TicketsLAWRENCE, Kan. — Led by a career-high 28 points from Moustapha Thiam, the Cincinnati men’s basketball team ran away with an 84-68 win over No. 8 Kansas Saturday afternoon in Allen Fieldhouse. With the win, the Bearcats improve to 15-12 on the year and 7-7 in Big 12 play, while the Jayhawks drop to 20-7, 10-4 in conference play.
Thiam also added eight boards, while Baba Miller went for 18 points to go along with a season-high eight assists and seven boards. Jalen Celestine pitched in with 14 points, eight rebounds and four steals and Day Day Thomas scored all 10 of his points in the second half. Flory Bidunga had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Jayhawks, while Darryn Peterson chipped in with 17.
For the game, the Bearcats shot 48.4% (31-for-64) from the field and connected on 12 3-pointers. Cincinnati held a 15-3 advantage in points off turnovers.
The teams had exchanged baskets early, but Cincinnati missed five straight from the field as Kansas took a 10-8 lead on Bryson Tiller jumper at the 14:20 mark. However, Cincinnati answered right back on a Miller triple from the top of the key for an 11-10 Bearcat advantage less than a minute later.
The back-and-forth affair would continue late into the half as the Jayhawks held a 32-28 lead, their largest of the game, in the final two minutes before back-to-back triples from Thiam and Celestine put the Bearcats back on top at 34-32 with 1:28 remaining. Peterson knotted it back up at 34 apiece on a tough baseline jumper the next time down the floor, but Thiam answered right back with a jumper of his own to put Cincinnati in front 36-34 after a first half that featured nine ties and 10 lead changes.
Miller led the Bearcats with 12 points and three assists, while Thiam added 11 points and five boards in the opening 20 minutes. Bidunga paced Kansas with 12 points and five boards, while Peterson chipped in with 10.
After a Bidunga layup opened the second half, Miller bounced back with a three from the right wing for a 39-36 lead, but jumpers from Tre White and Peterson gave the Jayhawks the lead right back less than three minutes into the half. Back-to-back buckets from Thiam and Keyshuan Tillery put Cincinnati back on top by three, giving the Bearcats a lead they would not relinquish until an Elmarko Jackson layup knotted the contest at 49 apiece at the 11:52 mark.
UC held a 56-54 lead after a Bidunga layup with 8:31 remaining, but a jumper and a triple from Thiam, sandwiched around a Melvin Council Jr. bucket, pushed the Bearcats’ lead to a game-high five at 61-56 with 7:35 left to play. It was a three-point game after a pair of Bidunga free throws but Cincinnati put together a decisive 17-2 spurt that included eight from Celestine and five from Thiam for a commanding 78-60 lead with 3:40 remaining.
The Bearcats continue their road swing when they travel to No. 13 Texas Tech for a 7 p.m. ET tip Tuesday in Lubbock.