TicketsKANSAS CITY — Red-hot 3-point shooting from graduate wing Jalen Celestine and senior forward Baba Miller’s 13th double-double of the season powered the Cincinnati men’s basketball team to a 73-66 victory over Utah on Tuesday in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Basketball Tournament at the T-Mobile Center.
The ninth-seeded Bearcats will face eighth-seeded UCF in the second round on Wednesday at 2 p.m. CT/3 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
Celestine scored a season-high 19 points, sinking 5-of-8 from 3-point range, while Miller added 11 points with game highs of 14 rebounds and six assists. Sophomore center Moustapha Thiam recorded a double-double of his own with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Keyshuan Tillery provided a spark off the bench with eight points.
After Utah cut its deficit to five, 63-58, Celestine buried his sixth 3-pointer of the game to extend Cincinnati’s lead to eight with 3:16 remaining. He and senior guard Day Day Thomas combined to make five of six free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
The Utes stayed within striking distance behind junior guard Terrence Brown, who scored a game-high 22 points, including four consecutive field goals in the final minutes. His three-point play cut Cincinnati’s lead to five, but UC answered moments later when junior guard Jizzle James was awarded a goaltended basket on a driving layup.
Cincinnati clung to a four-point lead, 68-64, in the final minute when Thomas converted both ends of a one-and-one to push the margin back to six.
The Bearcats shook off a slow start and closed the first half on a 12-0 run to take a 29-20 lead into halftime.
Utah made four of its first five shots after the break, but Celestine quickly answered with two 3-pointers in the opening minutes. Cincinnati stretched the lead to 39-28 with 15:51 remaining.
UC continued to build momentum when Miller grabbed a missed free throw for a putback and then drove for a layup, extending the Bearcats’ advantage to 48-33 — their largest lead of the game — with 12:58 left.
A 3-pointer from Keanu Dawes cut Utah’s deficit to seven, but Cincinnati responded with five straight points. Tillery knocked down a corner three following a Thiam dunk as the Bearcats maintained a double-digit lead, 59-47, with 7:44 remaining.
Utah made one final push, scoring on four consecutive possessions. Back-to-back jumpers from Brown trimmed the lead to 63-58 with five minutes left.
Utah shot just 19% before halftime but led for much of the opening period.
After a Celestine 3-pointer opened the scoring, the Utes used a 15-3 run to seize early control.
Two key plays from Tillery sparked Cincinnati’s game-changing 12-0 run to end the half. Tillery delivered a sharp pass to Celestine for a second-chance basket that gave UC its first lead since the opening minutes. Moments later, he stole the ball and converted a layup to extend the lead to three.
Junior guard Sencire Harris followed with a layup before lobbing an alley-oop to Miller for a dunk with one minute left. Thiam capped the run with a hook shot in the lane as the Bearcats took a nine-point lead into halftime.