Quincy Olivari scored 27 points while Abou Ousmane scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help host Xavier spoil Cincinnati’s perfect record with an 84-79 victory on Saturday in Cincinnati.
Olivari finished 6-for-8 from 3-point range for Xavier (5-5), which snapped a three-game home losing streak and registered its fifth straight win in the all-time series, which Cincinnati still leads 51-40.
Dayvion McKnight, who finished with 20 points and eight rebounds, sealed the victory with a 3-pointer with 1:37 left to put the Musketeers ahead 75-68.
Jizzle James led Cincinnati (7-1) with 19 points, while John Newman III had 18 points and eight rebounds. Viktor Lakhin added 17 points as the Bearcats remained winless at Cintas Center since their last victory in 2001.
Cincinnati’s Simas Lukosius returned from a one-game absence after being struck by a car on campus on Dec. 1.
Another tense battle between the two teams started early, as Ousmane and Cincinnati’s Aziz Bandaogo battled for a loose-ball rebound under the Xavier basket in the opening two minutes.
The crowd went into a frenzy as Desmond Claude drove in for a reverse layup on the ensuing possession to give Xavier a 4-2 lead, and the Musketeers led for the rest of the first half, going up by as much as nine.
The Bearcats went just 1-for-13 from beyond the arc in the first half as the Musketeers took a 35-27 lead into the locker room. James kept Cincinnati in the game with 14 first-half points.
While neither team displayed efficient offense through the first 20 minutes of action, the second half was more reflective of one of the nation’s top college basketball rivalries.
The frantic period began with the Bearcats going on a 16-5 run to take their first lead of the night. Cincinnati drove to the basket early and often in the second half and dominated in the paint, moving in front at 43-40 with 15:41 to play.
But Olivari drained a trio of threes during a 17-4 Xavier surge that put the Musketeers back ahead by double figures, 57-47, with 11:24 left.
With the crowd at deafening levels after the Olivari triples, the Bearcats scored the next five points.
Xavier built its biggest lead, 68-56, before Cincinnati scored eight straight points to close within four. However, that was the closest the Bearcats would get.
–Field Level Media
