BYU Suffers Road Rout As Cincinnati Extends Hot Streak
Mar 3, 2026, 9:54 PM | Updated: Mar 4, 2026, 11:04 am
BYU basketball is in free-fall mode after completing a two-game eastern road trip with a 90-68 loss at Cincinnati.
The Bearcats have been one of the nation’s hottest teams since February 8. They looked every bit the part of a red-hot team that’s trending towards an NCAA at-large bid.
Final: Cincinnati 90, BYU 68
BYU falls to 20-10 overall, 8-9 in Big 12 play.
The Cougars have lost nine of their last 13 games.
Fastbreak points: Cincy 12, BYU 2
Points Off Turnovers: Cincy 21, BYU 7— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 4, 2026
Meanwhile, BYU basketball continues to struggle. BYU has lost nine of its last 13 games, and now three in a row.
BYU committed 15 turnovers that led to 21 points for Cincinnati.
Cincinnati, which hasn’t been known for an up-and-down style of play this season, was flying on offense against a BYU team that consistently has painful lapses on defense. The Bearcats scored 12 fastbreak points against BYU, while the Cougars had two fastbreak points.
AJ Dybantsa finished with 23 points on 7-of-21 from the field. Rob Wright III chipped in 21 points. Both players combined for nine of BYU’s 15 turnovers.
All five of Cincinnati’s starters scored in double figures, as they cruised to a comfortable win on Senior Night.
Cincinnati has won six of its last seven games.
First Half
Under-16: Cincinnati 8, BYU 6
BYU had a decent start, but two threes from Cincy’s Baba Miller and Jalen Celestine gave the Bearcats an early lead.
Under-12: Cincinnati 17, BYU 8
Cincinnati put together a 12-0 run that created separation from BYU. The starting lineup change featuring Khadim Mboup didn’t slow Cincy’s Baba Miller, who scored seven points to get the Bearcats rolling.
The defensive lapses were starting to leak from BYU, as they have numerous times this season.
Under-8: Cincinnati 32, BYU 18
Cincinnati was pouring it on BYU as Moustapha Thiam buried a three-pointer. It was only Thiam’s 11th made 3-pointer this season.
Under-4: Cincinnati 39, BYU 25
BYU gave AJ Dybantsa a break coming out of the under-eight timeout. Kevin Young had a lineup on the floor that included Rob Wright III, Aleksej Kostic, Kennard Davis Jr., and Abdullah “Bido” Ahmed. Who would have thought that would be a lineup for BYU during the final week of the regular season?
AJ Dybantsa returned to the floor and made a few poor decisions, leading to turnovers. Dybantsa was up to five turnovers, while BYU as a team had 10 giveaways.
Halftime: Cincinnati 43, BYU 31
BYU’s defense tightened up near the end of the half with some offense/defense substitutions. Seldom-used Dominique Diomande provided some nice defensive possessions, one of which included forcing a Cincinnati player in the final minute coming out of a timeout.
Still, the highlights were few and far between for BYU in the first half.
It was the seventh time this season that BYU trailed by double-figures this season.
View this post on Instagram
Second Half
Under-16: Cincinnati 55, BYU 42
BYU’s well-known strong second-half offense had a brief moment of life in the opening minutes, as they trimmed the deficit down to seven after an AJ Dybantsa and-one opportunity. Dybantsa missed the free throw that would have cut it to six.
After that brief seven-point lead, Day Day Thomas knocked down a three, and the Bearcats were on the run again.
Under-12: Cincinnati 61, BYU 44
The Bearcats reached a game-high lead at 17 points during a stretch of play where BYU center Keba Keita left the game due to three fouls.
Under-8: Cincinnati 77, BYU 53
The lack of physicality was on display from BYU, along with confusion on defense, as Cincinnati built a new game-high of 24 points.
BYU had 14 turnovers, leading to 21 points for Cincinnati.
Under-4: Cincinnati 77, BYU 57
The game was out of reach; it was a crawl to the finish line.
Final: Cincinnati 90, BYU 68
BYU’s first fastbreak points were from Rob Wright with 2:41 remaining. Cincinnati finished the game with 12 fastbreak points to BYU’s two.
ESPN’s Eric Rothman said the game was “a whoopin'” inside Fifth-Third Arena, and it’s hard to argue against that as Cincinnati cruised to a comfortable victory.
BYU closes the regular season on Saturday against No. 10 Texas Tech at the Marriott Center at 8:30 p.m. (MST) on ESPN and KSL NewsRadio.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
