The Runnin’ Utes go to the Cincinnati Bearcats on Tuesday night, 85-75. The loss put Utah at 5–8 and conference play and 13–11 overall.

Here are the takeaways from the loss:

The difference was at the foul line and the boards

The discrepancy is jaw dropping. The Bearcats shot 19 free throws overall, while the Ute shot three. Utah failed to make a single one, and Cincinnati connected on 73.7%, making 14 of them. Aside from Ezra Ausar and Caleb Lohner, Utah just isn’t a very physical basketball team. Ausar had eight points and only two rebounds, while Lohner played a grand total of three seconds.

Cincinnati’s physicality carried over on the boards as well, with a 41-29 rebounding advantage. Jake Wahlin and Keanu Dawes had seven and five boards, respectively, while no one else on Utah had more than three. The Bearcats lead in second chance points, 16-13.

You can’t win games when you attempt less than a handful of free throws and make none of them. Nor can you win games without physicality in the paint.

Gabe Madsen quickly felt at home again

His time at Cincinnati was short, playing in two games and averaging six minutes. However, for a large portion of the game, Gabe Madson seemed right at home on his old home court.

Playing from behind, Madsen let loose from long-distance in the second half. After starting the game 2-4 from three-point range, Madsen went 6-18 in the second half. After starting the second half scorching hot, Madsen missed his last seven attempts and went two for his last 10. He finished the game leading both teams in scoring with 28 points and he shot 22 of Utah’s 32 total three-point attempts.

The negative is that when Gabe was ice cold, Utah stayed too reliant on him to bring them back into the game. Besides Mike Sharavjamts (2-4), no one else on the team shot more than two three-point attempts.

Outside of Gabe Madsen, Utah just doesn’t have that second reliable outside threat.

Up next

The Runnin’ Utes wrap the week by hosting No. 17 Kansas at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Kansas is led by 7-foot-2 center Hunter Dickinson (16.6 ppg) and Zeke Mayo (15 ppg). Unlike most years, there’s no obvious 2025 NBA draft prospect on the Jayhawks roster.