TicketsCINCINNATI — The Cincinnati men’s basketball team dropped a 59-54 decision to West Virginia Thursday night at Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats built a 14-point lead early in the second half, but a dominant surge by the Mountaineers down the stretch flipped the momentum and sealed the win for the visitors.
With the loss, the Bearcats dropped to 11-12 on the year and 3-7 in the Big 12, while the Mountaineers improved to 15-8, 6-4 in conference play.
After falling behind by 14 points early in the second half, West Virginia clawed back with a 19-3 run.
The Bearcats made it a one-point game at 50-49 with 2:10 left when Baba Miller sank back-to-back free throws, bringing the Fifth Third Arena crowd to its feet. But DJ Thomas answered with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 53-49, silencing the building. Moments later, Jalen Celestine had a clean look from beyond the arc, but his shot rimmed out.
Jizzle James hit a 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to cut it to 55-52, but West Virginia held on from there to secure the five-point victory.
The Bearcats were led by James and Miller, who combined for 33 points. James finished with 18 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range, while Miller added 15 points and eight rebounds. Graduate guard Jalen Celestine recorded career highs in assists (6) and rebounds (10) to go with eight points.
West Virginia was paced by Honor Huff who got hot in the second half, totaling 16 of his 15 points after the break. Huff conducted the offense as well, distributing six assists.
The Mountaineers controlled the second half, holding the edge in bench points (14-0), points in the paint (10-2) and points off turnovers (11-2). They also shot 50% from 3-point range (6-of-12) and forced Cincinnati into eight turnovers.
In the first half, Cincinnati jumped out to a 14-2 lead on a James 3-pointer at the 15:43 mark as the junior connected on his first four shots from the field for 10 early points. The Bearcats then had their lead at 21-10 on a Day Day Thomas pull-up jumper with eight minutes left to play but that’s when Cincinnati’s frontcourt depth would be challenged.
With starting center Moustapha Thiam out for the game with a lower body injury, Tyler McKinley, who started in his place, picked up two quick fouls and Halvine Dzellat, coming off the bench, was whistled for four in the opening half as two-straight buckets by Brenen Lorient trimmed the Bearcat lead to 27-20 with 2:31 left to play. However, a Sencire Harris free throw and a late layup by Miller pushed the Cincinnati lead back to double digits at 30-20 at the break.
James cooled off after his hot start but still matched Miller with 10 points at the half. Lorient led West Virginia, which missed all nine of its 3-point attempts in the opening 20 minutes, with eight.
Cincinnati took its largest lead of the contest early in the second half, after Thomas connected on a jumper to move UC’s advantage to 37-23 with 16:23 left to play.
The Mountaineers didn't flinch at the double-digit deficit. A layup from Chance Moore sparked a 14-3 run—fueled by three consecutive triples from Huff — that cut the deficit to 40-37 with 12:01 remaining in the half.
The media timeout didn't halt West Virginia's momentum. The Mountaineers put together a 7-2 run out of the break to take their first lead of the game at 44-42 with just under nine minutes remaining. James drilled a 3-pointer to tie it at 46 with 4:30 left, but Cincinnati missed its next five shots.
West Virginia sealed the win in the final 20 seconds with free throws and a fastbreak jam.
Cincinnati hosts UCF at 2 p.m. Sunday at Fifth Third Arena.