Cincinnati falls to Eastern Michigan 64-56, suffers worst loss under head coach Wes Miller

Cincinnati dropped its second game of the season, falling to Eastern Michigan 64-56, in what stands out as the team's most disappointing defeat under Wes Miller. Eastern Michigan maintained control throughout, as Cincinnati struggled in every area and failed to compete effectively from start to finish.

“Very disappointed. My focus is on when things do happen, because they do happen, and adversity strikes not in the way we want it to. Certainly disappointed with tonight, but now we have to handle it the right way. “ Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller told reporters. ‘That means we have to accept it and learn from tonight to become a better team, and that will be our approach moving forward.”

Wes Miller’s Bearcats were outrebounded 36-29 as Eastern Michigan just simply wanted it more than the Bearcats this evening. Wes Miller spoke on the rebounding disparity following the loss and voiced his concerns moving forward.

“The rebounding margin is concerning.” Said Miller. “We need those guys back (Baba Miller, Jalen Celestine, and Jalen Haynes). I am not in the excuse business, but if you look at the roster that we constructed, we are missing three of our top four front-court players in Jalen Haynes, Baba Miller, and now Jalen Celestine. These are all experienced veteran players who have a credible effect on our team. We have to find a way to bridge that gap.”

Cincinnati was led by guards Day-Day Thomas (17 points), Sencire Harris (12 points), and Kerr Kriisa (8) combined for 37 of the team’s 56 points in the loss. Meanwhile, the Bearcats shot just 34% from the field, while Eastern Michigan slashed at nearly 45% from the field.

In a lackadaisical effort before fall break, Cincinnati suffered its worst loss in nearly three years, stemming back to the loss to Northern Kentucky back in 2022, which has fans concerned moving forward. The Bearcats now have some things to iron out here over the next few days, but need to do so quickly before conference play, or things could potentially get interesting, to say the least.

Boo Birds ring out at Fifth Third Arena.

Fans showered Fifth Third Arena on Wednesday night following the team's loss to Eastern Michigan. This time, it didn’t go unnoticed as the Bearcats suffered a loss in a buy game scenario in the epitome of brutality.

“I told the team in the locker room. You have to learn how to play high-level sports in this town.” Miller stated. “That is what comes with it. This is a professional sports town that has great support. I appreciate the support and everyone who comes out to the games. That is what makes Cincinnati a special place, and our players mention it all the time. They came out here the night before Thanksgiving and cheered their asses off. That is what comes with it when coaching in the city of Cincinnati, not just here but at any arena in this city.”

Short-Handed Bearcats

Wes Miller and the Bearcats have been rattled by the injury bug to start the 2025-2026 season, to say the least.

Jalen Haynes suffered a knee injury at the beginning of October and was ruled out indefinitely. His status remains unclear. Meanwhile, Baba Miller (Hip) and Jalen Celestine (lower body) were both unavailable for the Bearcats this evening. Miller suffered his injury in the loss to Louisville, while Celestine’s injury came Monday night in the victory over NJIT.

Cincinnati native Tyler McKinley made his first start of his career for the Bearcats. A great sight to see for McKinley, just one year later, after ACL reconstruction surgery that kept him out the entire 2024-2025 season. Miller mentioned after following the victory over NJIT that he didn’t view McKinley as a “glue guy” but instead viewed him as a “winning player.”

The Rundown

Eastern Michigan jumped out to an early 6-0 lead over the Bearcats following consecutive triples from Carlos Hart and Jon Sanders. The Eagles extended their lead to eight before Shon Abaev buried the triple to give the Bearcats their first points of the night.

Kerr Kriisa followed up with a pretty assist to Moustapha Thiam for the slam through traffic to make this a 10-5 game at the under-16 media stop. However, for Cincinnati, they started just 2-8 from the field before the five-point swing.

Eastern Michigan regained an 18-9 lead following an eight-point swing following a Godslove Nwabude layup. Now, for Cincinnati, on the other hand, their offense went stagnant over the last four minutes as they opened the game just 4-15 from the field.

The Eagles rallied off a 15-1 run as they controlled a 25-10 lead over Cincinnati with 6:54 to play. As Cincinnati struggled to get anything going on the offensive side of the ball, it shot just 4-19 over a span of 14 minutes. During that run, Cincinnati went on a nearly six-minute scoring drought before Day-Day Thomas knocked a triple from the top of the key.

That sparked a seven-point swing in favor of Cincinnati as they cut the Eagles' lead to 10 with three minutes to play in the first half. Sencire Harris converted a nice reverse layup through traffic to trim the lead to single digits. Thomas followed suit with a corner three to make this a 29-22 game. Eastern Michigan responded with five quick points, and the Bearcats quickly found themselves again trailing by double digits.

Cincinnati trailed 36-23 at the half after an ugly first half, as the Bearcats were just 9-30 from the field. Meanwhile, Eastern Michigan was 50% from the field and simply outplayed the Bearcats in all facets of the game in the first half. Cincinnati failed to crash the boards as they were out-rebounded 20-14 as well.

Eastern Michigan controlled a 41-29 lead with 12 minutes to play following a Harris bucket. However, the Eagles continued to wear the Bearcats down, as the

Eagles were into the bonus with 13 minutes left to play, despite starting the second half just 1-9 from the field.

However, Kerr Kriisa recorded a triple with ten minutes to play, to give the Bearcats their first points of the second half from a player not named Sencire Harris. The Bearcats' only source of offense in the second half was from Harris, as he continued to be the only player looking to slash and break down the Eagles' 2-3 zone.

Cincinnati cut the Eagles' lead to nine with seven minutes to play following a Kriisa logo three. That sparked an eight-point swing in favor of the Bearcats. Thomas buried a consecutive triple, and suddenly the Bearcats' offense was starting to find some rhythm down the stretch.

Harris cut the lead deficit to three following a pair of made free throws, as Eastern Michigan led 48-44 with 5:23 to play. Tyler McKinley came away with a huge steal, where he went coast to coast and converted the layup to make this a one-point game following a 13-2 run.

Eastern Michigan found a way to silence the Rutkus after Hart buried another huge three to extend the Eagles' lead back to eight with 2:46 to play. Mohamad Habhab hit a turnaround jumper over an extended Moustapha Thiam to give the Eagles a 57-49 lead with two minutes to play, which was the dagger for Cincinnati.

Up Next

The Bearcats (5-2) will be back at Fifth Third Arena on Monday night as they welcome in Tarleton State (4-3) to Fifth Third Arena. Tip-off is slated for 7pm.