Cincinnati holds off late surge from short-handed Tarleton State

Field Level Media|published: Mon 1st December, 21:37 2025

NCAA Basketball: Tarleton State at Cincinnati

Dec 1, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats center Moustapha Thiam (52) battles for the loose ball against Tarleton State Texans guard Jordan Mizell (0) in the first half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

Kerr Kriisa scored 20 points and Day Day Thomas added 19 as Cincinnati used long-distance sharp-shooting to fend off short-handed Tarleton State, 76-58, Monday night in Cincinnati.

Kriisa, Thomas and Jalen Celestine combined for 13 threes as Cincinnati (6-2) rebounded from a stunning home loss to Eastern Michigan last Wednesday. The Bearcats finished 15-of-36 from 3-point range and used a 15-4 run midway through the second half to break open a four-point game.

Cincinnati opened the second half by making 9-of-13 from beyond the arc to finally pull away from the Western Athletic Conference foe.

Helping Cincinnati's cause was the return to the starting lineup of star big man Baba Miller, who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Miller, who missed the last two games due to a hip injury, scored seven points with five rebounds in 12 minutes in the first half. But in showing his rust, Miller committed seven of Cincinnati's 12 first-half turnovers.

Ocypher Owens led Tarleton State (5-4) with 16 points, while Kaia Isaac added 13 and Freddy Hicks chipped in with 12.

Injuries were also a big factor for Tarleton State, which was without the nation's second-leading scorer in Dior Johnson, missing his second straight game with an ankle injury. Chris Mpaka also sat out the game as seven of the 17 Texans on the roster were unavailable due to injury.

Cincinnati appeared ready to take complete command early, scoring 11 straight points as part of a 15-2 spurt to turn a 10-9 deficit into a 24-12 lead with eight minutes left in the first half.

But the Texans managed to stay close, trailing by only two at the half, 31-29, as Kaia Isaac scored nine of his 13 points in the first half.

The Bearcats pulled away for a 45-31 lead with a 14-2 surge to open the second half, including a 9-0 run that featured three threes by Cincinnati and two by Kerr Kriisa.

But trailing 47-33, the Texans ran off 10 straight points, capped by back-to-back threes from Freddy Hicks to make it 47-43 Cincinnati with 13 minutes remaining in the half.

--Field Level Media