Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Kansas 54, Cincinnati 40
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 11, 2025
Where: Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Officials: # Doug Sirmons, # Ray Natili, # Gary Maxwell
Attendance: 12003

Hunter Dickinson had 14 points and 12 rebounds and No. 11 Kansas displayed stifling second-half defense to post a 54-40 Big 12 win over host Cincinnati on Saturday.

Kansas (12-3, 3-1) overcame 2-for-21 shooting from beyond the arc to record their third straight win and fifth in six contests. The Jayhawks shot 35.3 percent from the field.

Dillon Mitchell had 10 points and was the only player in double figures for Cincinnati (10-5, 0-4), which shot just 3-for-22 from 3-point range and 30.5 percent from the field.

Both teams went through ice-cold stretches in the second half. Cincinnati didn't register a second-half basket until Arrinten Page hit a jumper with 14:27 left while Kansas went four minutes without a basket early in the second half.

For the second straight game and third time in four outings, Kansas faced a halftime deficit. But as they did in their previous win over Arizona State, when they held the Sun Devils to 13 second-half points, the Jayhawks turned up the defensive intensity in the second half. Kansas outscored Arizona State 38-13 on Wednesday and outscored Cincinnati 30-15.

An alley-oop dunk by Shakeel Moore on a Zeke Mayo lob highlighted a 14-0 run that helped the Jayhawks seal the game. Kansas led 52-37 after that spurt.

After Cincinnati raced out to an 8-2 lead before an energized capacity home crowd, the Jayhawks answered with eight straight points to take a brief lead.

Trailing 12-10, Cincinnati went on an 11-2 spurt to take its biggest lead of the first half at 21-14. The Bearcats capitalized on six first-half steals to take a pair of seven-point leads but missed 7 of 8 shots to close the half and converted just two field goals in the final 6 1/2 minutes.

In the first half, both teams were off the mark from beyond the arc as Kansas converted just 2 of 9 while Cincinnati drained just 1 of 9. Kansas closed the half on an 8-2 run that narrowed Cincinnati's lead to 25-24 at the break.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Kansas   Cincinnati
Hunter Dickinson 14 Scoring Dillon Mitchell 10
KJ Adams Jr. 2 Assists Simas Lukosius 3
Hunter Dickinson 12 Rebounds Aziz Bandaogo 8
KJ Adams Jr. 2 Free Throws Made Jizzle James 1
KJ Adams Jr. 2 Steals Dan Skillings Jr. 3
KJ Adams Jr. 1 Blocks Arrinten Page 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Kansas 54 35.3 2-21 4-5 12 43 2 5 7
Cincinnati 40 30.5 3-22 1-2 8 39 4 7 12