TicketsCINCINNATI — The Cincinnati men’s basketball team faced its largest deficit of the contest, trailing 65-60 with 1:56 remaining, before closing the game on an impressive 9-0 run to defeat Utah, 69-65, Sunday afternoon inside Fifth Third Arena.
Down 65-64, sophomore center Moustapha Thiam ripped away a contested rebound with 40 seconds remaining, igniting a fast-break opportunity that Cincinnati capitalized on when senior forward Baba Miller threw down a two-handed slam off a feed from senior wing Jalen Celestine, sending the Fifth Third Arena crowd into a frenzy as UC reclaimed a 66-65 lead.
Utah’s Don McHenry had a look from 3-point range to tie the game in the closing seconds but came up short. The Bearcats capped their 9-0 burst with three free throws to seal the victory.
The Bearcats won their third straight game and improved to 14-12 overall and 6-7 in the Big 12, while the Utes dropped to 9-16 and 1-11 in the conference.
Thiam paced UC with the fifth double-double of his career, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Miller turned in another strong all-around performance with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Graduate guard Day Day Thomas added 15 points and four assists, while freshman guard Keyshuan Tillery chipped in 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting with three assists.
Three Utes reached double figures, led by McHenry’s 16 points.
Cincinnati controlled the paint, outscoring Utah 32-16 inside and holding a 12-4 edge in fast-break points. However, the Utes won the rebounding battle, 40-30, which led to 16 second-chance points.
The Bearcats held an early 14-8 lead but threes from Keanu Dawes and Kendyl Sanders kickstarted a 10-0 Utah run that saw them take an 18-14 lead on a pair of Terrence Brown free throws at the 11:59 mark. Utah led 20-16 when Cincinnati answered right back with a 12-0 spurt, including a pair of Tillery triples, over 3:47, to take a 28-20 lead with 7:28 remaining in the half.
But UC would find it difficult to pull away, heading into the half with a 37-34 advantage.
Out of the half, both teams were trading baskets.
Midway through the period, sparked by a Kendyl Sanders 3-pointer, Utah put together a 12-4 run to claim its first lead of the second half. The Utes kept rolling as another bucket tied the contest 48-all before Celestine answered with an and-one 3-pointer at the 11:15 mark to regain the advantage. However, McHenry responded with an and-one 3-pointer of his own to knot the score at 52-all, and a Seydou Traore trey gave Utah its first lead of the second half, pushing the Utes ahead 55-52 with 8:39 remaining.
After Utah’s scoring run, Thaim responded with seven of Cincinnati’s next eight points, knocking down three jumpers to give the Bearcats a 60-59 edge. The lead was brief, as the Utes answered with six straight points to take their largest advantage of the night, 65-60, with just under two minutes remaining.
The final stretch belonged to Cincinnati. The Bearcats closed on a decisive 9-0 run, punctuated by a thunderous two-handed slam from Miller, to secure the four-point victory.