TicketsCINCINNATI – The Cincinnati men’s basketball team hosts West Virginia at 7 p.m. Thursday at Fifth Third Arena. The game will be televised on ESPN2 and broadcast on 700 WLW and the TuneIn app.
Cincinnati Game Notes | West Virginia Game Notes | ESPN2 | Live Stats | Media Center | Tickets
Fans are encouraged to WEAR BLACK and Rappin’ Ropes will perform at halftime. Happy hour is from 5:30 p.m. to tip-off with $5 draft beer and $3 souvenir popcorn.
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 67.4 points per game defensively, ranks 10th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom. Cincinnati also ranks 12th in the country in non-steal turnover percentage (9.4%), 13th in opponent offensive rebound percentage (25.6%) and eighth in opponent 2-point distance (7.2).
- 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 270th nationally.
- The Bearcats rank third in the Big 12 in 3-point attempts per game (27.1), fourth in the conference in scoring defense (67.4) and field goal percentage defense (41.3) and fifth in assists per game (16.5), turnovers forced per game (13.32) and defensive rebounds per game (26.36).
- 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 27th nationally and second in the Big 12 in double-doubles with nine, while sitting first in the conference and third nationally with 8.10 defensive rebounds per contest and eighth in the country and second in the conference with 10.6 total rebounds per game. He ranks sixth in the nation in defensive rebounding percentage at 29.6%.
- Averaging 13.4 points, 10.6 boards and 3.1 assists per game, Baba Miller is one of two players in college basketball this season averaging at least 13-10-3. Butler’s Michael Ajayi is the other, averaging 16.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists. No other Bearcat dating back to 1996-97 has put together that stat line for a full season.
- West Virginia holds a 14-12 lead in the all-time series after winning the last three contests, but the Bearcats lead 7-3 in games played in Cincinnati. In the last matchup Jan. 6 in Morgantown, Cincinnati came up just short in its first Big 12 road test of the season, as West Virginia closed the final two minutes on a decisive 10-3 run to secure a 62-60 victory at Hope Coliseum. Jalen Celestine paced the Bearcats with 15 points, while Day Day Thomas added nine points and five assists.
- Led by first-year head coach Ross Hodge, West Virginia is 14-8 on the season and 5-4 in Big 12 play after a 63-53 home defeat to Baylor last Saturday. Senior guard Honor Huff paces four Mountaineers in double figures scoring at 15.8 points per game, while senior forward Brenen Lorient adds 10.9 points and is tied for the team lead with 5.1 rebounds per contest. Honor Huff led West Virginia with 24 points and eight boards.