Dan Skillings Jr. sank the game-winning layup with 22.3 seconds left in overtime to rally host Cincinnati past No. 19 TCU 81-77 on Tuesday night in a wild Big 12 contest.
Day Day Thomas scored 21 points, John Newman III chipped in with 20 and Skillings had 13 for the Bearcats (13-4, 2-2 Big 12), who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Trevian Tennyson led TCU (13-4, 2-2) with 17 points while Emanuel Miller added 15. TCU was denied its third straight conference win after recording an emotional home victory over then-No. 2 Houston on Saturday.
Both teams had a chance to win the game at the free throw line in the final four seconds of regulation. Skillings missed two free throws with 3.7 seconds left, and TCU’s Ernest Udeh Jr. missed the front end with 3.2 seconds remaining.
Thomas nearly ended it for Cincinnati with a half-court shot at the buzzer, but the ball hit the front of the rim and bounced away, forcing overtime.
TCU led 60-53 and 64-58 late in the second half but missed eight straight shots from the field to give Cincinnati a chance to take the lead late in regulation.
Midway through overtime, there was a lengthy delay after Newman and the Horned Frogs’ Micah Peavy battled for a loose ball under the TCU basket. Peavy took an elbow to the forehead, and officials reviewed the play for nearly five minutes.
When play resumed, Viktor Lakhin drained a 3-pointer to put Cincinnati up 75-73. But TCU rallied to tie twice, including on a floater in the lane from Jameer Nelson Jr. with 49 seconds left in overtime.
Thomas drilled a corner trey with 45.2 seconds left in regulation to give the Bearcats a 65-64 lead. Tennyson answered for the Horned Frogs with an off-balance 3-pointer from the right wing with 24 seconds left, putting TCU up 67-65 and ending the visitors’ shooting slump.
–Field Level Media