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Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball 2026 Bahamas Exhibition Recap, Highlights: Victoria Vikings

Cincinnati played strong basketball to open its pair of exhibition games down south.
Russell Heltman|
Cincinnati Bearcats forward Baba Miller (18) celebrates after completing a layup after being fouled in the first half of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Utah Utes, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MO.
Cincinnati Bearcats forward Baba Miller (18) celebrates after completing a layup after being fouled in the first half of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Utah Utes, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MO. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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Cincinnati Bearcats

The Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team took it to the Victoria Vikings 110-63 in their opening exhibition match of the Baha Mar Summer League sessions on Tuesday afternoon.

Jerrod Calhoun's first team practiced what he's been preaching all offseason as a completely brand-new roster shot 52% from the floor on a whopping 85 shots (29 assists, including eight from sophomore Akai Fleming), and hounded the Vikings for 32 turnovers to just nine on the other end.

They also owned the glass battle 45-31 in rebounds and had seven players in double scoring figures.

Now, the Canadian opposition in this event is far from anything close to the talent level of what UC is going to see throughout the upcoming season, but they did post a 112-88 loss to Texas A&M on Monday.

MJ Collins (15 points on 6-of-10 shooting with four assists). led the way on UC's scoring front, as he's likely to do plenty this coming season (pending final eligibility status). The Utah State-turned UC star was one of the most impactful deeper-metric players in the country last season and could be a major offensive catalyst.

"He's a veteran. He knows kind of what it looks like. He's a guy that's played in two NCAA tournaments," Assistant coach Ben Asher said about Collins earlier this offseason. "Obviously, he was with us last year, so it's always great to have someone in your program that knows what the daily expectations are and what the coaches are looking for."

Cincinnati moved the ball very well along the perimeter and looks finally primed to get away from the mid-range morass that's plagued the backcourt. They scored 56 paint points and could've hung 130-plus if the open threes fell at a higher rate. Still, you take those shots any day of the week when flowing offensively like this.

It was a strong showing from just about everyone on the roster, including forward Adlan Elamin (14 points, eight rebounds). He seems to be adjusting well to the move east.

“I've just been trying to step up as a leader, cause I've obviously been through it last year, so just every day, just trying to help guys out, anywhere I can. I'm saying plays, things like that, just how he goes about certain things and everything like that. I'm just trying to keep everybody up to speed,” Elamin said last month.

Check out highlights from the game below:

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Russ Heltman
RUSSELL HELTMAN

Russ Heltman is on the Bearcats and Bengals beat for On SI. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH. Russ can be found on Twitter: @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.

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