TicketsCINCINNATI – The Cincinnati men’s basketball team welcomes Utah to Fifth Third Arena Sunday for a noon ET tip. The game will be televised on ESPN and broadcast on 700 WLW and the TuneIn app.
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It will be Military Appreciation Day Sunday at Fifth Third Arena and the CCM Trumpet Ensemble will perform the national anthem. DSAGC will perform at halftime of the contest between the Bearcats and Utes.
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 10th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom. Cincinnati also ranks eighth in the country in non-steal turnover percentage (9.6%), 20th in opponent offensive rebound percentage (26.1%) and 13th in opponent 2-point distance (7.1).
- Cincinnati has found itself forcing its opponents to play more deliberately on the offensive end. The Bearcats’ opponents are taking 17.8 seconds per possession, good for 273rd nationally.
- The Bearcats rank third in the Big 12 in 3-point attempts per game (26.6), fourth in the conference in scoring defense (67.0), field goal percentage defense (41.3) and assists per game (16.6) and fifth in defensive rebounds per game (26.28) and turnovers forced per game (13.16).
- Despite missing two games with an injury, senior forward Baba Miller sees himself among the best nationally and in the Big 12. Miller is tied for 20th nationally and second in the Big 12 in double-doubles with 11, while sitting first in the conference and third nationally with 8.04 defensive rebounds per contest and 11th in the country and second in the conference with 10.5 total rebounds per game. He ranks fifth in the nation in defensive rebounding percentage at 29.1%.
- Averaging 13.7 points, 10.5 boards and 3.2 assists per game, Baba Miller is one of three players in college basketball this season averaging at least 13-10-3. Duke’s Cameron Boozer (23.0, 10.0, 4.0) and Butler’s Michael Ajayi (15.5, 11.3, 3.2) are the others. No other Bearcat dating back to 1996-97 has put together that stat line for a full season.
- The Bearcats hold a 4-2 lead in the all-time series with Utah, including a 3-0 edge in games played in Cincinnati. In the last matchup Feb. 11 of last season, Jizzle James matched a career-high 25 points, one game after his season-high 24, Josh Reed scored 13 for his second-straight game of a career high, and Cincinnati withstood a relentless Utah team, 85-75, at Fifth Third Arena for its third-straight victory. Former Bearcat Gabe Madsen, who played two games during the COVID 2020-21 season at Cincinnati before transferring to Utah, led the Utes with 28 points that included 8-of-22 deep shooting, shattered the opponent 3-point attempt record (previously 17).
- Led by first-year head coach Alex Jensen, Utah is 9-15 on the year and 1-10 in Big 12 play following a 66-52 loss to No. 3 Houston Tuesday night in Salt Lake City. Junior guard Terrence Brown leads the team and ranks fourth in the Big 12 with 20.8 points per game, while fifth-year guard Don McHenry adds 17.3 points per contest.