Cincinnati posted a blowout at home over Oakland 97-58 on Tuesday to close out the 2026 exhibition slate. MJ Collins (22 points, five triples, two rebounds, one steal) scorched the Grizzlies for his best outing after four exhibitions total with the Bearcats dating back to the Bahamas in August.

He lit up the home twine, and Cincinnati played mostly solid ball to get even more reps ahead of next week's two-game regular season slate against American and Green Bay. They got to taste what a zone looks like as another tune-up chance tonight.

Jerrod Calhoun's team held Oakland to 37% shooting and went cold at a point in the second half, but all in all never looked too phased against a team ranked 223rd on Bart Torvik and 225th on Evan Miya.

Myles Colvin's (15 points, six rebounds) impact can't be understated in this game either; he hit five triples after hitting a solid 36% from deep last season (career 35.1% shooter on 353 attempts). If he can form a three-headed guard attack with Collins and Tylen Riley (seven points, five assists), Cincinnati will be formidable all season.

Calhoun and his group have six days to fine-tune things before facing a pair of teams projected to be inside the top-200 nationally on analytic metrics. UC should still post two double-digit victories before the first tough test against Minnesota on Nov. 9.

"I thought both games, Ohio State and Illinois, gave us real good looks," Calhoun said after the Illinois exhibitino. "We play Oakland. The reason we played them is that they play a lot of zone. I think you'll see that early in the season, especially with your guarantee games, teams that are coming in. Everything we do, we kind of do for a reason. Scheduling, there has to be an art to it, and a couple of years back at Utah State, we got beat by 30 at Oregon in a closed scrimmage, and it was the best thing that ever happened to us.

"So, we'll see how we respond, right? That's the best thing about playing somebody different in a different look. We know we got to guard the basketball better. We got to get back in transition better, and you're not going to see a team this talented. So it's great. It kind of humbles you. You're never as good as you think you are. You're never as bad."

The real deal begins on Monday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

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