TicketsCINCINNATI – The Cincinnati men’s basketball team hosts Georgia State at 7 p.m. Friday at Fifth Third Arena. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast on 700 WLW and the TuneIn app.
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Bearcat Bits
- The 2025-26 campaign marks the 125th season of competition for Cincinnati men’s basketball, and the Bearcats will commemorate the milestone with a year-long celebration honoring the program’s rich history, iconic players and cultural legacy. Cincinnati men’s basketball, which was named a top-10 program in college basketball history by the Associated Press, boasts 44 All-Americans, 41 conference titles, six Final Four appearances and back-to-back national championships across its history, which dates back to the 1901-02 season.
- Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller is in his fifth season as the University of Cincinnati’s men’s basketball head coach, poised to take the Bearcats to the next level in their third year of the nation’s best basketball conference, the Big 12. The 42-year-old Miller already boasts 15 years of head coaching experience. He spent a decade at UNC Greensboro, posting five-straight 20-win seasons and appearances in the 2018 and 2021 NCAA Tournaments before taking the helm of the Bearcats. Miller boasts seven 20-win seasons (two at Cincinnati) and a 268-194 overall record. He has mentored 25 All-Conference players as a head coach, including six over his first four seasons at UC.
- Cincinnati won its sixth-consecutive season-opener, and fifth under Miller’s guidance, when it topped Western Carolina 94-63 Monday night at Fifth Third Arena. Four Bearcats scored in double figures, led by Shon Abaev, Baba Miller and Moustapha Thiam, who scored 18 apiece. Cincinnati has won its five season-openers under Miller by an average of 32.4 points.
- Cincinnati’s six scholarship transfers (Jalen Celestine, Sencire Harris, Jalen Haynes, Kerr Kriisa, Baba Miller and Moustapha Thiam) come to Clifton averaging 80 career games played at the college level.
- Haynes, a graduate forward, underwent successful surgery at University of Cincinnati Medical Center for a knee injury, Miller announced Oct. 30. Haynes is undergoing rehabilitation with no set timetable for return. A veteran of 77 career games, Haynes was an All-Atlantic 10 First Team selection last year at George Mason after averaging 14.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
- Cincinnati won the only previous meeting between the two programs, a 68-53 victory for the No. 2 seed Bearcats over the No. 15 seed Panthers in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Jarron Cumberland paced UC with a career-high 27 points and 11 boards as the Bearcats tied the school record for victories in a season.
- Led by fourth-year head coach Jonas Hayes, Georgia State is 0-1 on the year after suffering a 71-49 defeat at Eastern Michigan Monday night in Ypsilanti, Mich. Sophomore guard and Preseason Sun Belt All-Conference Second Team selection Jelani Hamilton led Georgia State with 13 points in the contest that saw the Panthers shoot 29.3% from the field and 30.4% from deep. Hayes, who spent his previous four seasons at Xavier as an assistant coach and then interim head coach, helped lead the Musketeers to the 2022 NIT championship before making the move to Georgia State.