BYU Suffers Road Setback Against Hot-Shooting Cincinnati
Feb 8, 2025, 6:34 PM | Updated: Feb 10, 2025, 5:27 pm
BYU basketball falls in the season’s second meeting against the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Cincinnati defeated BYU 84-66 in the Cougars’ first trip to Cincinnati since 1931. Bearcats guard Jizzle James was one point shy of a career-high as he dropped 24 points to lead Cincinnati.
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) February 9, 2025
James had a career-high six made three-pointers.
Along with James, Day Day Thomas, who was near automatic in the midrange, scored 15, and Josh Reed added another 12 points to give Cincinnati three players in double-figures.
It was a far different outcome than BYU’s blowout 80-52 victory over Cincinnati in Provo on January 25.
BYU only had two players reach double-figures in scoring. Richie Saunders led the way for BYU with 15 points, but he only scored two in the second half. The other double-figure scorer was Egor Demin, with 12. But, like Saunders, he only scored two in the second half.
BYU led 42-39 at halftime, but Cincy went on a 22-2 run in the second half, which ultimately decided the game.
The Cougars had a second consecutive game where they were outrebounded. Cincy outrebounded BYU 32-17.
2 games in a row for #BYU where they are out-rebounded by 15. Ouch. Gotta correct the glass to get W’s.
— Matthew Baiamonte (@baiamontematt) February 9, 2025
BYU drops to 6-6 in Big 12 play and 15-8 overall.
First Half
17:02 – Cincinnati coach Wes Miller called an early timeout after BYU jumped out to a quick 9-5 lead that featured four of BYU’s starters knocking down field goals. BYU 9, Cincinnati 5.
15:27 – Cincy’s Jizzle James and Day Day Thomas began heating up as the Bearcats offense suddenly couldn’t miss. Cincinnati 12, BYU 11.
12:17 – Cincinnati was on fire from the field, knocking down eight of nine field goal attempts after missing their first shot. To compound issues, BYU forward Kanon Catchings fouled Cincy’s Josh Reed while attempting a three-point shot. Cincinnati 22, BYU 13.
Cincinnati is knocking down everything against BYU. After missing the first shot of the game, Cincinnati has knocked down eight of its next nine attempts.
Kevin Young calls a timeout.
Cincinnati leads 22-13 with 12:19 to go in the first half.
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 8, 2025
6:37 – Dawson Baker stepped in and knocked down two three-pointers to get BYU’s offense going. Then Richie Saunders hit a three off a screen from Fousseyni Traore. However, the turnovers have been problematic as BYU has committed six, creating 12 Cincinnati points. Cincy 31, BYU 28.
3:34 – Cincinnati had a pair of turnovers caused by bad passes. Richie Saunders was starting to find ways to get to the foul line as he was attacking downhill. Cincy 33, BYU 32.
Half: BYU 42, Cincinnati 39
BYU closed the first on an 8-0 run that was capped off by a four-point play by Egor Demin. It was similar to how the first meeting between BYU and Cincinnati played out in Provo two weeks ago, as Demin hit a three before the half.
Excellent close from BYU to regain the lead at the half.
BYU finishes the first half on an 8-0 run that was capped off by a 4-point play from Egor Demin.
Half: BYU 42, Cincinnati 39
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 8, 2025
BYU outscored Cincinnati 20-8 in the final eight minutes of the first half.
Richie Saunders and Egor Demin were in double figures at the break with 13 and 10, respectively. Cincy’s Jizzle James led all scorers with 14.
BYU’s run to close the half coincided with avoiding turnovers and Cincy making mistakes. At the break, the Bearcats had eight turnovers to BYU’s six.
Second Half
15:47 – Cincinnati took a page from BYU’s playbook to open a second half. In the meeting in Provo, BYU jumped out to a strong start in the second half. This time, it was Cincy’s turn as the Bearcats opened the second half on a 13-2 run.
BYU wasn’t getting loose balls, and that created more opportunities for the Bearcats, who had eight field goal attempts, compared to BYU’s four in the opening minutes of the half. Cincinnati 52, BYU 44.
12:47 – A brutal stretch of basketball from BYU continued as Cincinnati built up an 18-0 run. After Cincy’s Josh Reed picked up a steal on Dawson Baker, Reed was off to the races for a slam dunk. That forced BYU’s Kevin Young to call a timeout.
Jizzle James reached a career-high five made three-pointers. BYU opened the half shooting 1-of-9 from the field. Cincy 61, BYU 44.
11:11 – Kevin Young dug into his bench and inserted Trey Stewart and Mihailo Boskovic, and the two lightly-used reserves gave BYU a lift with some offense. Stewart knocked down a three and Boskovic had a nice Euro step that led to him getting a layup at the rim. Cincy 63, BYU 49.
8:04 – Boskovic continued to make his impact felt, finding an open Dawson Baker for three to pick up an assist. Then, the junior from Serbia buried a wide-open three at the top of the arc to cut Cincinnati’s lead to single digits, forcing Wes Miller to call a timeout. Cincy 66, BYU 58.
BYU is getting back into the game with Trey Stewart and Mihailo Boskovic on the floor.
BYU has outscored Cincy 14-5 in the last 4:43 of action with Stewart and Boskovic playing.
Stewart and Boskovic combined for eight of those points. Boskovic also had an assist for three to…
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) February 9, 2025
5:19 – Kevin Young decided to ride the hot hand and keep the lineup with Boskovic and Stewart on the floor. It appeared to be a tad too long, as Cincinnati adjusted and quickly doubled up its lead to 16. Dan Skillings had back-to-back layups leading to a BYU timeout. Cincy 75, BYU 59.
3:56 – Cincinnati hit six of its last eight field goal attempts. Cincy 80, BYU 63.
Final: Cincinnati 84, BYU 66
Cincinnati was lights out, finishing the game, shooting 59% from the field, 50% from three, and 67% at the foul line. BYU shot respectable percentages at 47%, 34% from three, and 73% at the foul line.
Up Next For BYU Basketball
BYU basketball will stay on the East Coast and travel to Morgantown, West Virginia, to face the West Virginia Mountaineers on Tuesday, February 11, at 5 p.m. (MST) on CBS Sports Network and KSL NewsRadio.
On Saturday, West Virginia defeated Utah 72-61 to improve to 15-8.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
