TicketsSophomore guard Mason Madsen buried back-to-back 3-pointers to spark an 18-1 run midway through the first half that gave the Bearcats a commanding lead they would not relinquish.
Cincinnati used stifling defense to hold the Purple Aces to just 25.9% shooting from the field. The Bearcats tallied six blocks in the game, forced 15 turnovers and held a 32-10 advantage in points in the paint.
"I liked how we guarded tonight," said Miller, who came to Cincinnati this offseason after 10 years as the head coach at UNCG. "You look down and 25% from the field, 26% from three. They're a really good offensive team and they really shoot it and I thought our ball screen defense to guard pick-and-pops was pretty good for the most part. We worked really hard on that the last two days in practice. And then I thought our rim presence was good at times and I think that's got to be a strength of this team. There's a lot of stuff we got to work on. I don't think we've arrived but we're going to enjoy winning because I think that's important for young people."
Senior guard David Dejulius filled up the stat sheet with nine points, seven boards and a game-high seven assists. Junior wing Jeremiah Davenport led Cincinnati in scoring with 11 points. Sophomore Viktor Lakhin finished with seven points, seven boards and one block in 15 minutes in his debut.
Evansville jumped out to an early 8-5 lead six-and-half minutes into the game when Blaise Beachamp made a 3.
The Aces led 13-10 when Madsen caught fire on back-to-back possessions. His two 3-pointers were followed by two treys from Davenport.
Sophomore guard Mike Saunders capped the run with a nifty layup following a big block by graduate senior center Hayden Koval that gave UC a 28-14 lead.
After leading 31-22 at halftime, Cincinnati continued to press on the gas to start the second half.
Evansville scored first on a free throw in the second frame, but Dejulius hit a jumper to ignite an 11-0 run that put Cincinnati in front 42-23.
Madsen finished with nine points on three 3s and five rebounds.
Davenport's third 3-pointer with 9:30 remaining in the game put UC in front 51-33. John Newman's short jumper extended the lead to 20, 53-33 with 8:30 left.
The 43 points were the fewest by an opponent since UC held UCF to 38 points in 2018.
Overall, it was a banner day for the Bearcats, who got 36 bench points and shot 44% from the field to start the 2021-22 season with a win in front of a near-capacity crowd that impressed UC's first-year head coach.
"I can't lie, it's like you kind of pinch yourself when you walk out there and see that kind of environment," Miller said. "It's like a dream as a coach. A dream as a player to be in an environment like that. If it's really like that every night in here it's going to be a heck of a run."
NOTABLE
-UC's 36 bench points bested its season-high of 34 last season.
-UC started Mika Adams-Woods (37th of his career), David DeJulius (18th) and Jeremiah Davenport (15th) in addition to transfer newcomers Abdul Ado and John Newman III.
-UC played 11 in the first half.
-Viktor Lakhin recorded his first collegiate points after sitting out last season due to injury.
-The Bearcats' 25.9 field-goal percentage allowed marked its lowest in an opener since at least 2011.
-UC improved to 3-0 when Mason Madsen connects on three, three-pointers.
UP NEXT
Cincinnati hosts Georgia on Saturday at 7 p.m.