Utah Unravels At The End, Lose To Cincinnati, 85-75
Feb 11, 2025, 7:13 PM | Updated: Feb 12, 2025, 12:15 pm
SALT LAKE CITY—After keeping it tight for 38 minutes, Utah unraveled over the final couple of minutes and lost 85-75 to the Cincinnati Bearcats.
The Utes fall to 13-11 overall and 5-8 in Big 12 play, with the Kansas and Kansas State programs on the horizon.
Gabe Madsen nearly shot Utah to victory tonight. Unfortunately, he also went cold over the final minutes and couldn’t get Utah to the finish line. He finished the game with 28 points, on what was a pretty efficient night until seven consecutive misses left him 10-of-26 from the field.
Starters for Utah against Cincinnati
Craig Smith stuck with the same starting five, which were as follows:
Mike Sharavjamts, Gabe Madsen, Jake Wahlin, Ezra Ausar, and Lawson Lovering.
First Half, Utah Vs. Cincinnati
The Bearcats Jizzle James scored the game’s first four points. Utah got on the board with a Gabe Madsen 3-pointer after a couple of empty possessions. The Utes turned it over three times in the first three minutes of the game. Ezra Ausar had emphatic two-handed dunks on consecutive possessions to help Utah keep pace. Cincinnati held onto a 9-7 lead at the first media timeout.
Make that back-to-back 🔨🔨 in the paint for @ezraausar!#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/06BlhcvGvI
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 12, 2025
15:59 – The Utes would go scoreless for a couple of minutes after the break. It was a combination of a couple missed shots for Utah and Cincinnati protecting the rim.
Finally, Ausar worked the isolation and post for a layup that ended a two-minute dry spell. After Cincy had a possession with two offensive rebounds, Utah still got the defensive stop and quickly pushed it the other way, which led to a Lawson Lovering dunk off a dish from Miro Little.
Big denial from Ausar allows Little to find @lawson_lovering in transition for the JAM!!#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/IzH47f0qMi
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 12, 2025
That led Wes Miller to call a timeout. After the break, Utah got a defensive stop by breaking up a lob attempt. Ausar took the ball the other way for a coast-to-coast layup. He was also fouled but missed the free throw.
After scoring 14, Utah’s defense held Cincinnati scoreless for over three minutes. Outside of the transition scores for Utah, neither team looked particularly sharp in the half-court. The Bearcats held onto a 14-13 edge at the next media break.
11:46 – Utah took its first lead of the game, 15-14, with a Lovering dunk in transition. Ausar made a great pass to the big man for the dunk. Lovering then had a strong post-up and connected on a jump hook on the next possession.
Defensive rebounding was a big issue for Utah early on in the game. The Bearcats grabbed 10 offensive rebounds through the first 10 minutes of the game. The Utes just weren’t boxing out or playing with great effort on the glass.
Utah could not connect on clean looks and went scoreless for another two-minute stretch. This allowed the Bearcats to take a 21-17 lead into the third media timeout of the game.
7:46 – Following the timeout, Utah freed up Lovering for an easy score at the rim. After a Cincinnati turnover, Utah worked the offense again, which led to a left-handed finish for Lovering and a tied ball game, 21-21.
Little finds @lawson_lovering for his second-straight basket to tie things up here in Fifth Third Arena!#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/12SQAWQjZD
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 12, 2025
Unfortunately, Cincinnati’s Josh Reed would knock down consecutive 3-pointers to rebuild a 27-21 advantage and force a Utah timeout.
To this point of the game, Ausar and Lovering combined for 18 of Utah’s 21 points. Then Wahlin banked in a 3-pointer to end the drought, and G. Madsen got a layup to go on the next possession which made it a 29-26 advantage for Cincinnati. However, Josh Reed would add yet another 3-pointer to give the Bearcats a 32-26 edge at the next media timeout.
