Gabe Madsen's late flourish pulls Utah past Cincinnati

Field Level Media|published: Wed 29th January, 24:57 2025

Jan 28, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes forward Jake Wahlin (10) goes to the basket against Cincinnati Bearcats guard Josh Reed (10) during the first half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Gabe Madsen's basket with two minutes left broke a tie and lifted Utah to a hard-fought 69-66 victory over Cincinnati on Tuesday in Salt Lake City.

Madsen, a senior guard who began his career with Cincinnati in 2020-21, finished with 18 points. He scored the Utes' last seven points in the final two minutes to help Utah snap a two-game losing streak.

The leading scorer for the Utes (12-8, 4-5 Big 12) broke his own slump as well, having scored just 21 points in his previous three games while making only 7 of 32 field-goal attempts (21.9 percent).

Simas Lukosius' deep 3-point attempt in the closing seconds missed for the Bearcats (12-8, 2-7), who have lost three straight.

Utah outrebounded the Bearcats 41-23, which helped the Utes overcome 19 turnovers.

After allowing BYU to shoot 73.9 percent in the second half on Saturday, the Bearcats permitted Utah -- a team that entered Tuesday shooting 40.1 percent -- to go 18-for-27 (66.7 percent) in the first half on Tuesday.

Despite that, Cincinnati kept it close throughout the first half, and the score was tied at 34 with two minutes to be before the break thanks to seven Utah turnovers. However, the Bearcats shot 0-for-6 to end the first half, allowing the Utes to take a 40-34 lead at the break.

The Bearcats continued to struggle at the start of the second half, missing their first five shots. A Lukosius 3-pointer ended the seven-plus-minute shooting drought with 15:12 left in regulation.

Utah, though, would finally go cold, beginning the second half 2-for-11 over the first nine minutes. That opened the door for the Bearcats to go on a 14-0 run, which allowed the guests to go up 50-44 with 11:16 to go on a Josh Reed trey.

The Utes then answered the Cincinnati run with a 18-4 surge to take an eight-point lead with less than five minutes left.

Cincinnati responded with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 62 on two free throws from Reed before Madsen took over at the end.

Keanu Dawes added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Utes, and Ezra Ausar contributed 11 points.

Jizzle James led the Bearcats with 18 points. Lukosius finished with 10.

--Field Level Media