Big 12 New Year begins for Cincinnati Bearcats basketball with a win over BYU.

PROVO, Utah –The Big 12 basketball new year began for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats six days into 2024 with a reason to wear party hats. Coach Wes Miller's Bearcats notched a key win over the No. 12-ranked BYU Cougars, 71-60.

UC held BYU 30 points under its scoring average and outshot the Cougars 43% to 33%. The Bearcats outscored BYU 47-29 in the second half with many of the 16,879 blue-and-white-clad fans exiting before the final buzzer.

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"I thought everything defensively for us tonight was the catalyst," head coach Wes Miller said. "It kept us in the game early and in the second half we were able to string together stops which was big for our team."

The Bearcats were led by Viktor Lakhin's 17 points. Jizzle James and Aziz Bandaogo had 12 each and Dan Skillings Jr. had 10 points.

5 takeaways from UC's Big 12 takedown of BYU

1. Quality Quad 1 win

BYU was No. 3 in the NCAA NET rankings, No. 4 in KenPom.com and 12th in the latest Associated Press poll. It's UC's first win over a ranked team since the Bearcats beat No. 14 Illinois on Nov. 22, 2021.

It was BYU's lowest-scoring output since their first loss at Utah last month when they were held to 69. It's also a key Quadrant 1 win as any road victory over a team ranked from No. 1-75 in the NET qualifies as a quality conquest.

UC goes to 12-2 (1-0 Big 12) with BYU falling to 12-2 (0-1 Big 12).

2. 2nd straight second half turnaround

UC trailed at half of the Xavier and Dayton losses and again in their last home game against Evansville. They turned it around against the Purple Aces and pulled the trick again Saturday night. Down 31-24, UC outscored BYU 47-29 in the second half to win by 11. After shooting 28% in the first, they hit for 55.2% in the second half and outshot the Cougars 42.6% to 32.8% for the game.

BYU made just three field goals over the final 12:01 of the game.

3. Knell nails threes, then sits

BYU redshirt senior guard Trevin Knell hit five 3-pointers in BYU's opener against Houston Christian. He obliterated that mark Saturday night with four treys in the opening half and five more in the second. However, in the latter half of the game, he didn't connect as BYU coach Mark Pope had him on the bench for nearly six minutes. He finished 9-of-14 but the rest of the Cougars were 4-for-32. UC held Dallin Hall to 2-of-12 and Noah Waterman to 1-of-9.

"We couldn't quite keep the game the way we wanted in the second half," BYU's Pope said. "Trev is playing such great basketball on both ends of the floor. We were trying to keep fresh bodies out there as best as we can."

4. For BYU, it wasn't the last of Bandaogo

Last season Aziz Bandaogo had 14 points and seven rebounds for Utah Valley University which beat BYU in the Marriott Center 75-60. Not sure Bandaogo was ready physically since he has been dealing with a bad back, Wes Miller started Dan Skillings Jr.

When Bandaogo entered the game he told Miller he felt great. By the end of the game, Bandaogo had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds in a little over 22 minutes and was booed by those familiar with his work up the street in Orem.

"His impact on the game tonight was tremendous," Miller said. "That's what we had come to expect before he had the back injury. His minutes in the first half, he looked like AZ (Aziz) again. He didn't really look like AZ in practice yesterday, but he looked like AZ again. I talked to him at halftime and said let's roll and get back to that lineup that we were starting before you got hurt."

Said Bandaogo, "I felt confidence and I love it when we're on the road. I love to play like that. I had confidence the way we beat them last year and I was very excited to play here again."

The Bearcats went back to the big lineup for the second half and it worked as Lakhin had 11 of his 17 points and Skillings came off the bench for seven of his 10.

"Outside of a couple mistakes he (Lakhin) was terrific," Miller said. "He kept our team together, him and John Newman with a lot of leadership."

5. Productive Jizzle

UC freshman Jizzle James had just one basket in the first half but added 10 points in the second to finish with 12 in a little over 13 minutes. Via X, former Bearcat Landers Nolley was pleased: "Jizzle James folks. Buy stock now."

In the first half, James hit a jumper to give UC a brief 19-18 lead with 5:17 left in the period. In the second half, he had a driving lay-up at 11:36 which turned into a traditional 3-point play, then his bucket at 10:51 put UC up for good at 52-51. For good measure, he nailed a 3-pointer with 9:30 left in the contest for a 56-51 lead.

Next game

With UC's charter scheduled back Sunday morning before 5, Miller and the Bearcats get a quick turnaround. UC plays its first Big 12 game at Fifth Third Arena Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Texas (11-3), which lost its Big 12 opener at home to Texas Tech Saturday.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: CIncinnati Bearcats beat BYU Cougars in Saturday night Big 12 opener