Five observations and musings from Ohio State’s 79-68 loss to Cincinnati in the CareSource Invitational

Sunny, 79 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and a slight breeze coming out of the southwest. Perfect weather for…. basketball?

The Ohio State men’s basketball team returned to the court on Wednesday for the first time since March, taking on a new-look Cincinnati squad outside at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in the first game of the CareSource Invitational in Mason, Ohio. It was a sunny day, so the sun was in both teams’ eyes at times, and a light wind did carry a few jump shots wide left of the basket on one end and wide right on the other end.

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Even with the great outdoors providing a bit of adversity for both teams, it was a beautiful afternoon for college basketball, despite Cincinnati downing the Buckeyes on Wednesday afternoon, 79-68.

Ohio State’s starting lineup of John Mobley Jr., Curtis Givens, Anthony Thompson, Amare Bynum, and Ivan Njegovan was not necessarily indicative of what Jake Diebler will go with against BYU in the season opener, or even against Butler in a few weeks. Diebler said he wanted to try a handful of different lineups on Wednesday to see what works and what doesn’t, and also to give everyone on the roster an opportunity to play.

That, and because Diebler also has no interest in giving future opponents anything on film regarding Ohio State’s tendencies for the 2026-27 season.

Despite being out-rebounded 27-15 in the first half, Ohio State took a 35-30 lead into the halftime break. Cincinnati couldn’t hit a jumper to save their lives in the first 20 minutes, going 2-for-22 on jump shots. 11 offensive rebounds led to just five second-chance points for Cincinnati, so we can give Ohio State credit for playing rock-solid defense during the first 20, or we can be honest and admit that the Bearcats looked a bit more rusty on offense than Ohio State did early on.

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The Buckeyes didn’t burn the nets, either, but they did shoot 48% as a team in the first half. John Mobley was the only one in double-digits in the first half, scoring…

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Publish date : 2026-10-07 21:15:00

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