Nassau, Bahamas — Cincinnati basketball is back… for two games this month before heading back into offseason mode. Every Bearcat who entered the game scored today!

Full disclosure: I didn’t get to fully watch the game live. I’ve caught pieces, but haven’t been able to break it down as deeply as I would like. From what I saw of today’s outing, this team is looking exactly as expected. I’ll have a full breakdown of what I notice between games one and two this weekend. I’m trying to take a different view—focusing less on the raw final score and more on the little things that point toward success in regular-season play.

Key Takeaways

• Ball Movement: The ball movement was fantastic. The Bearcats racked up 29 assists on 44 made shots. Akai Fleming producing 8 assists is a massive positive, and from what I caught of the game, a ton of missed shots came at the end of great ball movement sequences. That assist number could have been even higher if the shots were falling.
• Defense: The Bearcats forced 32 turnovers, three different players recorded 4 steals, and the team blocked 7 shots. This program had a ton of question marks around its perimeter defensive capability this offseason. While those questions aren’t completely answered yet, you can begin to see the defensive vision the staff has for this squad. For context, this Victoria squad put up 88 points against a projected tournament team in Texas A&M; UC held them to 25 points fewer than that today.
• Rebounding: Rebounding remains a potential concern. UC missed 41 shots and grabbed just 17 offensive rebounds. They did win the overall rebounding battle 45–31, but I think the team can be better in that area. That said, having Adlan Elamin pull down 8 boards is a huge plus. The bigs (Hastings and Allenspach) will need to step it up a bit on the glass moving forward.
• Three-Point Shooting: I’m not worried about a 10-35 shooting night from deep. This team generated open looks and will convert at a much higher clip once regular-season legs and rhythm set in.

---

The Rotation

The Starting 5

• Elijah Perryman: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists in 22 minutes. As I stated in our Bahamas preview, this exhibition time is invaluable for Cincinnati’s depth. Perryman getting high-level reps with Jizzle James out will benefit the team significantly in the long run.
• MJ Collins: We knew MJ was familiar with the system, and despite a tough shooting day (0-3 from deep), he still led the way with 15 points and added 4 assists. MJ is going to be an engine and the type of player who raises UC’s floor every night.
• Myles Colvin: Colvin also had a rough performance from deep, going 0-3. He finished with 12 points and 2 rebounds, but made up for it with 4 steals. The defensive activity and turnover generation are massive positives.
• Tyler Tejada: Tejada clearly impacted the game in his short time on the floor, registering a game-high +23 mark while chipping in 5 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in 16 minutes.
• Jayden Hastings: Hastings played just 13 minutes but was remarkably active, putting up 6 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist. He blocked a team-high 3 shots and matched the team high with 4 steals. Hastings is the kind of player many casual fans might have slept on because of how rough Boston College’s roster was last year, but he showed exactly why the staff prioritized him this offseason. If you extrapolate his numbers out to 26 minutes, that’s a 12-point, 6-board, 2-assist, 6-block, 8-steal performance. Obviously, you don’t scale stats linearly, but it highlights just how disruptive his minutes were.

The Bench Rotation

• Trevian Carson: Carson put up an efficient 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 3-5 from deep. He took great care of the ball and maximized his 20 minutes of action.
• Akai Fleming: I’m very high on Fleming and think he’s the most underrated portal pickup of the cycle. He played 21 minutes and went an inefficient 2-6 from the field, but he was 3-4 from the free-throw line, drew 3 fouls, and finished with 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 8 assists. That assist total is correct and not a typo. Fleming stepped up in a monumental way when the Bearcats needed distribution. This was one of the most promising developments of the day.
• Adlan Elamin: Speaking of promising developments, Elamin was electric. He poured in 14 points, going 5-10 from the field including 4-6 from deep, and led the team with 8 rebounds—all in just 17 minutes. If he plays like this against high-major competition, he is going to force his way into heavy minutes and seriously push for a starting spot.
• Riley Allenspach: Allenspach played 17 minutes but struggled to find a rhythm, going 4-10 from the field and 1-5 from deep to finish with 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist. I’m not worried about this performance; he’ll continue to grow into the system, and we know he is typically much more efficient than this. Just a one-game blip.
• Eric Mahaffey: Mahaffey gave the Bearcats a very solid 16 minutes off the bench. He went 4-7 from the field and 2-2 at the line (0-3 from deep), finishing with 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. He’s viewed primarily as a developmental piece this year, making this kind of output an encouraging sign for the future.
• David Iweze: Iweze finished with 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals in a hyper-efficient 7 minutes of action, giving us another glimpse into why the staff is high on his long-term upside.
• Grant Darbyshire & Deshaun Vaden: Both saw brief late-game action, with Darbyshire logging an assist and Vaden chipping in 2 points in under 6 minutes.