• Basketball
  • Baylor Bears Overcome A Slow Start Against Cincinnati To Beat The Bearcats, 68-56

Baylor Bears Overcome A Slow Start Against Cincinnati To Beat The Bearcats, 68-56

Details
Basketball

Overcoming another slow start, missing their first nine shots and falling behind 12-3, the 14th-ranked Baylor Bears hit eight in a row at one point in the second half and pulled away for a 68-56 win over Cincinnati in Thursday's Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals at the T-Mobile Center.

"It was a huge team effort, lot of guys in double figures," said point guard RayJ Dennis, who scored 11 of his game-high 13 points in the second half, when the Bears (23-9) outscored the 11th-seeded Bearcats (20-14) by 14 points, 44-30. "Caleb Lohner was huge for us. He kept us within touch."

Playing his most minutes against a conference opponent this year, Lohner had five points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench, hitting his only field goal attempt and 3-of-4 from the line.
Scoreless in the first half, Jalen Bridges finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine boards. Freshmen Yves Missi and Ja'Kobe Walter scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, doing most of that damage in the second half with a combined 17 points.

Jayden Nunn didn't reach double figures, but the VCU transfer had nine points, five steals, four rebounds and two assists with only one turnover in 32 minutes.
Trailing for most of the first half and down 26-24 at the break, the Bears took the lead for good on a Dennis bucket just over three minutes into the second half and went on a 12-2 run to go up 47-33 on a Dennis trey with 11:31 left in the game.

The Bearkats, who upset 16th-ranked but shorthanded Kansas, 72-52, Wednesday night, were led by Dan Skillings Jr. with a game-high 15 points. John Newman III and Jizzle James, the son of former NFL running back Edgerrin James, scored 12 points apiece.

Baylor advances to Friday's 8:30 p.m. semifinal versus seventh-ranked and second-seeded Iowa State (25-7), which dominated Kansas State, 76-57, in the other evening quarterfinal game.

In an all-scratch semifinal round, top-ranked Houston (29-3) will face fourth-seeded and 25th-ranked Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Friday, with the championship set for 5 p.m. Saturday.