3 takeaways from Utah’s loss to Cincinnati in Big 12 tournament

For the second straight year, Utah’s stay at the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament was brief.

The No. 16 seed Runnin’ Utes fell 73-66 to ninth-seeded Cincinnati in Tuesday’s opening round, as Utah lost its sixth straight game.

Here are three takeaways from the contest.

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First-half scoring drought puts Utah in a hole

After a pair of games last week where Utah trailed by 20-plus points in the first half, the Utes responded well to start the game Tuesday.

Utah used an 8-0 run to go up 15-6 a little over eight minutes into the contest, as Cincinnati struggled from the field in the game’s early going.

The Utes were even able to hold on to the lead for much of the first half, but after taking that 9-point advantage, Utah went cold offensively.

The Utes hit only two of their final 21 field-goal attempts in the first half, and the Bearcats eventually made Utah pay, as they ended the half on a 12-0 run to take a 29-20 lead into the break.

Utah didn’t score the final 3:30 of the half and no Ute hit multiple field goals in the first half, while Cincinnati made 6 of 8 field goals in the last three minutes to push the lead out.

It was a season-low for Utah in both points scored in a half as well as shooting percentage, as the Utes shot 19.4% in the opening 20 minutes.

Utah’s top two scorers, Terrence Brown and Don McHenry, combined to shoot 1 of 13 from the field in the first half.

The second half was more offensively charged

Both teams warmed up offensively after halftime, as Utah outscored Cincinnati 46-44 in the final 20 minutes.

While Utah was able to find its step offensively, led by Brown, the Bearcats were humming on that end as well.

Cincinnati led by as many as 15 points in the second half, though Utah fought back and climbed within 4 in the last 1:05. The Bearcats hit five free throws in the final minute to hold off the Utes.

Brown scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half, and at one point, he scored nine straight points to make it a two-possession game.

Brown, who shot 7 of 19 from the field, also had six assists, two rebounds and two steals to counter one turnover.

Utah ended up shooting 17 of 31 from the field after halftime, or 54.8%, and also got double-figures from Seydou Traore (12 points) and a double-double from Keanu Dawes (15 points, 12 rebounds).

Cincinnati, meanwhile, was paced by 19 points from Jalen Celestine, who made five of the Bearcats’ nine 3-pointers. Utah, conversely, made only five shots from beyond the arc.

The Bearcats also shot over 50% in the second half, at 51.7%, and outscored Utah 18-7 in bench points.

What it means for Utah

The loss ends a trying season for the Utes (10-22), one where Utah won just twice in Big 12 action.

It figured this would be a difficult year, considering Utah only had one rotational player returning, though it’s fair to wonder, as coach Alex Jensen did multiple times this season, whether the Utes could have picked up a few more wins this season.

Now, the focus will be on the future.

What will Jensen’s group look like in Year 2? How many of this season’s players will return?

One of the few things that is known is that Utah is bringing in at least six newcomers either as part of its recruiting class or others who are returning from church missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

There will be activity with the transfer portal as well.

This team will likely look quite different again next year, but with general manager Wes Wilcox on the job, the work has been going on for months in building the framework for next year and beyond.