TicketsCINCINNATI – The Cincinnati men’s basketball team opens Big 12 Conference play when it hosts No. 8 Houston at 2 p.m. Saturday at Fifth Third Arena. The game will be televised on FOX and broadcast on 700 WLW and the TuneIn app.
Fans are encouraged to wear black for the Big 12-opening matchup with the Cougars at Fifth Third Arena.
Cincinnati Game Notes | Houston Game Notes | FOX | Live Stats | Media Center | Tickets
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 65.5 points per game defensively, ranks seventh nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom. Cincinnati also ranks fourth in the country in non-steal turnover percentage (11.0%), fifth in opponent offensive rebound percentage (23.0%) and ninth in block percentage (16.3%).
- Cincinnati has found itself playing with pace offensively and forcing its opponents to play more deliberately on the opposite end. The Bearcats sit 27th 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 264th-fastest nationally.
- The Bearcats rank second in the Big 12 in blocks per game (5.4), third in opponent field goal percentage (39.1%), third in opponent 3-point percentage (30.0%), third in 3-pointer per game (9.3), fourth in defensive rebounds per game (28.38) and fourth in turnovers forced per game (15.08).
- 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 11th nationally and tops in the Big 12 in double-doubles with seven, first in the country with 8.82 defensive rebounds per contest and fourth in the country and first in the conference with 11.5 total rebounds per game. He ranks leads the nation in defensive rebounding percentage at 33.1%.
- Graduate guard Day Day Thomas ranks third in the Big 12 and 22nd nationally with a 46.7% 3-point percentage, while leading the Big 12 and ranking seventh in the country with a 94.4% free-throw percentage.
- Cincinnati holds a 33-17 lead in the all-time series and a 17-4 advantage in games played at home, but the Cougars have won the last 12 contests between the two schools. In the last matchup March 1, 2025, No. 4 Houston took home a 73-64 victory at the Fertitta Center. Senior guard Day Day Thomas led UC with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The mark was one off his season-high 20 points at UCF. Thomas did this while playing only 19 minutes as he battled foul trouble the whole game. Sophomore guard Jizzle James added 18 points, five assists and three steals for the Bearcats.
- Led by 12th-year head coach Kelvin Sampson, Houston enters Saturday’s game 12-1 on the year and ranked No. 8 in the country in both the Associated Press and USA Today/Coaches Polls. Fifth-year senior guard Emanuel Sharp leads the Cougars with 17.0 points per game, while freshman guard Kingston Flemings adds 15.3 and senior guard Milos Uzan pours in another 11.1 per game. The Cougars are the top scoring defense in the Big 12 and rank third nationally at 60.0 points per game.