The Texas Longhorns (11-3, 0-1) lost their Big 12 opener at home last weekend to rival Texas Tech 78-67, but have an opportunity to get in the win column in conference play on Tuesday night. The ‘Horns travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats at Fifth Third Arena at 6:00 pm CST, in a game that will be televised on ESPN+.
The Bearcats, boasting a 12-2 overall record, will pose a formidable challenge for Rodney Terry’s group. They defeated then-ranked No. 12 BYU 71-60 in Provo last weekend to notch their first Big 12 win in program history.
Texas and Cincinnati have faced each other twice, both times in the NCAA Tournament (1963, 2012), with the Bearcats winning both contests.
Names to keep an eye on for the Bearcats are senior forward Aziz Bandoago, freshman point guard Jizzle James, forward Viktor Lakhin and sophmore guard Dan Skillings Jr. Bandoago has three straight double-doubles while Lahkin has four consecutive games in which he has scored in double figures. Skillings made his first career start against BYU and finished with 10 points. James is averaging 8.8 points per game, including a season-high 19 points against Xavier.
For Texas, junior Tyrese Hunter is averaging 18.3 points per game over the last four matchups. Sophmore forward Dillon Mitchell contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds in the loss against Texas Tech, which was good enough for his sixth double-double this season.
Despite losing to the Red Raiders, Texas out-rebounded Texas Tech 38-27. They will need another solid effort on the boards against Cincinnati, who ranks second nationally behind the Arizona Wildcats in rebounding.
