This will be a different kind of exhibition season for the University of Cincinnati basketball program. For starters, the Bearcats' first preseason game — against Northern Kentucky on Saturday — is scheduled to be televised live by Channel 19; that's a first for UC.

        The second exhibition game will be Nov. 12 against Kentucky Wesleyan, the defending Division II champion, which is ranked No.1 this preseason.

        NKU (27-7 last season) is ranked No.25 in the preseason Division II poll. Kentucky Wesleyan has won eight NCAA titles, including two in the past three seasons. It also has set an NCAA record with four consecutive 30-win seasons.

        “We called them specifically because that's the direction we wanted to go,” UC coach Bob Huggins said of both schools.

        “I don't know if I get more excited, but I think it does us a lot more good. They're going to be so much more organized, and they're both really good teams. We're not just playing two Division II teams, we're playing two of the best Division II teams in the country.”

        Cincinnati needed to do something.

        The Bearcats have gone 7-2 against Athletes in Action under Huggins and 15-0 against all other opponents. During the past 12 years, they have played teams from Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Sweden and Germany, winning by an average of 34.2 points.

        Last season's exhibitions offered no challenge whatsoever. UC beat the Southeast All-Stars by 56 points, then the Worldwide All-Stars by 66.

        The Bearcats shot at least 62 percent from the field in both games and forced 66 total turnovers.

        “I'm tired of not getting anything out of it,” Huggins said. “Really, the only (exhibition) games we've gotten anything out of since I've been here is Athletes in Action. They were terrific. The last two or three times we played them, they put both (red and white) teams together, which was great for us; it was more like what we're going to see.”

        UC has won all seven games against Kentucky Wesleyan in a series that stopped in 1950-51.

        The Bearcats and Norse last played Nov. 27. 1988 — the first regular-season game of Tony Yates' last season as UC coach (Cincinnati won 75-63 at the Cincinnati Gardens). The teams played seven times — all UC victories — from 1981-88.

        Last season, the NCAA began allowing Division I teams to play preseason exhibition games against Division II and III schools. NKU coach Ken Shields said Dayton contacted his staff, but the Norse were committed to an early-season tournament.

        NKU last faced a Division I team during the 1994-95 season (Toledo won 85-63). Also in the '90s, the Norse lost twice to Morehead State and once to Dayton.

        “We were always competitive,” Shields said.

        Which is exactly what the Bearcats want.

        “I don't ever want to lose, but it's good for us to be in a competitive situation,” Huggins said. “It's probably good for our younger guys who don't understand that for whoever comes in here, or wherever we go, it's a big game.”

        UC opens its regular season Nov. 16 at Oklahoma State, which is ranked No.18 in the Associated Press preseason poll, released Monday.

        Northern Kentucky received 1,000 tickets to sell to Saturday's game and has already unloaded almost 900. The school expects to make $10,000 to $12,000 from the game, said sports information director Don Owen.

        “It has stirred up a tremendous amount of interest and involvement in our alumni and our communities over this way,” Shields said. “We're excited about it. It's a tremendous opportunity for us. We're extremely thankful. Realistically, it will be a big-time test for us, and hopefully we can compete with them to the point where it's a positive for them.”

        Each opponent is preparing for the Bearcats as if this were a regular-season game. Coaches are watching film of UC and readying scouting reports. Both coaches say they'll use regular substitution patterns and try to win.

        “We'll play it straight,” Shields said. “We will try to make sure that everybody gets an opportunity to be on the floor just to have that experience. (But) we're going to play the type of game that they're going to have to play to be successful in their endeavors.”

        “As a competitor, you always think you can win,” Kentucky Wesleyan coach Ray Harper said. “I think we're going to approach it that way. Hopefully, our kids are going to play hard and compete, and I think that's what you want out of exhibition games.”

        HOLLMAN UPDATE: UC junior center Derek Hollman underwent surgery on his left shoulder Monday. He is expected to begin rehabilitation today.

Huggins expects tests in exhibitions UC games change time, TV

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