February 15, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Utah Utz guard Terence Brown (2) dribbles the ball against Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jizzle James (2) during the second inning at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Image Cincinnati enters this week’s Big 12 Tournament not knowing exactly how many wins it needs to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
But the ninth-seeded Bearcats certainly need at least one, and they’ll get an opening opportunity Tuesday afternoon when they face 16th-seeded Utah in Kansas City, Missouri.
Cincinnati (17-14) dropped its regular-season finale 73-63 at TCU on Saturday, reducing its chances of an at-large bid. The setback resulted in Cincinnati shooting 44.2 percent from the floor and committing 19 turnovers, snapping a two-game winning streak.
Day Day Thomas led Cincinnati with 19 points, Jalen Celestine added 12 points and Baba Miller had 14 rebounds for the Bearcats, who entered the bubble having won six of their previous seven games.
“I’ve never felt like the team in Cincinnati was more focused and working on what they need to do to be successful,” Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said after the loss to TCU. “… the approach, the mindset — these people are engaged, they want it badly.
“My only focus right now is to prepare for the game on Tuesday and go from there.”
The Utes (10-21) head to Kansas City after losing 101-75 to Baylor on Saturday. It was Utah’s fifth straight loss and 12th of its last 13 games of the season. You’ll want to put it in your rearview mirror quickly.
The Utes hit 60.4% of their shots from the floor in Saturday’s loss, but that positive result was offset by turning the ball over 16 times and allowing 31 points on those miscues. Utah also gave up 58 points in the paint and 15 second chance points.
Don McHenry led the team with 20 points, Terrence Brown added 16 points and five assists and Keanu Dawes had 14 points for the Utes, who trailed by 20 at the break.
“We made the same mistakes we’ve made over the past few weeks,” Utah coach Alex Jensen said. “But when you give up 22 turnovers in the first half, it’s hard to stay in the game, let alone win the game. Hopefully we can all do better to get back together and not make the same mistakes again.”
The Bearcats beat Utah 69-65 at home on Feb. 15 in the only game between the teams this season.
The winner of Tuesday’s contest will advance to play No. 8 seed UCF on Wednesday afternoon.
–Field level media
