Three Man Weave: Bearcats Basketball Handles Dayton At Home For 3-0 Start to 2025-26 Season

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bearcats continued their winning ways to start the 2025-26 season with a 74-62 mark against Dayton.

Cincinnati's fantastic defense drove the winning train on Tuesday night, holding Dayton to 32.3% shooting in the game. Day Day Thomas (20 points, four assists) dug into his bag of tricks for another strong outing in a turnover-filled night for the Bearcats (24 TOs).

They have to clean that up, but there is plenty of margin for offensive error with this level of defense. Cincinnati is now 61-31 all-time against Dayton and will face Mount St. Mary's as their next opponent on Sunday.

Fastbreak Storyline: Defense Grounds Flyers

Cincinnati played its best defensive game of the season so far on Tuesday night. It started with how they clamped Javon Bennett (12 points, 3-15 shooting). The Flyer's leading scorer and assist man this season couldn't get anything going around the rim like he normally does.

UC's towering talents like Baba Miller (eight points, 10 boards) and Moustapha Thiam (five points, seven rebounds) madethat area a clear no-fly zone all night. Bennett took just five two-point shots in the game and was forced to try and strike outside as a poor deep shooter. Miller and Thiam combined for an elite defensive night, with both posting sub-76 defensive ratings.

They brought a similar intensity on the defensive glass to limit the extra possessions Dayton was already getting from all those turnovers. It's been the team's biggest issue this season, ranking outside the top 290 nationally in turnovers per game.

Kerr Kriisa (nine points, eight assists) had a strong handle on Tuesday, but not many other Bearcats kept great care of the ball. The offense is working through early-season growing pains as it tries to figure this jacked-up pace, but that's why you instill the defensive culture that Cincinnati has under Wes Miller.

If teams can't score on those turnovers, they matter far less (just 25 points allowed on 20 turnovers).

Star of the Game: Kerr Kriisa

Cincinnati's wily veteran was the steadiest offensive force against Dayton, logging a Bearcats career high eight assists in the win. He's still searching for that shooting consistency at UC, but Kriisa has been a passing dynamo so far.

The Kentucky transfer entered the game leading UC at 3.5 assists per contest and looks like the clear offensive maestro in this new-look rotation. He did a great job keeping all of UC's offensive options involved and was the only Bearcat that consistently got Cincinnati strong looks in the half-court.

He ended up with an impactful plus-12 +/- in the game and even took a charge for his second drawn one of the season. Thomas deserves a shoutout here as well with his electric second half (15 points and three assists). He had a sequence with a fouled three-point shot, a nasty assist, and a massive three of his own within one minute.

The UC veteran showed the steeley reserve of a guy who's played some big-time games against Dayton in the past two seasons. The guidance he and Kriisa showed with the offense tonight was a major reason why UC never trailed in its latest rivalry win.

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