TicketsLUBBOCK, Texas — The Cincinnati men's basketball team fell on the road, 80-68, to No. 16 Texas Tech at United Supermarkets Arena on Tuesday night.
With the loss, Cincinnati drops to 15-13 overall and 7-8 in Big 12 Conference play, while Texas Tech improves to 21-7 on the season and 11-4 in conference action.
The Bearcats started the night hot, connecting on their first nine shots from the field — including all four attempts from behind the arc — to build a 23-16 lead after a Jalen Celestine triple at the 12:40 mark of the first half. Cincinnati could not sustain the momentum, however, as the Red Raiders responded with a 15-2 run to seize control heading into halftime. Texas Tech methodically extended its advantage in the second half, with a Luke Bamgboye layup pushing the lead to a game-high 78-61 with 4:23 remaining to put the contest out of reach.
Christian Anderson powered the Red Raiders with 31 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. The Bearcats were led by sophomore Moustapha Thiam, who recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Three other Bearcats reached double figures: Celestine added 15 points, while senior Baba Miller and junior Jizzle James each contributed 12.
Texas Tech dominated the glass, outrebounding Cincinnati 40-24 overall and 28-13 on the defensive end. The Red Raiders also shot an impressive 52% (27-of-52) from the field and 40%(10-of-25) from 3-point range.
After building their early 23-16 advantage, the Bearcats connected on just one of their next seven shots as Texas Tech trimmed the deficit to 25-23 on a pair of Bamgboye free throws with 10:48 to play in the half. Cincinnati pushed its lead back to 32-27 on a Miller three with 5:34 remaining, but the Red Raiders closed the half on a 15-2 spurt — fueled by a pair of Donovan Atwell threes — to take a 42-34 advantage into the break. After their hot start, the Bearcats went just 4-of-21 from the field and 1-of-10 from deep for the remainder of the half.
Miller and Thiam led Cincinnati with nine points apiece at the break, while Anderson paced Texas Tech with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists.
A Thiam slam in the opening minutes of the second half ignited a quick Cincinnati surge, with Celestine following with back-to-back layups before Thiam capped the run with a mid-range jumper. Texas Tech answered with a 10-3 run fueled by seven straight points from Anderson, extending the lead to 59-46 with 11:22 remaining.
A Celestine 3-pointer at the 6:33 mark briefly got the Bearcats back within 10, but a LeJuan Watts layup and an Anderson long-range shot pushed the score to 71-58 with 6:08 left. The Red Raiders never looked back, with a Bamgboye layup stretching the lead to 78-61 with 4:23 on the clock to close out the victory.
The Bearcats return home to take on Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. Saturday at Fifth Third Arena.