TicketsCINCINNATI – The Cincinnati men’s basketball team returns home to take on Alabama State at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Fifth Third Arena. The game 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, allowing just 67.0 points per game defensively, ranks 11th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom. Cincinnati also ranks fifth in the country in opponent offensive rebound percentage (23.5%), fifth in non-steal turnover percentage (11.3%), 13th in block percentage (16.2%) and 26th in turnover percentage (21.4%).
- Cincinnati has found itself playing with pace offensively and forcing its opponents to play more deliberately on the opposite end. The Bearcats sit 22nd nationally in average offensive possession length at 15.2 seconds and their opponents are taking 17.4 seconds per possession on the other end, good for 218th-fastest nationally.
- The Bearcats rank second in the Big 12 in blocks (5.30), third in opponent field goal percentage (39.6%), third in opponent 3-point percentage (28.9%), third in turnovers forced per game (15.9) and fifth in 3-pointers made per game (9.2).
- With just one starter and a pair of letterwinners returning from the Bearcats’ 2024-25 squad, Cincinnati retains only 13.3% of its scoring, 7l.6% of its rebounding and 17.5% of its assists from a season ago.
- Despite missing the NJIT and Eastern Michigan games with an injury, senior forward Baba Miller sees himself among the best nationally and in the Big 12. Miller is tied for 10th nationally and tops in the Big 12 in double-doubles with five, first in the conference and fourth nationally with 8.25 defensive rebounds per contest and eighth in the country and second in the conference with 10.6 total rebounds per game. He ranks third in the nation in defensive rebounding percentage at 30.9%.
- The game will be the fourth all-time meeting between the Bearcats and Hornets, with the Bearcats winning the previous three. In the last matchup Nov. 27 of last season, lockdown defense and dominant paint play boosted No. 16 Cincinnati to a 77-59 victory over Alabama State at Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats held the Hornets to 30% (20-of-66) from the field and 23% (7-of-30) from behind the arc, while also imposing their presence down low, as they outscored the visitors 40-18 in the paint, capturing 19 second-chance points and winning the boards, 52-35. Sophomore Jizzle James had a solid all-around performance, the point guard posted 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Senior Simas Lukošius added 16 points, drilling four 3-pointers.
- Led by fourth-year head coach Tony Madlock, Alabama State is 3-7 on the year and has dropped four in a row after an 85-77 loss at Missouri last Thursday. Senior guard Asjon Anderson paces the Hornets with 18.4 points per game, while senior guard Micah Simpson chips in with 16.2 points per contest, shooting 39.1% from long range.