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For all the talk about rebuilding, roster turnover, and new eras at both schools, this year’s Crosstown Shootout came down to something simple: one player understood the moment better than everyone else in the building.
Trey Carroll, in his first and only Shootout appearance, delivered a career-high 30 points and a performance that immediately joins the rivalry’s highlight reel.
Xavier beat Cincinnati 79–74 at Cintas Center, reclaiming bragging rights after last year’s loss in the Crosstown Shootout.
It didn’t take long for local media to frame the night. FOX19’s Jeremy Rauch opened the post-game show calling it “the Trey Carroll game,” pointing out that only one player across both rosters — UC’s Day Day Thomas — had ever played in a Crosstown Shootout before. In a rivalry built on momentum swings, history, and emotion, experience matters. Carroll made sure it didn’t matter for him.
Xavier Found Answers; Cincinnati Spent the Night Searching for One
Carroll’s scoring wasn’t a fluke. He gave UC problems in nearly every alignment — post-ups, face-ups, transition, second-chance looks. When Cincinnati switched into a zone during the second half, Xavier head coach Richard Pitino made the adjustment FOX19 described as “some Barkley stuff,” isolating Carroll in the mid-post and letting him work through physical mismatches. His unorthodox footwork, size, and touch forced UC into rotations that never quite held.
WCPO’s post-game report backed it up, noting that “every adjustment Cincinnati tried still ended with Carroll walking away from possessions with points.” His 30 stood out not just because of the number, but because of how consistently he dictated the Crosstown Shootout game.
Xavier wasn’t perfect — they turned the ball over and took fewer shots — but they dominated key moments, used pace well, and leaned into an identity they’ve carried for decades: tough, poised, connected basketball.
UC Showed Fight, but Not the Finishing Firepower in the Crosstown Shootout
Cincinnati’s effort wasn’t the problem. Wes Miller’s team erased a 19–4 Xavier run in the second half, countering with a 20–9 stretch that gave the Bearcats a late lead. Jaylen Celestine’s three-pointer put UC up one inside the final three minutes, and for a moment, it looked like the Bearcats were going to steal the Crosstown Shootout win in a building they haven’t left victorious in nearly a quarter-century.
But as quickly as UC grabbed control, Xavier seized it back. Philip Borovican answered immediately with a fearless early-clock three, the kind of shot that shifts an arena’s energy all at once. From there, Carroll closed the door.
WCPO highlighted the harsh truth: Cincinnati has been wobbling in recent weeks — the loss to Eastern Michigan, inconsistencies on both ends, and a road building they haven’t conquered in 24 years. Saturday wasn’t about falling apart; it was about not having someone who could match Carroll’s ability to take over a rivalry game.
Xavier’s Confidence, UC’s Perspective
Carroll told FOX19 that he saw UC fans chirping about him on social media and took it personally — something he called “controlled chaos.” He added that Xavier Nation “isn’t losing in their building to Cincinnati,” and for his lone Shootout appearance, he backed it up.
Pitino, calm but proud after his first Crosstown Shootout win, said the rivalry “is one of the great college basketball rivalries,” and that his team showed a toughness they lacked earlier this season. The Musketeers, who were embarrassed by Santa Clara at home weeks ago, have clearly found stability and rhythm.
On the other side, Wes Miller didn’t sugarcoat UC’s reality. WCPO captured the tone well: Miller knows fans want wins more than long-term process talk. But he emphasized that his team “showed fight and poise,” and that they’ll take lessons from a game that felt, in his words, “like a Big 12 road game.” The Crosstown Shootout is always a learning experience.
There’s frustration in the loss, but not fracture. UC is still a team figuring out its offensive identity and still searching for someone who can seize a moment the way Carroll did for Xavier.
In the End, Cincinnati Got Exactly What It Always Gets: A Classic
The Crosstown Shootout delivered everything it’s supposed to deliver — intensity, chaos, momentum swings, and a rivalry moment that will stick around. Xavier was better in the minutes that mattered. UC showed grit but not enough clean execution. And Trey Carroll etched his name into rivalry history with one of the most memorable one-off performances the series has seen.
As WCPO put it at the end of their broadcast,
For the next 365 days, the Queen City belongs to the Xavier Musketeers.
And in Cincinnati, that sentence always lands with weight.
