KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the second straight year, Utah's run in the Big 12 men's basketball tournament came with a side of short ribs and an even shorter stay.
Jalen Celestine scored 19 points, and Moustapha Thiam added 14 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots as Cincinnati eliminated the Runnin' Utes 73-66 in Tuesday's opening round of the Big 12 Tournament at the T-Mobile Center.
Baba Miler added 11 points, 14 rebounds and six assists for the Bearcats (18-14), who swept the season series from the Utes.
Keanu Dawes had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Utah (10-22), and teammate Seydou Traore added 12 points, five rebounds, a block and a steal for the Utes.
Terrence Brown poured in a game-high 22 points and six assists to lead Utah, which also gave up a 7-point lead midway through the first half a year ago in an 87-72 loss to UCF.
But the Bearcats made the Utes' leading scorer, whose 19.8 points per game was the fourth-most in the Big 12 during the regular season, work for it. The junior from Minneapolis by way of Fairleigh Dickinson connected on just three of his first 12 attempts, finished 7-of-19 in all, and did much of his scoring with 8-of-9 free throws before helping Utah to 54.8% shooting in the second half.
By then, the 16th-seeded Utes were playing catch-up and couldn't come back.
Brown had 6 points early, and Utah held the Bearcats to just 3-of-12 shooting en route to a 15-6 lead midway through the first half.
Cincinnati responded with an 11-3 run, when the Utes shot just 1-of-15 from the field until Kendyl Sanders broke a three-minute scoring drought to keep Utah in front, 20-17.
But the Bearcats ended the half on a 15-2 run to take a 29-20 lead at the break.
Finishing on the fast break 💨#Big12MBB | @Phillips66Gaspic.twitter.com/gRfLnkDJC8
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 10, 2026
Miller scored back-to-back buckets as the Bearcats used six straight makes and a 7-0 run to stretch the lead to 48-33 with 12:58 remaining.
Don McHenry was held scoreless on his first six attempts, until a floater with 9:53 remaining cut a 15-point deficit to 53-44 before a 3-pointer by Dawes trimmed it to seven less than a minute later.
McHenry's jumper with 42 seconds left cut the deficit as low as four, 70-66 as he finished witih 8 points on 2-of-10 shooting.
But Thiam had 9 points in the second half, including one of five 3-pointers, and Cincinnati made 9-of-12 free throws to keep the comeback in check.
This story will be updated.
