Mitchell helps No. 13 seed Cincy cruise past No. 12 seed Oklahoma St 87-68 in Big 12 tourney opener
Mitchell helps No. 13 seed Cincy cruise past No. 12 seed Oklahoma St 87-68 in Big 12 tourney opener
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Dillon Mitchell had 18 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, Day Day Thomas scored 21 points, and No. 13 seed Cincinnati cruised to an 87-68 victory over No. 12 seed Oklahoma State to open the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday.
Josh Reed added 19 points and Dan Skillings Jr. scored 13 on an array of high-flying dunks, sending the Bearcats (18-14) into the second round against fifth-seeded Iowa State on Wednesday.
Cincinnati won 10 of its first 11 games and climbed as high as No. 14 in the AP Top 25 before struggling in conference play. The Bearcats lost their first four Big 12 games and endured another four-game skid in late January and early February.
They played more like a ranked team on Tuesday, though, in avenging a loss to Oklahoma State (15-17) in Stillwater last weekend. The Bearcats opened a 38-26 lead by halftime and never allowed the Cowboys to get within 10 the rest of the way.
Oklahoma State went most of the way without top scorer and rebounder Abou Ousmane, who played a mere nine minutes before he fouled out by drawing a technical foul in the second half. The senior finished with just four points and one rebound.
Connor Dow hit four 3-pointers and had a career-best 12 points to lead the Cowboys.
Takeaways
Cincinnati needs to pick up a couple of more wins — if not win the whole tourney — to make the NCAA Tournament field.
Oklahoma State: Steve Lutz had never lost a conference tournament game as a Division I head coach until Tuesday. The first-year Cowboys coach had been 8-0 in the Southland at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Conference USA with Western Kentucky.
Key moment
The Bearcats led 46-34 with 16:30 left when they scored nine straight points, the last four on back-to-back turnovers that led to run-out layups.
Key stats
The Cowboys picked up two technical fouls in the game. Arturo Dean got one for arguing with officials in the first half.
Up next
Cincinnati will play the 12th-ranked Cyclones in the first game of Wednesday’s second round.
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