DAYTON – The University of Dayton men's basketball team welcomes the Cincinnati Bearcats to the Epicenter of College Basketball, UD Arena, for the first time since 2004 for a Saturday night showdown, starting at 7:30 p.m.
The game will be simulcast on ESPN+ and locally on WHIO TV, with
Alex Mikos and UD Athletics Hall of Famer Brooks Hall on the call. It will also be available on WHIO Radio with Larry Hansgen and Flyer Hall of Famer Keith Waleskowski.
About Dayton: Dayton (1-2, 0-0 A10) dropped its second straight at home against Siena on Tuesday night, 99-89. Freshman
Aiden Derkack turned in his third double-double in as many games, scoring 25 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Sophomore
Tristian Ford scored a new career-high 21 points.
Scouting Cincinnati: The Bearcats (2-1, 0-0 Big 12) are coming off a heartbreaking home loss to Minnesota, where the Golden Gophers made a three at the buzzer to leave Fifth Third Arena with a 63-61 win. Myles Colvin leads three UC players averaging double-figures this season with 13.0 points per game. He also leads the team with 6.3 rebounds per contest.
CHAPEL BLUE GAME
The Flyers are busting out the 2026-27 version of their Chapel Blue jerseys for the showdown with Cincinnati on Saturday night. Every fan in attendance will receive a free Chapel Blue t-shirt of their own.
DERKACK DOES IT AGAIN
Freshman
Aiden Derkack continued his tear to start his career against Siena, turning in a 25-point, 10-rebound, 4-assist and 3-steal performance against the Saints. In doing so, Derkack became the first freshman in the Atlantic 10 since Massachusetts's Tre Mitchell to have a 25+ point double-double. He's also the first Dayton men's basketball player to start his career with three consecutive double-doubles.
Derkack has now tied Chris Wright for the second-most double-doubles as a Dayton true freshman, and is just one behind DaRon Holmes II for most in program history (four).
The list that the Colonia, N.J. native finds himself on gets more exclusive with each passing double-double, as he now joins Julius Randall (Kentucky, 20213) and Michael Beasley (Kansas State, 2007) as the only true freshmen to start their careers with three consecutive double-doubles scoring 20 or more points.
Derkack is currently leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring (22.0 ppg) and is second the league in rebounding (10.3 rpg). The freshman also ranks second in free throw attempts (29), and free throw makes (23), ninth in field goal percentage (.667) and is 25th in the league in steals (1.3 spg).
TERRIFIC T-FORD
Sophomore
Tristian Ford, who is also in his first year of collegiate competition, scored a career-high 21 points against Siena on Tuesday night. The Rockford, Ill. Native was perfect from the floor, shooing 8-for-8 overall and 5-for-5 from beyond the three-point line.
He became just the sixth Flyer to shoot 100% from beyond the arc with at least five attempts in program history. Shawn Haughn set the record of 8-for-8 against Saint Louis in 1994, Nate Santos went 6-for-6 against Lehigh in 2024, while Dyshawn Pierre (2012), Darrell Davis (2014), and R.J. Blakney (2021) each went 5-for-5.
Ford is currently third on the team in points per game this season with a 13.0 average, and also ranks third in the Atlantic 10 with a 4.50 assist-to-turnover ratio.
RANDALL STUFFS THE STAT SHEET
Junior newcomer
Grant Randall stuffed the stat sheet on Tuesday night, finishing with seven points, seven rebounds, five blocks and four assists in the Flyers' setback to Siena. It marked the first time since at least 2004 that a Flyer has produced at least seven points and rebounds to go along with at least five blocks and four assists.
Randall's five rejections was the fist instance of at least five blocks in a game since Zed Key accomplished the feat against Richmond in the 2025 campaign. Five blocks in a single game has only happened 13 times by five Flyers since 2004: Key, DaRon Holmes II (7x), Xeyrius Williams, Steve McElvene (2x) and Chris Wright.
LONG TIME, NO SEE
Dayton and Cincinnati have a long-standing history, dating back to the 1907 season. The two have met up in each of the last three seasons, two of which were played in downtown Cincinnati at Heritage Bank Arena, and then last season at UC's Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats haven't played in UD Arena since the 2004-05 season when they topped the Flyers 65-55 in front of 13,409 fans.
