Cincinnati’s (12-7, 2-6) basketball season is in a tailspin as they wrap up their Utah road trip against the Utes (11-8, 3-5) on Tuesday night. The …

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati’s (12-7, 2-6) basketball season is in a tailspin as they wrap up their Utah road trip against the Utes (11-8, 3-5) on Tuesday night. The Bearcats just suffered their worst loss by margin 80-52 to BYU since Nov. 2022, and are 2-6 in conference play for the first time under Wes Miller.
Utah is a good team to face when you need a win, but no game is easy for this version of Cincinnati. The Utes enter this outing ranked 89th in KenPom and 78th in the NET, while Cincinnati is 53rd on KenPom and 48th in the NET.
ESPN’s Matchup Predictor gives Cincinnati a 50.8% chance to win the game. It’s a late-night tip at 10 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network. UC is 2-1 against Utah since the 1949-50 season.
Now would be a perfect time for Cincinnati to take hold of any identity and showcase a clear go-to scorer. Is that likely 19 games into a season? No, but Cincinnati won’t have a relevant postseason if not.
There is no go-to scoring option on UC’s roster right now, and with lacking three-point defense creeping in, a real identity is slipping away too. The lack of high-level scorers is astounding. No Bearcat ranks among the Big 12’s top-25 scorers. Cincinnati likely won’t have much luck finding a 20-plus point outing here.
Utah is a stout defense that really only struggles with fouling (19.2 FT attempts allowed, 198th), which UC doesn’t force (14.6 free throw attempts per game, 351st nationally). This is one of the biggest, best rebounding teams Cincinnati has faced (39.9 rebounds per game, 28th). They don’t have a single player shorter than 6-4 in the rotation and boast three players 6-9 or taller.
It’s going to be extremely difficult to make shots against a defense allowing 45.4% from two (33rd), and 31.9% from deep (128th). Utah closes out very well on jumpers and can get foul-happy, but there’s no indication Cincinnati will give them a reason to do that recklessly at 25% from three in conference.
Dan Skillings Jr., Simas Lukošius, Jizzle James, someone.
Anyone.
It’s desperation mode for Cincinnati offensively and one or more of its supposed top players has to take control of this situation themselves. Show some fire, get aggressive downhill, and above all else, hit some jump shots. Basketball gets pretty simple when you shoot as badly as the Bearcats have: Can’t win unless you shoot better… (39.8% FG mark in conference play).
Utah funnels a lot of its offense through two players and is one of the best offenses nationally at swinging the ball for open looks. They enter the game averaging 18.9 assists per game (sixth nationally), and they do it as a group.
Four different players average at least 2.4 assists per game, including guard Gabe Madsen (14.8 points, 2.7 assists), who will crush Cincinnati alone if he gets hot. He leads the team in scoring but has been awful in conference play and UC needs to keep that rolling (9.8 points, 32.2% effective field goal rate).
Forward Ezra Ausar (11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds) has increased his production in conference play and is probably the top option to stop offensively. The 6-9 bruiser has active hands around the rim and is part of a balanced frontcourt by the Utes.
That assist number tells you a lot of what you need to know. 10 different Utes average at least four points per game on a pretty deep roster. Same with free throws, where five different Utes average at least two attempts. Utah is shooting just 62.3% at the stripe (358th nationally), but could open up a gap here if those shots fall. Cincinnati’s allowing about two more free throws per game in conference play, compared to non-conference.
UC has to create at least one five-game winning streak over the next 40 days to make the NCAA tournament. Getting their second-road win in conference play would be a good start. Alas, this team has to prove it can shoot with any consistency to earn the benefit of the doubt in spots like this (301st in three-point percentage, 347th in FT percentage).
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Source: Utah News