Cincinnati jumps out early, beats BYU 90-68

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CINCINNATI (AP) — Jalen Celestine and Jizzle James each scored 18 points and Cincinnati cruised past BYU 90-68 on Tuesday night.

Moustapha Thiam added 15 points and nine rebounds for Cincinnati, which shot 50% overall and 43.5% (10 of 23) from long range. Baba Miller chipped in with 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Day Day Thomas scored 12 points.

Thiam’s dunk with 7:45 to play gave the Bearcats a 71-50 lead. Miller added a one-handed slam with 2:05 remaining.

Cincinnati (17-13, 9-8 Big 12) has won six of its last seven. BYU (20-10, 8-9) has lost three straight.

The Bearcats took the lead about three minutes in and led by as many as 16 points in the first half. The Cougars scored the first five points of the second half to get within seven points, but that was as close as they would get.

AJ Dybantsa scored 23 points and Robert Wright III added 21 for BYU. Aleksej Kostic scored 14 points.

BYU hosts No. 10 Texas Tech on Saturday in a regular-season finale.

Cincinnati ends its regular season at TCU on Saturday.

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