Thomas scores 21, Cincinnati upsets No. 19 TCU 81-77 in OT

CINCINNATI — 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.

“Really proud of our resilience,” Bearcats coach Wes Miller said. “We lost the last two games by one possession. You know the toll it takes on a team. To fight back and send the game to overtime, I was really proud of that.”

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.

The Horned Frogs committed a season-high 19 turnovers.

“Our turnovers on the offensive end were disappointing,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “We’re a low turnover team. It was bad decision making. Too many layups, mostly because of the turnovers.”

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.

“I was really unimpressed with the way we started the game,” Miller said. “We’ve been pretty consistent with effort and energy. I was disappointed. But I was proud of how we responded.”

TCU led by 11 points in the first half, but the Bearcats cut the deficit to 33-32 at halftime.

“They were hitting some tough shots, so credit to them,” Newman III said. “We just had to weather the storm.”

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. He went 5 of 8 from beyond the arc.

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.

“You get a lead, you have to be able to grind it out,” Dixon said. “Give them credit. We're going to get better for it.”

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.

“I know what kind of guys we have in the locker room,” Newman III said. “We just continued to fight. We’ve got 16 tough guys.”

Cincinnati leads the all-time series 6-0. It was the first meeting since 2005 when both schools were members of Conference USA.

REDEMPTION

Newman III missed the front end of a 1-and-1 which led to the winning shot in a 73-72 loss to Texas one week ago. He was 0-for-3 from the line on Tuesday night before hitting his final two.

“It was a full circle moment for me,” Newman III said. “I felt real bad after the Texas game. But I practice for those moments.”

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.