The Bearcats fell to (12-6, 2-5 Big 12) on Tuesday Night as they fell to Texas Tech 81-71 behind an elite offensive night from the Red Raiders.

Grant McCasland's Red Raider squad came into Fifth Third Arena and put on an absolute shooting clinic after slashing 48%/39%/89% on the game. The Red Raiders saw four players score in double figures led by JT Toppin, who finished with a game high 20 points and seven rebounds.

Chance McMillian (17), Christain Anderson (18), Kevin Overton (14) also played huge roles for the Red Raiders as the four combined for 69 of the Red Raiders 81 points.

Meanwhile, for Cincinnati they were led by sophomore guard Jizzle James, who finished with a team high 17 points on (8-12 FG). Which, for Cincinnati was a great sign as James has really started to find his groove as of late after back-to-back double-digit performances.

Bearcats outrebounded again.

The Bearcats were outrebounded for the fourth straight game as Cincinnati was outrebounded 34-27 (10-3 offensive rebounds) in the loss to Texas Tech. Now for Cincinnati, that is something they pride their team on is rebounding the basketball, as they entered the season as one of the best rebounding teams in the country on paper. However, they have been outrebounded in five of the seven Big 12 games this season, and is something they will have to quickly change as the midway point of the season quickly approaches.

Quad One Opportunities.

Wes Miller now falls to 6-32 in Quad one opportunities during his four-year tenure at Cincinnati after Tuesday's loss. However, the Bearcats now only have a select handful of Quad one opportunities left this season, roughly three or four. However, the Bearcats have to figure things out quickly as those Quad one opportunities will now hold significant weight after the team fell to just (2-5) in Big 12 games this season.

For the Bearcats, realistically if they want to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive, they have to go on a three-game winning streak over the next three games, which is very possible. Now, if Cincinnati, doesn't do that, there could be a chance come later in the year, they find themselves sitting on the bubble looking in at the NCAA Tournament and could potentially face an uphill battle to get back to the big dance.

The Rundown

JT Toppin and the Red Raiders struck first after a layup from Toppin. Now, Cincinnati responded after four quick points from James to give Cincinnati an early 6-2 lead over the Red Raiders. However, the Red Raiders offense went cold as they missed five of their next six shots before a Kevin Overton three cut the Bearcats lead to one with 15:41 left in the first half.

Cincinnati saw a huge lift from Day-Day Thomas in the opening minutes as the senior guard made it an emphasis to push the tempo and attack downhill. Cincinnati then extended their lead to seven, after Josh Reed found a wide-open Mitchell for the easy lay-up that would force Grant McCasland to call timeout. Texas Tech was searching for something quickly on the offense side of things, but that is when the Red Raiders responded with a quick five points following a Christain Anderson made three.

Texas Tech's offense quickly woke up as they scored on five of their next seven possessions. The Red Raiders quickly poured it on Cincinnati after making three consecutive from behind the arch, something Cincinnati has not allowed much of this season.

Cincinnati responded with four quick points from Arrinten Page as the Bearcats eventually tied this game at 29 with just over five minutes left in the first half. Meanwhile, the Red Raiders were not slowing down anytime soon after six quick points from Overton. Texas Tech would take a 35-31 lead with 3:17 to go after knocking down six straight buckets.

Texas Tech controlled a 42-38 lead heading into the break, with 35 of those points coming over the final twelve minutes of the second half. 25 of those points, came from the Red Raiders bench as Christain Anderson (13) and Kevin Overton (12) combined for 25 points and gave the Red Raiders a huge lift after a slow start over the first eight minutes.

Cincinnati finished the first half shooting a season high 60% from the field as they continued to be aggressive and really wear down the Red Raiders interior defense. The Bearcats saw 22 of their 38 points come in the paint and that was something they knew they had do in order to be in this game to this moment.

James controlled the Bearcats offense as he had a team high 11 points on 5-6 shooting, which was a great sight to see for Cincinnati. Wes Miller noted that the sophomore guard was battling an illness that lingered into Saturday's game vs Arizona State, but it was safe to say that James appeared to feel better following his first half performance.

Texas Tech would continue to light it up from behind the arch after consecutive threes from Toppin and Anderson extended the led to seven, forcing a Cincinnati timeout, trailing 50-41. Meanwhile, the Bearcats woke up on the defensive end after consecutive blocks from Mitchell at the rim led to points on the other end.

Texas Tech extended their lead to 11 following a Toppin layup. Cincinnati responded with four quick ones after Thomas went coast to coast for the layup to cut the lead to seven, forcing a Tech timeout. Tech continued to control this game as they just simply dominated the offensive boards leading to second chance points, and Cincinnati had no answer.

Tech led the Bearcats 63-54 with 7:52 left to play, as Cincinnati was looking to trim away on the final minutes. However, the Bearcats needed to find momentum, and find it quick, as the Red Raiders elite offense was not slowing down at all. Just when Cincinnati found a way after a James dunk following the Red Raiders turnover to cut the lead to five with six to go, McMillian responded with a dagger three.

Tyler Betsey, quickly followed suit with a huge three to give the Bearcats a new spark, but Tech responded with a seven-point run to take a 75-63 lead with 3:42 to play. Cincinnati had a chance to cut the lead to three, but failed to convert from the foul line, then gave up a goaltend on the ensuing possession and just like that, Tech was looking to close the doors on this one.

That was the moment the Bearcats momentum was quickly sucked out of them as Tech eventually held on and defeated the Bearcast 81-71.

From Wes Miller

"Tonight was disappointing as we had a big opportunity here at home against a good team. We simply didn't do our part tonight. They were an elite offensive team, and I truly believe we have the chance to be an elite defensive team, but we didn't defend tonight. We are a really good defensive team when we are geared up, what makes you a good offensive team then makes you a good offensive rebounding team and we weren't up to par with that tonight."

"It has really been an emphasis for us to get downhill and attack the basket. We are very well aware that through this first stretch of league play that we are not putting enough pressure on the rim. We made conservative effort to drive the basketball and be more fundamentally sound near the paint. Bit, we are improving on that end of the floor, but tonight we just weren't as good defensively, but give credit to Texas Tech, they are an elite offensive team."

Up Next

The Bearcats will now gear up for a weeklong road trip to Utah, as they prepare to take on BYU (11-6, 1-4 Big 12).

Worth noting, the team will head to Utah on Friday and will stay in the State until Wednesday with the following game vs Utah, which is set for Tuesday night.