University of Cincinnati men’s basketball upsets No. 2 Iowa State 79-70 

This past Saturday, the University of Cincinnati (UC) Bearcats men’s basketball team handed the No. 2 seed Iowa State University (ISU) Cyclones only their second loss of the season. The game ended in a 79-70 victory for the UC Bearcats at their home venue, Fifth Third Arena.  

In the first half, the Bearcats began pulling away after senior guard Jalen Celestine made three three-point jumpers in a row. Following the trend, senior guard Day Thomas made a three-point jumper for the Bearcats as well.  

“We prepare for these moments,” Harris says. “There are a couple games where we have shown ten-point leads.” With a sizeable gap in points for the remainder of the half, the Cyclones began closing it with two minutes remaining. At the end of the first half, UC was up 35-31 over ISU.  

For the Cyclones, junior forward Milan Momcilovic scored 34 points – almost half of the total points for ISU. Additionally for the Cyclones, senior forward Joshua Jefferson put 16 points up on the board, completed nine rebounds and delivered five assists.  

On the other side of the ball, Thomas put up 19 points against ISU. “We know [ISU] is pretty aggressive,” Thomas says. “On defense that is what they really do. We just knew that we had to take care of the ball. Can’t be casual with the ball. We had to be strong with it and make the right passes.” 

Right behind him was junior guard Jizzle James, junior guard Sencire Harris and Celestine. James scored 15 points for the Bearcats, and Harris and Celestine recorded 12 points each.  

During the second half, both teams kept fighting to be ahead, but the Bearcats still held on to their lead for the rest of the game. The Bearcat’s win represents what could become a troubling trend for the Cyclones; it was their second loss in a row after ISU won 16 games straight beforehand.  

Next up, the Bearcats will travel to take on the No. 1 seed University of Arizona Wildcats on Jan. 21, 2026.