TicketsCINCINNATI — The Cincinnati men’s basketball team will play its second of three exhibition contests when it takes on 2026 Final Four participant Illinois at 5 p.m. Saturday at Fifth Third Arena.
Fans can tune in to audio of Cincinnati’s game on GoBearcats.com or the Bearcats App. Chase Younts and Terry Nelson will be on the call.
Cincinnati is coming off a win in its first exhibition, topping Ohio State, 79-68, last Wednesday afternoon in the CareSource Invitational at Lindner Family Tennis Center. Senior guard Tylen Riley scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, shooting 10-of-12 from the free-throw line during the final 20 minutes, while senior forward Tyler Tejada scored 15 of his 17 points after halftime to lead the Bearcats' comeback.
Bearcat Bits
- The 2026-27 campaign marks the 126th season of competition for Cincinnati men’s basketball. Cincinnati, 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 is under the direction of first-year head coach Jerrod Calhoun, who was named the 29th head coach in program history on March 24, 2026. The 2026 Mountain West Conference and 2023 Horizon League Coach of the Year has nine 20-win seasons as a head coach and has been a conference champion in three different leagues on his way to a 297-159 career record.
- The Bearcats welcome 14 newcomers to the program, with the lone returner fifth-year Grant Darbyshire. Cincinnati is one of just seven teams nationally to return zero points from a season ago.
- A veteran group, the Bearcats are comprised of a group of three fifth-year players, six seniors, two juniors and four sophomores without a freshman on the roster.
- Illinois, ranked among the top five teams nationally in the preseason by several publications, returns five rotation players from its 2025-26 Final Four squad. Brad Underwood’s squad added a top-15 recruiting class to go along with preseason All-Big Ten selections David Mirkovic and Andrej Stojakovic.
- Cincinnati also has one more exhibition contest scheduled against Oakland at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 at Fifth Third Arena.
- The Bearcats, who open the regular season against American Nov. 2 at Fifth Third Arena will play 10 non-conference games at Fifth Third Arena before Big 12 play opens with a home matchup against Texas Tech Jan. 2.