No. 22 Cincinnati beats Xavier 68-65 and snaps a 5-game losing streak against its crosstown rival

CINCINNATI (AP) — Simas Lukosius scored 14 points and Aziz Bandaogo added 12 as No. 22 Cincinnati held off crosstown rival Xavier 68-65 on Saturday.

Cincinnati (8-1) rallied late to snap a five-game losing streak against the Musketeers (8-3).

Ryan Conwell completed a four-point play to cut Xavier’s deficit to 66-65 with 13.8 seconds left. The Bearcats’ Jizzle James hit two free throws to make it 68-65 with 13 seconds. Xavier’s Zach Freemantle missed a potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Freemantle scored 18 points and Conwell had 17 for the Musketeers.

Freemantle scored 16 of his points in the first half, including a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer, giving the Musketeers a 31-30 lead.

Conwell’s 3-pointer extended the Musketeers’ lead to 53-46 with 7:50 remaining.

Cincinnati countered with a 12-1 , and a jumper by Lukosius put the Bearcats ahead 59-56.

Takeaways

Xavier: The Musketeers have owned the series in recent years, winning five straight before Saturday. Xavier has won nine of 12, and 13 of the last 18 games.

Cincinnati: The Bearcats have relied heavily on 3-point shooting this season, but they beat Xavier despite shooting 5 for 20 from long range.

Key moment

Lukosius had been 0 for 5 from 3-point range before he made his first from long range to get the Bearcats within two points with 5:56 remaining.

Key stat

With 15 minutes remaining, the Musketeers had outscored Cincinnati 20-14 in the paint, with all of the Bearcats’ points coming on lob passes for dunks. The Bearcats did much better in the second half and ended up outscoring Xavier 34-30 in the paint.

Up next

Xavier plays at No. 18 UConn on Wednesday, while Cincinnati plays Dayton on Friday at Heritage Bank Center.

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