Sophomore guard Dan Skillings Jr. scored 25 points to lead the 11th-seeded Cincinnati men's basketball team to a 72-52 victory over sixth-seeded and No. 16 Kansas on Wednesday night at the T-Mobile Center.

The Bearcats improved to 20-13 overall and 2-0 in their first-ever Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. Cincinnati, with its 41st 20-win season, will face third-seeded and No. 14 Baylor on Thursday night in the conference tournament quarterfinals at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

Kansas packed the stands for a de facto home game in Kansas City. Still, Cincinnati withstood a second-half run to match the most lopsided loss for the Jayhawks ever in the Big 12 Tournament.
 
Skillings made 10 field goals on a career-high 23 attempts, while sixth-year wing John Newman III secured a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds). Freshman guard Jizzle James (11 points) and junior wing Simas Lukosius (10 points) also reached double figures.
 
Cincinnati dominated the glass, holding a 49-38 edge on the boards.

The Jayhawks dropped to 22-10 on the season. Kansas has won the most Big 12 Tournament titles (11) all-time.
 
The Bearcats held a commanding 38-25 lead at halftime, but missed 14 of their first 15 field goal attempts of the second half to allow the Jayhawks to cut the UC lead to 2, 40-38, with 13 minutes left in the game.
 
Cincinnati never surrendered the lead, however, with Skillings and Newman making winning plays down the stretch.
 
After Kansas forward KJ Adams Jr. (22 points) cut the Cincinnati advantage to three, James drilled a second-chance jumper and Skillings Jr. buried a trey to put Cincinnati in front 48-40 with just over nine minutes left.
 
A trey by Lukosius extended the Cincinnati lead to 53-42 less than a minute later.
 
After a Newman corner triple, the sixth-year wing found Skillings Jr. for a two-handed alley-oop dunk to put Cincinnati ahead 58-44 with 5:46 left.
  
Skillings paced Cincinnati early, playing aggressive and scoring eight points in the game's first seven minutes.
 
After Kansas freshman Elmarko Jackson took the ball coast-to-coast for a two-handed dunk, Skillings Jr. answered with a jumper that sparked a 7-0 run for the Bearcats.
 
James scored five straight on a layup and 3-pointer to put Cincinnati ahead 19-11, which forced Kansas head coach Bill Self to call a timeout at the 11:05 mark in the first half.
 
The Jayhawks answered with five quick points, including a 3-point play from Adams Jr. to bring KU within 3, but the Jayhawks went on a field goal drought of more than six minutes, missing eight consecutive shots.
 
Cincinnati took advantage with Lukosius, Thomas and Newman burying 3-pointers and Skillings Jr. and center Jamille Reynolds making layups as part of a 17-3 run to put the Bearcats in front 36-19 with two minutes left in the first half.
 
UP NEXT  
No. 11 seed Cincinnati moves on to play No. 3 seed Baylor at 9:30 p.m. ET on Thursday in the Big 12 Championships Quarterfinals at the T-Mobile Center.

NOTABLE
-Cincinnati leads Kansas 5-4 all-time, one of seven programs to claim the feat while playing KU eight or more times.
-Cincinnati held Kansas to 3-of-20 shooting from deep, matching its home game against Houston for fewest allowed against a Big 12 team.
-Cincinnati is 19-6, and 15-6 this year, when Dan Skillings scores in double-figures.
-Skillings has five, 20-point games this season. Three of those were for 25 or more.
-John Newman III posted his second double-double of the season (also Houston). It was UC's ninth of the year.