Cincinnati’s first night under Jerrod Calhoun came with a little bit of everything: an early injury, a messy opening stretch, and then a second-half takeover that turned a close game into a 79-53 win over American on Monday night.
The Bearcats are now 2-0 all time against the Eagles, and they also kept another streak alive by winning their seventh straight season opener after that 64-56 loss at Ohio State in 2019-20. For a while, though, this one didn’t look nearly as comfortable as the final score suggests. Cincinnati led just 35-33 at the break, and the first half had enough sloppiness to make the game feel much tighter than the rankings might have predicted.
That changed after halftime, when the Bearcats started dominating the backboards and separated themselves for good. Cincinnati finished with a 48-32 rebounding edge, the biggest margin of the game, and used that advantage to blow things open in the second half. The Cats held American to just 20 points after the break.
Jayden Hastings went down in the opening minutes, and that clearly affected Cincinnati through the rest of the first half. Even with that disruption, the Bearcats found enough production from a deep rotation to pull away.
Nine different players scored at least five points, which mattered on a night when the outside shot wasn’t falling cleanly. Cincinnati went just 8-for-27 from deep.
Tylen Riley had a rough shooting night, but he still finished with nine points and five assists as the offense tried to sort itself out early. The better version of Cincinnati showed up once MJ Collins got rolling in the second half. Collins finished with 13 points, and after scoring just three before the break, he came alive with shotmaking, off-the-dribble burst, rim pressure, and shots from deep.
Myles Colvin’s line was modest at three points, but his seven rebounds stood out, especially for a guard. He helped fuel the team’s work on the glass, which was one of the biggest positives of the night.
Tejada was the most steady presence throughout, finishing with 13 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes. The Towson transfer, who led his team in scoring in each of the last two seasons, showed the inside-outside scoring that made him such a key piece, and he was part of the rebounding effort that gave Cincinnati control.
American, which reached the NCAA Tournament in 2025 and came in ranked inside the top 200 nationally, gave Cincinnati a decent early test before the Bearcats pulled away. But once the second half settled in, there wasn’t much doubt left.
Cincinnati now turns to Green Bay on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, with the first-half issues still to clean up and a fuller 40-minute performance still to chase.
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