What we learned from Cincinnati Bearcats Big 12 basketball loss at Baylor Bears

WACO, Texas – In their first meeting in over 76 years, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and Baylor Bears clawed it out in front of a sellout of 7,500 at the new Foster Pavilion.

With 15.1 seconds left and no shot clock, UC got the ball to Simas Lukošius who missed a catch-and-shoot right-corner 3-pointer. Baylor's Ja'Kobe Walter rebounded the ball, was fouled, and made both free throws. UC missed a pair of desperation threes and the game 62-59.

No. 14 Baylor remains unbeaten on their new floor

After a Viktor Lakhin lay-in put UC up 38-31 at 16:40 in the second half, Baylor followed with a run of 13-0. The Bearcats lead dissipated at the 13:17 mark when Walter made two free throws to tie the game and UC never led again.

"We've just lost two one-possession games and that's frustrating," head coach Wes Miller said. "We feel we had our chances to win both. We're in the best league in college basketball. We don't have the ability to put our heads down or feel sorry for ourselves as we have to get ready to play Tuesday night."

Walter and Langston Love led Baylor with 14 points each. UC was led by Dan Skillings Jr. with 24 points. Free throws by Jalen Bridges put Baylor up for good for the final 12:20.

Baylor goes to 14-2 (3-0 Big 12) while UC drops to 12-4 (1-2 Big 12).

"We're blessed to play this sport, blessed to play in the Big 12 in opportunities like this," Baylor coach Scott Drew said.

5 takeaways from UC's last-second loss

1. Skillings kept UC close

Down 59-50 with 3:16 to go, Skillings scored seven straight points to pull UC to 59-57 in less than a minute. His driving lay-up with 17 seconds left just missed. He finished with 24 points, six rebounds and was 4-for-6 from the perimeter.

"I was feeling good, our team was playing together, playing tough, playing strong" Skillings said. "When we all work together, try to get stops together, everybody gets together."

2. Defense came to play

For both teams, it was their lowest-scoring output of the season. Baylor came in averaging 43% on 3-pointers and finished just 5-of-20 for 25%. Baylor's previous scoring low was 64 points against Michigan State in Detroit last month. UC's previous low was the 68 they scored in the Dayton loss.

"I'm not happy because we lost the game," Miller said. "Our team is taking steps defensively the last 10-12 days. If we continue to do that, this team is going to be fine."

3. No Bandaogo

After aggravating his back injury in the 74-73 loss to No. 25 Texas, 7-footer Aziz Bandaogo was unavailable Saturday night. He was limited in walk-through practice but before the game remained in sweats. His only action was rebounding as the team took their pre-game shots. Bandaogo missed three games at the end of December after injuring the back in the Dayton loss. He had three consecutive double-doubles before being held scoreless vs. Texas with five rebounds.

"He did something medically the last couple of days to try to help his back that kept him from being able to play tonight," Miller said. "He was not cleared by our medical team to play. We'll re-evaluate in the next couple days. He feels better. He's said that to me multiple times in the last 24 hours."

UC started a smaller lineup with Bandaogo out with Jamille Reynolds coming off the bench. Reynolds had seven points, all in the first half, and six rebounds. Lakhin fouled out with seven points and only one rebound. One foul was part of a double technical in the first half which came back to bite the Bearcats when Lakhin departed just shy of the two-minute mark.

"Vik is too valuable to our team," Miller said. "He can't get that. That keeps him from playing more in the first half."

4. Walter awakens

Baylor's top scorer averaging 15.3 points per game didn't score until the 15:02 mark of the second half on a pair of free throws. Walter recovered and finished with 14 points to share the team lead with Langston Love. He also made the final two free throws to extend Baylor's lead to 62-59 with nine seconds to play.

Oddly he didn't credit UC's defense afterward for holding him to a goose egg for 25 minutes.

"My teammates defend me harder in practice," Walter said.

5. Lukošius locked up

After a 7-for-10 shooting night against No. 25 Texas for 19 points, Lukošius was just 1-for-10 against the Bears and missed all seven of his trifectas, including one that would have put the Bearcats up with 13 seconds left in the game.

"I was across the floor but it looked like he had a really good look at the corner three," Miller said. "It did just hit the back of the rim. I've got no problem with our execution at the end of the game."

Baylor's Drew said Lukošois was a focus for the Bears.

"Coming in, he had a great game against Texas," Drew said. "Against Texas he did it from mid-range and he can pass the ball too. He's an offensive weapon. Our guys did a good job trying to make everything difficult for him."

Next game

UC returns to Fifth Third Arena Tuesday at 7 p.m. to host TCU. Coach Jamie Dixon's Horned Frogs upset No. 2 Houston Saturday, 68-67.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 5 takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats Big 12 loss at Baylor Bears