The 2018–19 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearcats were led by 13th-year head coach Mick Cronin, and played its home games at the newly renovated Fifth Third Arena as members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 28–7, 14–4 in AAC play, finishing in second place. They defeated SMU, Wichita State, and No. 1 seed Houston to win the AAC tournament for the second consecutive year, and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 7 seed in the South region, they were upset by No. 10 seed Iowa in the first round.
Previous season The Bearcats finished the 2016–17 season 31–5, 16–2 in AAC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated SMU, Memphis, and Houston to win the AAC tournament and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 2 seed in the North region, they defeated Georgia State in the first round before being upset by Nevada in the second round.
Offseason
Departing players Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Jacob Evans 1 G/F 6'6" 210 Baton Rouge, Louisiana Declared for NBA draft; selected 28th overall by the Golden State Warriors Gary Clark 11 F 6'8" 225 Clayton, North Carolina Graduated Jackson Bart 14 F 6'5" 210 Bartlesville, Oklahoma Walk-on; graduated Kyle Washington 24 F 6'9" 230 Champlin, Minnesota Graduated
On September 13, 2018 Associate Head Coach Larry Davis resigned before the start of the season. In October, Greg Youncofski was named as the third assistant coach for the 2018-19 season.
Recruiting class of 2018
Preseason
AAC media poll The AAC media poll was released on October 15, 2018, with the Bearcats predicted to finish second in the AAC.
Media poll 1 UCF 114 (6) 2 Cincinnati 107 (3) 3 Houston 103 (2) 4 Memphis 85 (1) 5 UConn 75 6 Temple 74 7 SMU 63 8 Wichita State 60 9 Tulsa 48 10 Tulane 23 11 East Carolina 22 12 USF 18
Preseason Awards American Athletic Conference All-AAC First Team - Jarron Cumberland
Lindy's Sports All-Conference First Team - Jarron Cumberland
Athlon Sports All-AAC First Team - Jarron Cumberland
Street & Smith's All-Conference - Jarron Cumberland All-Newcomer - Rashawn Fredricks
Roster
Depth chart
Source
Schedule and results The Bearcats had a pre-season tour in Canada, playing three teams on the trip. The Bearcats will reopen Fifth Third Arena against Ohio State on November 7, 2018.
!colspan=12 style=|Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=12 style=| AAC Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=| AAC Tournament
!colspan=9 style=| NCAA tournament
Awards and milestones
All-American Honorable Mention: Jarron Cumberland
American Athletic Conference honors
All-AAC Awards Player of the Year: Jarron Cumberland
All-AAC First Team Jarron Cumberland
Player of the Week Week 3: Jarron Cumberland Week 7: Jarron Cumberland Week 10: Jarron Cumberland Week 11: Jarron Cumberland
Weekly Honor Roll Week 5: Trevon Scott Week 9: Jarron Cumberland Week 12: Jarron Cumberland Week 13: Jarron Cumberland Week 14: Jarron Cumberland Week 15: Cane Broome Week 16: Jarron Cumberland
AAC Tournament honors
AAC Tournament MVP Jarron Cumberland
All Tournament Team Jarron Cumberland Trevon Scott
Source
Rankings
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings
References