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CINCINNATI, Ohio — It was raining from downtown Tuesday night.
Cincinnati drained 10 3-pointers as a team on 50% shooting from deep, while Utah's Gabe Madsen made eight of the team's 13 3-pointers — tying a career high — to keep the second leg of the two-game series locked up down to the wire.
Madsen had 22 3-point attempts in the game, which is the most ever by a Utes player.
Despite the hot shooting from Madsen in his return to Cincinnati for the first time since his freshman season when he had Cincinnati on his chest, the Runnin' Utes couldn't get much more on offense and fell 85-75 to the Bearcats.
After draining his eighth 3-pointer on the night, Madsen missed his next six shots from deep as Utah (13-11, 5-8 Big 12) looked to turn the offense completely over to the senior.
His sudden cold streak mixed with a turnover by Hunter Erickson propelled Cincinnati (15-9, 5-8 Big 12) to an 11-0 run to closeout the game and to keep the Utes from making a late-game push despite the game being tied up 72-72 with 3:55 left to play.
Mix that with Utah's porous perimeter defense, which allowed Cincinnati to get good looks from deep, and then being outrebounded 41-29 ultimately was the deciding factor on a night when Utah shot 48% from the field.
Two weeks ago, Utah outrebounded Cincinnati at home by 18 rebounds in a dominant post performance at the Huntsman Center that helped the Runnin' Utes to a win.
But at their home, the Bearcats got their revenge.
Madsen finished the night with a game-high 28 points on 10-of-26 shooting, while contributing two rebounds and two assists. Lawson Lovering, who was a big factor early in the post, added 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
Cincinnati was led in scoring by Jizzle James, who finished with 25 points, six assists and two rebounds. But it was Josh Reed, who hit three early 3-pointers, who set the tone early for the Bearcats. Reed added 13 points and four rebounds in the win.
Simas Lukosius added 11 points, while Aziz Bandaogo supplied an additional 10 points and 10 rebounds.
