Cincinnati forward Baba Miller (18) runs a play against Arkansas during an NCAA college basketball exhibition game Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods)

MORGANTOWN — In the most ironic sort of way, it makes all the sense in the world that Cincinnati visits the Hope Coliseum at 7 p.m. today as the next opponent for the WVU men’s basketball team.

Over the course of the past 31 months, it’s either been the Bearcats or, in some way, the Queen City itself that has symbolized some defining moments for the Mountaineers.

There was Bob Huggins’ now infamous interview with a Cincinnati radio station in May 2023 that began his descent into resigning a month later. The Bearcats (8-6, 0-1 Big 12) slammed the door shut on Josh Eilert’s interim season as WVU’s head coach in the 2024 Big 12 tournament.

Last season, it was WVU’s sweep of the Bearcats – including a 62-59 win in Morgantown in which the Bearcats missed a wide-open three at the buzzer – that continued to give the program a hint of a heartbeat toward being included in the NCAA tournament the Mountaineers ultimately weren’t invited to.

Which leads to today’s matchup, likely the first must-win situation thrown at Ross Hodge in his early tenure as WVU’s head coach.

The Mountaineers (9-5, 0-1) are reeling in a major way. They enter the month of January having just been handed a 21-point beating at the hands of third-ranked Iowa State and with no Quad 1 or Quad 2 victories to speak of.

“We played a great team at Iowa State. I feel like for the first 10 to 14 minutes we played them pretty well,” said WVU forward Chance Moore, who had 17 points and seven rebounds against the Cyclones. “It was a very physical game and we needed to see how it really was (in the Big 12). The next game, we’ll be more prepared.”

Based on social media reactions, a struggling WVU fan base is now caught between realizing this is still Hodge’s first season at the helm, but is also disappointed with the early results.

And there’s still 17 conference games remaining, so yeah, this is a major defining moment for the Mountaineers and here come the Bearcats, again.

To make matters all the more interesting, there will be WVU ties all over the Hope Coliseum floor, past reminders of optimism who once wore a WVU uniform.

Kerr Kriisa was once touted as a major grab out of the transfer portal from Arizona, part of a transfer class that also included the likes of RaeQuan Battle, Jesse Edwards and Quinn Slazinski who led to Eilert’s nine-win season.

Kriisa just recently celebrated his 25th birthday and Cincinnati is his fourth school in a six-year career. He is joined by guard Sencire Harris, who was the Mountaineers’ defensive standout last season under former head coach Darian DeVries. Harris, who began his career at Illinois, is playing a similar role with the Bearcats, who are third in the Big 12 in opponent’s field-goal percentage. Teams are shooting just 39.3% against Cincinnati this season.

Much of Cincinnati’s defensive success can be found in its twin towers in 6-foot-11 forward Baba Miller and 7-2 center Moustapha Thiam.

“Their length around the basket really stands out,” Hodge said of the Bearcats. “Baba Miller and (Thiam) really allows them to pressure the ball and kind of funnel the ball into shot blocking and allows them to guard the three at a pretty high clip. A lot of that is kind of a byproduct of their size and versatility.”

On paper, the game appears to be one set for a bar fight or a race to 60 points.

“It could be that,” Moore said. “I feel like we’re prepared for anything. We really just want to hold them to one shot. We want to play fast in transition, but ultimately we want to get the right shot.”