Five observations and musings from Ohio State’s 79-68 loss to Cincinnati in the CareSource Invitational
We got our first look at Ohio State on Wednesday afternoon in an outdoor exhibition against the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Ohio State faced Cincinnati in the CareSource Invitational in Mason, Ohio on October 7, 2026. | Connor Lemons Sunny, 79 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and a slight breeze coming out of the southwest. Perfect weather for…. basketball? The Ohio State men’s basketball team returned to the court on Wednesday for the first time since March, taking on a new-look Cincinnati squad outside at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in the first game of the CareSource Invitational in Mason, Ohio. It was a sunny day, so the sun was in both teams’ eyes at times, and a light wind did carry a few jump shots wide left of the basket on one end and wide right on the other end. Even with the great outdoors providing a bit of adversity for both teams, it was a beautiful afternoon for college basketball, despite Cincinnati downing the Buckeyes on Wednesday afternoon, 79-68.Ohio State’s starting lineup of John Mobley Jr., Curtis Givens, Anthony Thompson, Amare Bynum, and Ivan Njegovan was not necessarily indicative of what Jake Diebler will go with against BYU in the season opener, or even against Butler in a few weeks. Diebler said he wanted to try a handful of different lineups on Wednesday to see what w...