CINCINNATI  — Tarleton State Men's Basketball fought hard but was unable to answer Cincinnati's second half run to suffer a 76-58 loss at Cincinnati on Monday night at Fifth Third Arena.

The Texans (5-4) dropped to the Bearcats (6-2) in the first meeting between the two programs. It marked the first time that Tarleton State competed in the state of Ohio. The Bearcats will play crosstown-rival Xavier on Friday.

"It was a tough loss tonight," said head coach Billy Gillispie. "Although we were missing a lot of players, I thought if we could learn to play the game right and with a great deal more discipline, we could have won. We don't worry about who we don't have, we focus on doing things the right way and fighting for our school and our teammates. We have a lot of room for improvement and plan on getting better, starting tomorrow."

Ocypher Owens led the Texan scoring effort for the first game this season. Owens finished the night with 16 making five of his 14 shots from the floor and adding a pair of triples. He also converted four of his seven free throw attempts. Owens grabbed a team-best six rebounds as well as dished out a team-high four assists. He also recorded a pair of steals.

Freddy Hicks scored in double figures for the seventh time this season, recording 12. Kaia Isaac scored in double figures for his first time as a Texan. Isaac made six of his 11 shots including one from beyond the arc. He also grabbed five boards. Jordan Mizell played all 40 minutes in the contest for the short-handed Texans. Mizell notched four steals and the only Texan block of the evening. Just nine players saw the court with six playing at least 20 minutes.

For the second game in-a-row it was a tale of two halves, but this time the Texans best half came first. Isaac knocked down a triple to start the game and followed it up with a layup just over a minute later to put the Texans up 5-3. Leroy Kelly IV scored five straight Texan points of his own to tie the game at seven and then give the Texans a 10-9 lead with 15:06 to go in the first half.

The Bearcats retook the lead started by a pair of made three-pointers in part of an 11-0 run in a 4:06 span. Isaac stopped the run with a pullup mid-range jumper to bring the Texans back within eight. Cincy's lead grew to as many as 12 in the first half, but the Purple and White quickly cut that down with back-to-back buckets from Hicks and Owens who nailed a three from deep. 

With 5:05 remaining, Cincinnati led 29-19 but the Texans closed the half with a 10-2 run and nearly took the lead at the buzzer. After a Kelly IV jumper, Owens knocked down his second three of the night. Kade Douglas followed him up on the next Texan possession with a three of his own to bring the Texans within four with 1:53 to go. After a Bearcat turnover, Owens grabbed a steal and took it full court for the fast break layup with 1:13 to go. In the final seconds of the half, Owens intercepted another pass and nearly knocked down a half court heave that would have put the Texans ahead. Nonetheless, the Texans headed into the break down by just a pair, 31-29.

But, the Bearcats came out of the second half hot and the Texans were unable to respond. Cincinnati started the half on a 14-2 run with four made triples in the first 2:55. The lone Texan points came via a pair of made free throws by Owens. Trailing by 14, Tarleton State's first basket came over four minutes into the second half when Douglas knocked down a jumper in the paint. Isaac followed up with a bucket to cut the Texan deficit to 10, 47-37, with 14:37 to go. Then, Hicks got hot from behind the arc knocking down back-to-back triples to put the Texans on a 10-0 run in 2:45 and bring the Texans within four, 47-43 with 13:07 remaining.

Cincinnati responded with a 5-0 run, but Owens drove the lane and drew the foul for the and-one opportunity to bring the Texans back within seven. After he missed the free throw, the Bearcats used a 5-0 run to bring the lead up to double digits, where it stayed for the rest of the contest. Both teams hit a scoring drought for over three minutes from the five-minute mark till 2:00 remaining with Cincinnati knocking down a bucket to grow their lead to 16. The Bearcats closed out the game to ultimately take a 76-58 victory.

The Texans won the turnover battle forcing 21 and committing 19. Cincinnati won the battle of the boards, 38-23. Tarleton State made eight of their 14 free throws, shooting 57 percent significantly lower than their nearly 80 percent average on the season. The Bearcats shot 60 percent from the line (9-for-15) and 60 percent from behind the arc (15-of-36). The Texans shot 41 percent from the floor (21-for-51) and 8-for-20 from deep. 

Tarleton State will head back to Stephenville for a pair of games against non-Division I opponents to close out the week. The Texans will host Howard Payne on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the EECU Center. The Purple and White will close out the week against Cameron (OK) as the second game of a men's and women's doubleheader on Saturday, Dec. 7 scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.