McCollum Scores 17, No. 15 Oklahoma Holds Off Cincinnati 69-65

Javian McCollum scored 16 points and Otega Oweh added 14 to help No. 15 Oklahoma beat Cincinnati 69-65 on Saturday.

John Hugely IV had 11 points for the Sooners (15-3, 3-2 Big 12) who earned their first conference road win.

Simas Lukosius scored 17 points and John Newman III had 14 for the Bearcats (13-5, 2-3).

Oweh’s dunk gave Oklahoma a 65-58 lead with about 2 minutes left before the Bearcats’ scored the next four points to close to 65-62 on Josh Reed’s free throws with 28.7 seconds left. Oweh then missed the front end of a one-and-one giving Cincinnati the ball with 14.7 remaining.

The Sooners chose to foul Lukosius with 6 seconds left and he made one of two from the line. Rivaldo Soraes was then fouled and hit both free throws to seal the win.

Both teams had a poor shooting start, combining to go 9 for 35 (25%) in the first 12 minutes.

There were nine lead changes and four ties before the Sooners began to take control in the second half.

McCollum’s layup gave Oklahoma its largest lead, 55-46.

The Bearcats lead the all-time series 4-3. They had won the previous four meetings, most recently in 2011.

BIG PICTURE

Oklahoma: The Sooners have relied heavily on 3-point shooting this season, shooting 30.4% or lower in each of their three losses. Oklahoma is 11-1 when making more 3-pointers than their opponents. The Sooners shot 31% on Saturday, making two fewer attempts than Cincinnati.

Cincinnati: The Bearcats faced their fifth straight ranked opponent, the longest streak since the 1993-94 season. Cincinnati, which upset No. 19 TCU on Tuesday, hasn’t defeated consecutive ranked opponents since 2012.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma: Hosts Texas on Tuesday.

Cincinnati: Plays at No. 3 Kansas on Monday.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball