Cincinnati (10-8, 2-3) at No. 1 Arizona (18-0, 5-0) | McKale Center | 7 p.m. | FS1 | 1290-AM, 92.5-FM (Spanish)
Probable starters
ARIZONA
0 G Jaden Bradley (6-3 senior)
5 G Brayden Burries (6-4 freshman)
18 F Ivan Kharchenkov (6-7 freshman)
0 F Koa Peat (6-8 freshman)
13 C Motiejus Krivas (7-2 junior)
Key reserves
3 F Anthony Dell’Orso (6-6 senior)
30 F Tobe Awaka (6-8 senior)
2 F Dwayne Aristode (6-8 freshman)
CINCINNATI
18 F Baba Miller (6-11 senior)
52 C Moustapha Thiam (7-2 sophomore)
2 G Jizzle James (6-3 junior)
1 G Day Day Thomas (6-1 senior)
5 G Sencire Harris (6-4 junior)
Key reserves
24 F Tyler McKinney (6-9 freshman)
7 G Keyshaun Tillery (6-1 freshman)
32 F Jalen Celestine (6-7 senior)
11 G Kerr Kriisa (6-3 senior)
How they match up
The series: Arizona moved to 5-0 in the series after beating the Bearcats 72-67 in their first Big 12 meeting at Cincinnati on Jan. 4 last season. Before that, the Wildcats beat Cincinnati in the first round of the 2022 Maui Invitational but haven’t ever faced the Bearcats in McKale and not in the state of Arizona since Miles Simon’s three-quarter-court buzzer beater lifted UA to a 79-76 win on Feb. 11, 1996, in Phoenix.
Cincinnati overview: While Fifth Third Arena buzzed with excitement after the Bearcats knocked off second-ranked Iowa State on Saturday, coach Wes Miller likely also breathed a sigh of relief. Without an NCAA Tournament appearance over his first four years at Cincinnati, Miller is in the middle of a likely make-or-break season, and the Bearcats had lost six of eight games before beating Colorado and Iowa State last week.
But Miller, who brought in five transfers to fill holes in his rotation, does have upside for the rest of the season, thanks largely to a stiff defense that ranks No. 7 overall in defensive efficiency, allowing opponents to score just 94.3 points per 100 possessions. Opponents turn the ball over on average every fifth possession, a defensive turnover percentage of 20.4 that ranks 35th nationally, and the Bearcats use those turnovers to feed an offense led by aggressive guards Day Day Thomas and Jizzle James.
Both James and Thomas handle point guard duties, with Thomas averaging 3.7 assists a game and a 2.4 assist-turnover ratio. Thomas is also a 43.7% 3-point shooter, while James is a capable driver to the basket. Around the basket, 7-footer Moustapha Thiam is a 57.6% two-point shooter who will hit the occasional 3-pointer. Thiam and leading scorer Baba Miller, the Bearcats’ Spanish power forward, both block more than a shot per game, while Miller also averages 10.8 rebounds.
While the Bearcats have turned to defensive-minded West Virginia transfer Sencire Harris for a starting spot on the wing, they moved former UA guard Kerr Kriisa to the bench. Kriisa hasn't played since suffering a shoulder injury in Cincinnati’s 67-60 loss to Houston on Jan. 3 but the Bearcats said he was probable to play Wednesday on the Big 12's official player availability report that was issued Tuesday evening. Former Cal and Baylor wing Jalen Celestine has added shooting off the bench, including a 4-for-10 effort from 3-point range against Iowa State.
He said it: “Defense is their identity. It's the best thing they do — the defense really ignites their offense. They like to create turnovers, create low-quality shots (for opponents), and attack on the transition.
“They forced 12 turnovers (that led to 20 points) against Iowa State, and Iowa State let them shoot 34 3s (with the Bearcats making 10). You can’t do that. We gotta limit that and offensive rebounds. They had double-digit (15) offensive rebounds against Iowa State. We can’t let them get second-chance points.
“In their offense, they like to run the first four seconds — they're really aggressive in transition — and then in the half-court, they have a bunch of quick hitters for their shooters. Then after that, in the last 15 seconds, I guess you could call it ISO ball, but it's a little bit more organized. They’ll let James go one-on-one, and then they just kind of play off him. So, they're pretty solid in all three of their phases within the shot clock.
“(Miller) is not a shooter, but he'll run in transition, try to get lobs in the half court. He's more of a driver. He will shoot wide open 3s. The easy comparison stylistically with our bigs would be Koa (Peat). He’ll set ball screens, he'll drive from the perimeter, he'll drive from the high post, he'll post up a little bit. He does a good job playing off of those guards and attacking when he needs to.”
“(Thiam) has gotten a lot better. He's really good with his no-dribble finishes. He'll use his size and get as close to the basket as he can. But has a pretty good-looking jump shot with a high release point, so he'll just catch it a little bit off the block, face you up, and just shoot it. It's been money, so we gotta be careful with that.
“(Thomas and James) are ultra-aggresisve. James is quick, and he's a great defender. James is more iso with the ball, and Day Day is more like off screens and catch and shoot.
“I have a lot of respect for Harris. Offensively, he's still figuring it out, but defensively, man, he's one of the best defenders I've seen this this season.” — UA assistant coach Ken Nakagawa, who scouted the Bearcats
Key players
CINCINNATI
Baba Miller
Cincinnati forward Baba Miller, right and Iowa State guard Killyan Toure, left, battle for the ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Cincinnati.
Once a teammate of former Arizona big man Henri Veesaar on Real Madrid’s top youth club, Miller is blossoming in his fourth season of college basketball, after making stops at Florida Atlantic (2024-25) and at Florida State (2022-23 and 2023-24).
ARIZONA
Motiejus Krivas
Arizona center Motiejus Krivas (13) goes up to shoot in front of Central Florida center John Bol (7) during the first half, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Orlando, Fla.
The Wildcats’ 7-foot-2 Lithuanian hasn't always looked down on Big 12 centers lately, and he’ll face another 7-footer in Thiam, who had eight points and 10 rebounds at McKale last season while playing for UCF.
Sidelines
Wildcats unanimous No. 1
After Arizona beat ASU and UCF, while then-No. 2 Iowa State lost twice last week, the Wildcats became a unanimous pick atop the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time in school history.
Arizona (18-0) received all 61 first-place votes from a panel of media voters from across the country while UConn (18-1) moved into the second spot, with Michigan (16-1), Purdue (17-1) and Duke (17-1) rounding out the top five. Iowa State (16-2) dropped to No. 9.
The AP said it was Arizona's first time as a unanimous pick at No. 1, although the Wildcats have had several dominant periods atop the poll. Those included when they were a preseason No. 1 in 1997-98 after returning the vast majority of their 1997 national championship team, when they held the top spot for 13 weeks during the 2002-03 season, and when they held it for eight weeks during their 21-0 start in 2013-14.
This season, Arizona has held the top spot for six straight weeks since Dec. 8, two days after the Wildcats moved to 8-0 by beating Auburn 97-68 at McKale.
Other Arizona opponents in this week's poll include Texas Tech (14-4), which moved from 15 to 12; Florida (13-5), which jumped from 19 to 16; and Kansas (13-5), which stayed at No. 19.
Arizona is scheduled to host Cincinnati on Wednesday and West Virginia on Saturday before heading to 13th-ranked BYU (16-2) for a Big Monday showdown on Jan. 26.
Bradley receives Big 12 honor
While Texas Tech's JT Toppin was named the Big 12's Player of the Week, Arizona guard Jaden Bradley was named to the conference's five-player “Starting Five” honor roll Monday after leading the Wildcats to wins over ASU and UCF.
It was the first time Arizona has had a player on the Big 12's weekly honor roll since freshman guard Brayden Burries was named to it on Dec. 15, after he had 28 points against Alabama.
The Wildcats, who are 18-0 and tied with Houston at 5-0 in first place in the Big 12, have not had any solo Player of the Week awards all season, though freshman forward Koa Peat shared it with Texas Tech's Christian Anderson on Nov. 10 after Peat scored 30 points against Florida in UA's season opener.
This time, Bradley picked up the honor after collecting 23 points and five assists in UA's 84-77 win at UCF on Saturday while hitting 11 of 13, including 9 of 10 in the final 77 seconds to help the Wildcats close out the win.
Toppin averaged 29.0 points and 13.0 rebounds in Texas Tech's wins over Utah and BYU.
Kansas' Darryn Peterson was named the league's Newcomer of the Week after averaging 21.0 points in Kansas' wins over Iowa State and Baylor. He had 16 points, five rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes against the Cyclones and 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting against Baylor.
Also on the “Starting Five,” which includes the Player and Newcomer of the Week plus the other three top-vote getters, were UCF's Themus Fulks and Cincinnati's Baba Miller.
Fulks scored 30 points against the Wildcats on Saturday while Miller led the Bearcats to wins over Colorado and Iowa State, collecting 12 rebounds in Cincinnati's 79-70 win over Iowa State.
DRF votes to move portal
Arizona AD Desireé Reed-Francois showed up for Saturday’s UA-UCF game in Florida without needing to hop a ride on the Wildcats’ charter jet: She was stopping over between an NCAA Council meeting in Washington, D.C and another engagement.
Reed-Francois said she was among the Council members who voted to move the spring transfer portal to after the NCAA Tournament concludes and to just 15 days, a move that became official during the meeting last week.
Numbers game
4: Cincinnati’s national rank in defensive rebounding percentage (75.9)
39: Cincinnati’s national rank in two-point shooting percentage defense (47.1)
66.2: Average points Cincinnati opponents have scored (68.0 in Big 12 games).
— Bruce Pascoe
