TicketsFAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Cincinnati men’s basketball team fell to No. 14 Arkansas in its final tune-up for the 2025-26 season Friday night at Bud Walton Arena. The Bearcats split their two exhibitions, topping No. 7 Michigan last Friday in Ann Arbor, before dropping the matchup to the Razorbacks.
"This was a difficult experience for all involved on the Cincinnati side," Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller said. "The game doesn't count, but it will only matter if we make it count down the line. We set out early with a new group of faces to have some early adversity. We aren't as good of a team as we felt when we left Ann Arbor last week and we certainly aren't as bad as we feel leaving here tonight."
Cincinnati opens the regular season against Western Carolina at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 at Fifth Third Arena. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+.
Halvine Dzellat led Cincinnati with 10 points, while Jalen Celestine added nine. Meleek Thomas paced the Razorbacks with 18.
The Bearcats took an early 3-2 lead on a Kerr Kriisa 3-pointer in the opening minute but Arkansas responded with a 14-2 spurt over the next 3:21 to take a 16-5 lead at the 15:48 mark. Cincinnati then remained within striking distance much of the opening half, trimming the lead to 28-22 at the 6:24 mark after a pair Celestine threes but the Razorbacks scored the next 11 to push their lead to 39-22 with 4:23 remaining before taking a 48-28 advantage into the break.
Kriisa and Celestine led UC with six points apiece at the break, while Darius Acuff Jr. paced Arkansas with 13.