Utah basketball crumbles down the stretch of road loss to Cincinnati

Runnin' Utes squandered a five-point lead to the Bearcats over the final 2 minutes

Utah Runnin' Utes forward Keanu Dawes (8) battles for the loose ball against Cincinnati Bearcats forward Baba Miller (18) in the first at Fifth Third Arena. | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Utah managed to trade blows with Cincinnati for 38 minutes of Sunday's contest from Fifth Third Arena, but couldn't hold on down the stretch and wound up losing, 69-65.

Don McHenry paced the Runnin' Utes (9-16, 1-11 Big 12) with 18 points, while Keanu Dawes had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Day Day Thomas led the Bearcats (14-12, 6-7 Big 12) with 16 points.

Here's how it all went down.

Road Woes for Utah Continue

After hanging with Cincinnati for 38 minutes, it appeared Utah was moments away from getting back in the win column following six consecutive losses.

Unfortunately for Alex Jensen's group, the Bearcats owned the final 84 seconds of regulation.

After Keanu Dawes put the Runnin' Utes up five with a big-time jumper at the 1:56 mark, Cincinnati ripped off nine consecutive points over the final minute and change, five of which came via the free-throw line.

Utah, meanwhile, missed its final four looks from the field, including three straight from 3-point range.

Utah's late-game miscues extended its road game losing streak to 15, with the team's last win in a hostile environment coming in a victory at TCU on January 15, 2025.

Contrasting Styles of Play

Boasting length and size in the frontcourt, Cincinnati relied on its post play and dribble penetration to get the job done offensively against a Utah team that was, by comparison, lacking in size.

Though the Runnin' Utes weren't necessarily equipped to contend with the Bearcats in the paint, they were able to lean on their outside shooting as their main source of offense.

Cincinnati's game plan wound up winning out, but Utah's shotmaking kept things interested. Likewise, the Bearcats' ineffectiveness from long range — combined with an inability to score around the rim on the part of the Runnin' Utes — made the contrasting styles of play that much more noticeable.

Utah shot 13-of-34 on 2s but went 9-for-27 from 3-point range, while Cincinnati doubled Utah in paint points (32 to 16) but was just 4-of-14 from long range. It was a complete reversal from the last outings for both teams; the Runnin' Utes went 2-of-17 from 3 against Houston on Tuesday, while the Bearcats drained 16 treys in their win over Kansas State on Wednesday.

Game of Runs Dictates First Half Flow

The pendulum of momentum hardly came to a rest as both sides rattled off lengthy scoring runs — followed by extended droughts — throughout the first 20 minutes of play.

Cincinnati delivered the first blow, going up 14-8 as Utah missed six of its first seven looks from the field. A brief stall-out from the Bearcats offense opened the door for the Runnin' Utes to rip off an 10-0 run and take the lead.

Cincinnati quickly responded with 12 consecutive points, fueled by back-to-back 3-pointers from Keyshaun Tillery. Just like that, Utah went from being up four to down eight in a 5-minute span.

That margin was trimmed down to three going into the locker room thanks to some nice shooting from Don McHenry down the stretch of the first half. The 6-foot-2 guard drained a couple of corner 3s and knocked down a jumper over the final 3 minutes, helping the Runnin' Utes stay afloat offensively against the Bearcats' suffocating defense.

Fittingly, a 9-0 scoring run wound up being the final difference maker on the scoreboard.