Cincinnati dropped its first game under Jerrod Calhoun Monday night, 63-61 to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

It's a rough blow against a projected Quad 1/2 opponent as Cincinnati shot just 41.1% in the game and got six triples from one star to go with 1-23 mark everywhere else outside.

Add in a 40-28 rebounding disadvantage, and Minnesota hung around to go for the final shot kill in the closing moments.

Tylen Riley (25 points, six threes, five rebounds, three assists) carried almost all of the outside shooting in this one, hitting early every one of UC's made triples and stepping up in a rock fight between two pretty even teams. Cincinnati played with fire in the final-minute foul game and didn't hit enough of those freebies to come out winners (8-12 at the line).

Cincinnati and Minnesota clashed for the 10th time Monday night at Fifth Third Arena. After Minnesota won the first two games of the series in 1983 and 1984, Cincinnati just lost its first matchup in its past eight meetings with the Golden Gophers.

UC has another tough matchup this weekend on the road at Dayton after giving up a 9-0 run to Minnesota to close the game.

Top Takeaway: Trouble With The Curve(d line)

Cincinnati is going through a noisy, early-season shooting struggle, and it heavily impacted Monday's results. Riley was the only Bearcat who could consistently find his shot in the game.

They entered the game ranked 203rd with a 31% three-point mark in the opening week, and that won't get better after tonight. The lack of deep slicing meant Minnesota could pack the paint with its 37th-ranked defense nationally entering the game and force Cincinnati into as many jump shots as they'd like.

Riley's jumper was massive to keep Cincinnati above or right around the Golden Gophers ' scoreline all night until the end. He conducted the offense well from the point guard position and got to the free-throw line a bit once the jumper started getting Minnesota's respect.

Cincinnati played great defense in this game (43% opposing FG mark) and would've won going away even with the bad shooting had they been better on the boards. Minnesota had much more size than Cincinnati and hammered on the boards to keep things close all night long.

The lack of size and overall rebound moxie could be an issue all year, but they were much better on the second-half glass than the first half (155th in rebounds per game entering the game). Amani Lyles (zero points, two rebounds, two assists) should be a guy to really impact that, but curiously played few minutes in the first half on Monday night (six minutes).

Players of the Game: Tylen Riley, Tyler Tejada

Tejada needs to clean up the live-ball turnover issues a little bit, but he affected the game throughout the first half of action and found some key soft spots in Minnesota's funky defense.

Defensively, Tejada blended into the defensive blur that Cincinnati brought to the floor. He switched well in man-to-man defense and is starting to find his stride during an up-and-down opening two games of the season. Tejada entered the game with the team's second-lowest true shooting rate behind Riley, and both got woken up on that end across the outing.

Cincinnati needs all of its veterans bringing a palatable floor to the table as the weather gets colder and colder. They played 12 players serious minutes on Monday as Calhoun searches for all of those right combinations.

Riley was even more impactful than Tejada with his loud jump shooting in the contest. He was the main offensive engine for Cincinnati tonight as Colvin passed the scoring baton to Riley after the win over Green Bay.

Cincinnati has to start rebounding better and find that outside shot somehow, or there will be way more than one non-conference loss in the next two months.

Now they'll need to put it all together again in the team's first road matchup under Calhoun at Dayton on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Crushing blow for the Bearcats as they drop there first game of the season.

FINAL
Minnesota-63
Cincinnati-61 pic.twitter.com/sQYWwzaA2Z

— Bearcats Talk (@BearcatsTalk) November 10, 2026

Bookmark Bearcats Talk for the latest news, breakdowns, and so much more. Be sure to check out our YouTube page as well, starting with the video below.

Also, don't miss the podcast, Bearcat Blitz, wherever you get your shows!

Be sure to keep it locked in on Bearcats Talk, as we cover the trials and tribulations of the Big 12!

Follow Bearcats Talk on Twitter: @BearcatsTalk

Like Bearcats Talk on Facebook: Bearcats Talk