TicketsCINCINNATI – The Cincinnati men’s basketball team concludes its non-conference slate when it takes on Lipscomb at 7 p.m. Monday 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 65.8 points per game defensively, ranks 10th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom. Cincinnati also ranks sixth in the country in non-steal turnover percentage (10.9%), sixth in opponent offensive rebound percentage (23.5%) and 14th in block percentage (15.8%).
- Cincinnati has found itself playing with pace offensively and forcing its opponents to play more deliberately on the opposite end. The Bearcats sit 26th nationally in average offensive possession length at 15.4 seconds and their opponents are taking 17.7 seconds per possession on the other end, good for 266th-fastest nationally.
- The Bearcats rank third in the Big 12 in blocks (5.33), third in opponent field goal percentage (39.1%), third in opponent 3-point percentage (29.8%) and fourth in turnovers forced per game (15.2).
- 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 13th nationally and tops in the Big 12 in double-doubles with six, first in the conference and fifth nationally with 8.20 defensive rebounds per contest and 10th in the country and first in the conference with 10.6 total rebounds per game. He ranks second in the nation in defensive rebounding percentage at 30.6%.
- Graduate guard Day Day Thomas ranks third in the Big 12 and 24th nationally with a 47.1% 3-point percentage while leading the Big 12 and ranking sixth in the country with a 94.4% free-throw percentage.
- The contest Monday night will be the fourth all-time meeting between the Bearcats and Bisons, which Cincinnati winning the previous three. In the last meeting, a season-opening contest for Cincinnati Dec. 2, 2020, Mika Adams-Woods tallied a game-high 16 points and Chris Vogt scored eight of his 12 points inside the game’s final eight minutes to help Cincinnati rally past Lipscomb, 67-55. The Bisons owned a 47-38 advantage with 11 minutes left and a 49-43 lead at the 7:50 mark before the Bearcats started their comeback, posting a 24-6 run to close out the game.
- Kevin Carroll is in his first year leading the Bisons and has Lipscomb at 7-5 on the season. Graduate center Grant Asman leads four Bisons averaging double-figure scoring with 14.7 points and a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game. Redshirt junior guard Mateo Esmeraldo pours in 11.1 points per game, while redshirt junior guard Ross Candelino averages 11.0 points and junior forward Titas Sargiunas chips in with 10.0.