CINCINNATI (AP) — Dan Skillings Jr.’s go-ahead layup with 22 seconds left in overtime lifted Cincinnati to an 81-77 victory over No. 19 TCU on Tuesday night.
Day Day Thomas scored 21 points and John Newman III had 20 to lead the Bearcats.
Trevian Tennyson scored 17 and Emanuel Miller had 15 for TCU (13-4, 2-2 Big 12), which had just entered the rankings this week following wins over Oklahoma and Houston.
Cincinnati (13-4, 2-2) faced its fourth consecutive ranked opponent for the first time since the 1993-94 season, winning 71-60 at No. 12 BYU and losing to No. 12 Texas and No. 14 Baylor by a combined four points.
After Skillings Jr.’s layup put the Bearcats ahead 79-77, Thomas sealed the win with a pair of free throws.
The Horned Frogs began the game by making four of five 3-point attempts. Miller’s 3-pointer put them ahead 23-13.
TCU led by 11 points in the first half, but the Bearcats cut the deficit to 33-32 at halftime.
Cincinnati grabbed its first lead with 17:05 remaining on a layup by Newman III.
The Bearcats went more than three minutes without a field goal and TCU responded with a 12-2 run.
Tennyson made two straight 3-point attempts to give TCU a 50-43 lead.
But every time it appeared TCU was going to pull away, the Bearcats fought back.
Viktor Lakhin’s jumper cut the Horned Frogs’ lead to 64-62 with two minutes remaining to set up a wild finish to regulation.
Thomas’ layup tied the score 67-67 with 13 seconds left.
Each team had a chance to take the lead at the free-throw line in the final seconds. But Skillings Jr. missed two attempts for Cincinnati and Ernest Udeh Jr. missed one for TCU, sending the game into overtime.
Cincinnati leads the all-time series 6-0. It was the first meeting since 2005 when both schools were members of Conference USA.
BIG PICTURE:
TCU: The Horned Frogs defeated consecutive ranked opponents for the first time in program history with wins over No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 5 Houston last week. Those wins came after an 83-81 loss at No. 3 Kansas.
Cincinnati: Offensive rebounding has been a trademark of Bearcats teams dating to when Bob Huggins was coach, and that continues under Wes Miller. The Bearcats rank 10th nationally and second in the Big 12 in offensive rebounding.
UP NEXT
TCU: Hosts Iowa State on Saturday.
Cincinnati: Hosts No. 15 Oklahoma on Saturday.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
