Wright State freshman J.T. Yoho left Fifth Third Arena with a bright, red scratch on the side of his nose, a glaring reminder of just how hard the Raiders scratched and clawed against No. 11 Cincinnati and how hard the undefeated Bearcats fought back.

Wright State was tied with Cincinnati after 25 minutes on Saturday. All that did was prove to the Bearcats they could lose.

It’s a threat Cincinnati took seriously, as it improved to 12-0 this season and 9-0 all-time against the Raiders by dominating the last 15 minutes for a 68-58 victory.

Some might call that relatively close score to a team that just beat its crosstown rival Xavier by 15 a moral victory — but not Wright State coach Bill Donlon.

Donlon’s players head home for Christmas with four days off from practice to ponder the defeat.

“I told them, ‘I don’t want your families patting you on the back. I don’t want anyone patting you on the back,’” Donlon said. “‘This is not a moral victory. There were basketball plays we didn’t make that could have made this a tighter game and maybe we could have won the game. So when you go home, get hungry. Live up to the expectation level you set.’ There’s a new expectation level that was set by our kids.”

Wright State (8-4) led 28-22 at halftime despite shooting 26 percent from the field. The Raiders had numerous chances close to the rim in the half, but scored just 6 points in the paint. The Bearcats had 7 of their 10 blocks in the first half.

“We had an opportunity to be up 15 at the half,” Donlon said. “We shot 26 percent in the first half and 39 percent in the second half, but we had much easier shots in the first half. On the road, you’ve got to make some shots.”

Wright State had the lead at halftime because it made 4-of-12 3-pointers and 8-of-12 free throws. Jerran Young had 8 of his 14 points in the first half, and Yoho had 6 of his 13 points on two 3-pointers.

“The game plan was if you had an open shot, shoot it,” Yoho said. “I was a little surprised by that at first because UC is an up-tempo team. We made our open shots for the most part, but then I found out we only shot 26 percent in the first half. I was surprised by that number, but overall we had a great first half.”

Wright State extended its lead to 30-22 on a basket by Tavares Sledge to open the second half. Then Cincinnati guard JaQuon Parker took over, scoring 8 of his game-high 21 points in just over a minute.

The Raiders had committed to stopping Cincinnati’s top two scorers, Sean Kilpatrick and Cashmere Wright, but that gave Parker the opportunity he needed.

“In the first half, no one was attacking,” said Parker, who had 14 points last season at Wright State in his first career start. “Everyone was standing back and shooting 3s. In the second half, I wanted to get to the rim.”

Parker’s run got the Bearcats back in the game, and then they finished off the Raiders with an 11-0 run, taking a 45-34 lead with 12:52 left. The Bearcats shot 55 percent in the second half after shooting 24 percent in the first.

“Our execution was off the charts to begin the second half,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “We played with a lot more strength. We’ve been talking a lot about toughness, and we’ve got to continue to get better at it.”