3:14 – Cincinnati started with the ball after the break but Lovering blocked a layup attempt. Utah took it the other way and created an open look for G. Madsen, who knocked down a 3-point from the top. On Utah’s next possession, Keanu Dawes found himself open from a little double-pick action with G. Madsen and Lovering, and he knocked down the 3-pointer.
.@keanu_28 knocks downs his first triple of the game to keep us within striking distance!#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/DbBZzx8lxm
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 12, 2025
In the final minute of play, Madsen knocked down a baseline jumper off the dribble, but the Bearcats knocked down yet another 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. On Utah’s final possession, Lovering threw down a dunk to make it a 42-36 game going into the locker room.
Second Half – Utah 36, Cincinnati 42
Mike Sharavjamts opened the half for Utah by connecting on a 3-pointer from the right wing. Later, G. Madsen knocked down a 3-pointer from the top. After a turnover, Utah got out in transition, which led to a Lovering layup, which tied up the ball game.
On the very next possession, G. Madsen knocked down another 3-point to give Utah a 47-44 lead in 2.5 minutes of action.
.@GabeMadsen53 heating up here in Cincinnati, hitting his second 3⃣ ball just 2:31 minutes into the second half!!#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/hxMVg5WO13
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 12, 2025
Following the blistering start, the Bearcats responded with four straight points to retake the lead. Wahlin would respond with a layup of his own to give Utah the 49-48 lead. Cincinnati’s Jizzle James converted another 3-pointer, but Utah quickly pushed the ball the other way and Lovering was fouled at the rim.
15:42 – Lovering was fouled going up for a layup prior to the timeout but missed both free throws. After the Bearcats extended their lead to 54-49 at the free throw line, Utah finally ended a brief scoring drought with a left-handed layup from Keller.
Then, G. Madsen knocked down one of his patented corner 3-pointers off a baseline inbound play, which trimmed the game to 56-54. After a Cincinnati score, G. Madsen would knock down yet another 3-pointer to make it 58-57.
12:00 – The Bearcats responded in a big way, though. After just two possessions, the Bearcats opened up a 64-57 lead, and Craig Smith called a timeout at the 11:09 mark.
Unfortunately, Utah threw it away on the possession and wasted the play drawn up for Madsen. After missing consecutive 3-pointers, Madsen finally connected on another one to help Utah keep it close, 66-60.
After missing another open one from the top, Madsen created an open look off a step-back and knocked it down. After a defensive stand, Utah’s Hunter Erickson stepped into a rhythm 3-pointer and knocked it down to make it 68-66, Cincinnati.
8:13 – After the break, Lovering missed a contested one at the rim, but Sharavjamts was able to tip in the miss to tie it up. Unfortunately, Madsen missed two quality looks from deep on consecutive possessions. That allowed Cincinnati to regain a 72-68 lead and Craig Smith called a timeout at the 5:46 mark.
After the break, Madsen missed another 3-pointer on a decent look, but Utah collected the offensive rebound, and Erickson knocked down a jumper. Madsen would later miss another one but Dawes would be there to collect the miss, get the layup to fall, and tie up the game 72-72.
3:55 – Cincinnati’s Josh Reed converted a floater after the break to give the Bearcats a two-point lead. On Utah’s possession, Madsen took another deep 3-pointer and missed. The Bearcats knocked down a 3-pointer off of a second-chance opportunity to give them a 77-72 lead. Then Hunter Erickson turned it over again as Smith wanted to call a timeout, which led to the Bearcats knock down two free throws and suddenly, Utah was looking at a 79-72 deficit in the blink of an eye.
Over the final minute, Utah could not convert shots and fell to Cincinnati, 85-75.
UP NEXT – Kansas Vs. Utah
Utah returns home for a pair of home games after being on the road and kicks it off against the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, Feb. 15, beginning at 8 p.m. (MST) on ESPN. Dave Flemming and former UCLA Bruin Sean Farnham return to the Jon M. Huntsman to guide fans through the action as the Runnin’ Utes and Jayhawks square off for the first time since Dec. 13, 2014, a game that took place in Kansas City at the now-named T-Mobile Center that wen in favor of KU 63-60.
