Wes Miller, Bearcats Stars Highlight Major Opportunity Against No. 6 Louisville in Next Game

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bearcats basketball faces arguably the toughest opponent on the board all season on Friday night in No. 6 Louisville.

The neutral-site game at Heritage Bank Center is a major opportunity for the 4-0 Bearcats to earn their first Quad 1 win of the season. It will be far from easy against one of the best offenses in the country in a matchup that ESPN's Matchup Predictor has Cincinnati winning just 17.8% of the time.

Wes Miller is ready to see what his new-look squad can do with extra days to prepare after an undefeated, yet wonky start.

"I've heard about it for a long time," Miller said about the rivalry between these schools. "These rivalry games are fun, so it's a great opportunity for us. I'm glad that we're playing a game like this, and I'm glad we're playing it in our city. I wish we were playing it in Fifth Third Arena."

Cincinnati is hoping to have a full bench ready to run with one of the fastest-paced teams in the nation. Forward Tyler McKinley factors into that after he played just three minutes on Sunday against Mount St. Mary's due to an undisclosed injury. Having him on the floor would be great to keep pace with Louisville.

"I'm concerned about being the better team," Miller said about this game's pace. "We care a lot about our pace, but we're not in a competition for pace. We're about our pace, how we want to play, and doing a great job against the opponent. We're only trying to figure out how to win the possession to possession competition. I'm not trying to compare pace of play by any means."

Cincinnati is 44-56 all-time against Louisville, last playing them in the Maui Invitational in 2022 (81-62 Bearcats win). The program has risen dramatically since that point.

"Playing in Cincy is gonna be a huge advantage for us," Baba Miller said about the game. "The gym's like a mile off campus, two miles off campus, so I feel like the fans are gonna show up, and they're gonna make sure that they bring energy. Feel like we're pretty excited for it."

It all tips off on Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

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— Cincinnati Men’s Hoops (@GoBearcatsMBB) November 19, 2025

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