College Basketball exhibition season: Cincy, Xavier, Georgia and Utah all pull off preseason victories

College Basketball’s exhibition season fully gets underway, with at least one preseason game a day from October 7th until the 2026-27 season debut on November 1st, when Notre Dame faces Villanova in Rome. But for now, there are at least some games (or box scores) to analyze. 

There were five games that occurred on Wednesday, including the Ohio-based double-header between four notable programs. Here’s a look at the recap and key takeaways from those results.

Cincinnati 79, Ohio State 68

A 49-33 second half allowed Cincy to take the comeback victory, thanks to stellar second-half performances from Tylen Riley (23 points) and Tyler Tejada (17). They also were without Myles Colvin, who suffered an injury minutes into the game but will be fine going forward.

Guard John Mobley Jr. (15 points) looks poised to take over the lead guard spot, replacing four-year starter, Bruce Thornton. But he was the only Buckeye in double figures in the game. 5-star freshman forward Anthony Thompson had a quiet debut, going for two points and four rebounds in 20 minutes. 

Xavier 82, Dayton 76

LSU transfer center Michael Nwoko had the best statistical game for Xavier, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds. But he also had five fouls within the first eight minutes, ending up with nine. Former Texas A&M wing Ruben Dominguez provided all of the shooting for the Aggies with 16 points on 4/6 shooting from deep. 

For Dayton, it was filled with positives from the new-look backcourt. Marquette transfer Zaide Lowery led the way with 16 points on 7/9 FG, while Marshall transfer Landen Joseph chipped in with 13. Top-100 freshman guard Aiden Derkack also was in double-figures with 12 points on ⅚ FG.

Murray State 93, Wichita State 87

Two of the top programs outside of the high-major ranks looked the part on Wednesday in this exhibition shootout. Murray State, a favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference, was led by sophomore Roman Domon with 17 points and six assists. Three others were in double figures, including Brayden Shorter with 16 points on 4/7 shooting from deep. 

Wichita State was without multiple key players, but still got big outings from some of their projected rotational pieces. Dillon Battie, who averaged 7.6 ppg last year for the Shockers, led the way with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while George Mason transfer Jahari Long chipped in with 17 points and five assists.

Georgia 94, Georgia State 61

It was an expected easy win for the Bulldogs, with a balanced effort from the rotation. Penn State transfer Freddie Dilione V had 14 points in his debut with his new team, while freshman forward David Ugonna stood out inside with eight points and four rebounds.

Not much to take away from if you’re a Georgia State fan, with the program looking to get back towards being competitive in the Sun Belt. One bright spot was the play of Jacob Meyer, the UAB transfer who went for 20 points to lead the Panthers.

Utah 79, Utah 69

After getting a court-ordered injunction to play, Northern Iowa transfer Trey Campbell had a huge impact, leading the team with 17 points on 5/12 FG. Wright State transfer TJ Burch was also in double figures with 16 points. 

UNLV was without multiple key pieces, including Ole Miss transfer, AJ Storr. Another former SEC guard did play well for them, with Missouri transfer Sebastian Mack going for a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds on 10/22 FG. Former Florida State guard Cam Miles (16 points) was the only other player for the Rebels who scored more than seven points on the night. 

Biggest winners: Dayton’s backcourt, Wichita’s depth, Cincy’s backcourt play

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