University of Cincinnati Bearcats near record for men's basketball season ticket sales

Tom Groeschen | Cincinnati Enquirer

With Fifth Third Arena set to reopen in November after $87 million in renovations, the University of Cincinnati men's basketball program is selling season tickets at a rate unseen since the Kenyon Martin era.

More than 500 season tickets were sold on the first day of sales this week, bringing the number of total season tickets purchased to nearly 7,500. That makes the arena's record of 7,707 season tickets, set before the 1999-2000 season, well within reach.

Martin was the consensus national Player of the Year in the 1999-2000 season, when the Bearcats sold out every home game with a capacity of 13,176 seats. The renovated arena will seat 12,012, a nod to the No. 12 jersey worn at UC by Bearcats great Oscar Robertson.

With Fifth Third Arena under renovation, UC played its men's home basketball games at Northern Kentucky University last season. The Bearcats went 31-5 overall, winning both the American Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships and advancing to their eighth consecutive NCAA tournament. UC lost to Nevada in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

UC will reopen Fifth Third Arena against Ohio State on Nov. 7.

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UC football coach Luke Fickell evaluates the state of the program Second-year University of Cincinnati football coach Luke Fickell evaluates the program entering 2018, which UC coming off of two straight 4-8 seasons.

GRADUATION DAYS: When basketball players Gary Clark, Kyle Washington and Jackson Bart earned diplomas upon the close of the 2017-18 academic year, it advanced another Bearcats trend of graduating seniors.



In all, 21 of 24 UC men's basketball seniors have graduated since the 2011-12 academic year, including 12 straight.



"We look at the development of our players and their graduation as the most important things we do," UC head coach Mick Cronin said in a statement. "We also have great academic support and have created a tradition of academic achievement and graduation by design."