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PROVO — The Big 12 men's basketball debut of BYU was heading for a perfect 10, but the Cougars couldn't nail the landing.
Or Knell it, as it were.
Viktor Lakhin had 17 points and six rebounds, and Aziz Bandaogo added 12 points and 10 rebounds in his return to the Marriott Center as Cincinnati snapped No. 12 BYU's four-game winning streak 71-60 in front of an announced crowd of 16,879 at the Marriott Center.
Jizzle James added 12 points and three rebounds for the Bearcats (11-2, 1-0 Big 12); and Dan Skillings Jr. had 10 points, five rebounds and two assists for a top-tier rebounding Bearcats squad that outrebounded the Cougars 44-37 with 35 tips on the defensive glass.
Trevin Knell led all scorers with 27 points on nine 3-pointers, both career highs, and tied for the second-most made 3s in a game in program history. But BYU made 13 of its 21 field goals from beyond the arc and shot just 29% from the field in the second half.
Dallin Hall added 10 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Cougars (12-2, 0-1 Big 12).
But when the top-rated 3-point shooting team in the country needed a bucket down the stretch, BYU went cold — missing 14 of its final 17 attempts in the final 12 minutes to drop to 0-1 in conference play as Bandaogo won back-to-back games at the Marriott Center since his transfer away from Utah Valley last year.
"In the second half, we were able to string together stops. That was big for our team," Bearcats coach Wes Miller said. "I didn't know if Aziz would be able to go until warmups, and he didn't say, 'I feel good.' He said, 'I feel great.' That made me feel great."
The Bearcats connected on just one of their first 11 shots, committing seven turnovers in the first nine minutes of the game to help BYU to a 13-5 lead on Jaxson Robinson's baseline finish from Aly Khalifa with 10:53 left in the half.
Jamille Reynolds' jumper pulled Cincinnati within 10-7 nearly two minutes later, but Cincinnati led just briefly — about 2:35 of game time — before Knell, Hall and Noah Waterman drained consecutive 3-pointers during an 11-0 run that hoisted BYU to a 31-24 halftime lead.
"If you turn it over carelessly, you aren't going to have chances to score," Miller said of the team's first half. "And my gosh, some of our turnovers were careless."
Knell had 12 points as the Cougars shot 7-of-22 from 3-point range in the first half (with just 4-of-8 from inside the arc) and held the Bearcats to 28% shooting.
He didn't stop, either.
The redshirt junior from Woods Cross easily eclipsed his previous career highs of 20 points and five 3-pointers early in the second half, but BYU needed every one of them, including a fast-break triple with 13:28 remaining and another moments later to keep pace with a Cincinnati team that outscored the Cougars 10-6 to pull within 49-47 with 12 minutes to play.
But Cincinnati didn't miss much after the break, either. That included James' open 3-pointer to lift the Bearcats to a 56-51 advantage at the under-8 timeout.
Trailing by as much as 61-53 with 4:33 left, BYU couldn't buy a bucket — even from the foul line, where Knell missed a pair and Hall went 2-for-3 after Day Day Thomas picked up his second foul on a 3-point attempt with 3:11 to go.
The sophomore from Plain City drained a 3-pointer from a step off the logo at midcoast to pull BYU within 8 points with 2:16 to go that broke a six-minute field goal drought. But the Cougars could get no closer as the near-capacity crowd streamed for the exits with no second-half comeback looming.
"I felt comfortable, and I just love when we're on the road," Bandaogo said. "I had confidence when we got here, since we beat them last year. I was pretty excited to play here again."
The Cougars continue Big 12 play Tuesday with a road trip to No. 18 Baylor. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. MST on ESPN+.
