Utah guard available vs. Cincinnati in Big 12 tournament game

The Utah basketball team will almost be at full strength for Tuesday's Big 12 tournament game against Cincinnati.

About 90 minutes before tipoff from Kansas City's T-Mobile Center, the Runnin' Utes removed Lucas Langarita's name from their availability report, indicating the freshman guard would be good to play after being listed as "questionable" in Monday's report.

Babacar Faye was, as expected, categorized as "out" for Tuesday's game. The fifth-year forward hasn't played this season due to a leg injury he suffered in September.

Sharpshooting guard Jacob Patrick was once again ruled out, marking 22 consecutive missed games for the 6-foot-6 junior. Patrick was shooting 46.5% from 3 at the start of the season but hasn't been on the floor for Utah since the team's Dec. 6 home win over Cal Baptist.

Langarita, who joined the Utes (10-21, 2-16 Big 12) in December, missed a majority of conference play due to an undisclosed injury. He was sidelined for 12 straight games following his debut against BYU on Jan. 10, then appeared in Utah's final three regular season games as a backup guard.

Meanwhile, the Bearcats (17-14, 9-9 Big 12) didn't make any adjustments to its initial availability report, which featured one player — Jalen Haynes — in the "out" category. Haynes hasn't played all season following successful surgery for a knee injury in the fall. The 6-foot-8 forward was an All-Atlantic 10 first-team selection at George Mason last season.

The winner of Tuesday's game will play 8-seeded UCF in the second round of the Big 12 tournament, set for Wednesday at 1 p.m. MT. Arizona, the top-seeded team in the bracket, awaits the winner of that game in the Big 12 quarterfinal round (1 p.m. MT, March 12).

Utah and Cincinnati met one other time in the regular season, when the Bearcats overcame a late deficit with a 9-0 run in the final 2 minutes, securing a 69-65 victory in a highly-competitive battle from Fifth Third Arena on Feb. 15. Don McHenry led the Utes with 18 points, while Moustapha Thiam paced the Bearcats with 15 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

Utah Game Day Availability Report

Out

F Babacar Faye
G Jacob Patrick

Cincinnati Game Day Availability Report

Out

F Jalen Haynes

How to Watch Utah vs. Cincinnati

Date: Tuesday, March 10
Game Time: Noon PT/1 p.m. MT
Where: T-Mobile Center | Kansas City, Missouri
How to watch (TV): ESPN+
Radio: ESPN 700
Live stats feed: www.statbroadcast.com
KenPom prediction: Cincinnati 76, Utah 66