details that we work on. I mean, there's so much basketball left, and we trust the coaches and trust each other. We know the shots are going to start to fall and when they do, everything's going to open up for us. We just have to continue to lock in, stay focused on the details and stay together. That is the biggest thing. It's all about the 15 other guys in that locker room and all the coaches. That's all that matters. There's a lot of basketball left. We just have to keep fighting and we will respond.” 

UP NEXT  
Cincinnati hits the road on Wednesday to face Colorado in Boulder, Colo., at 9 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ESPN+. The Bearcats return to Fifth Third Arena next Saturday, Jan. 18, to host Arizona State at 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.