TicketsWASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Cincinnati men's basketball team is in the nation's capital for its first road test as it battles Howard on Tuesday night.
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THE RUNDOWN
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THE RUNDOWN
- UC is playing its second road game all-time at an HBCU (1988, Tennessee State), and this is its third defending conference champ out of a four-game stretch. UC is 5-0 for the second time in three years, and a win would mark its first at 6-0 since 2017-18.
- Cincinnati opened the second half on a 38-7 run to propel itself to an 89-54 win over Georgia Tech on Thanksgiving Eve. It was both UC's eighth-straight ACC win and its largest over a power-conference opponent since 1997 (Arkansas, 92-57).
- Aziz Bandaogo made his debut with an instant impact. His first three minutes off the bench included a blocked shot, alley-oop and team defensive shot-clock turnover.
- Viktor Lakhin went 5-for-6 from deep to up his season percentage to 53.3 (8-for-15). He had three-such makes his previous two years. He is averaging 18.3 ppg on 69 percent shooting over the last three games, including 8-for-12 from beyond the arc.
- Cincinnati made 14 triples against Georgia Tech, its third time with 10 or more this season. The 10.6 per game rank 16th nationally.
- The Bearcats are also sixth in assist-turnover ratio (2.02) and 11th in fewest turnovers (8.6). Simas Lukosius boasts a 20:4 ratio in that category over the last four games, taking over the team lead in dimes as a 6-foot-8 reserve (started the Opening Night).
- Four Bearcats, including Lakhin, are averaging double-figure scoring. Dan Skillings Jr. dropped 25 off the bench against NKU and is up to 12.8. Day Day Thomas' four-game streak of 10 or more points came to an end last time out, but he remains second at 13.2. John Newman III's 10.0 is a career-best, and it comes after playing only one game in 2022-23 due to injury.
- Skillings, named one of Jon Rothstein's 20 Under-the-Radar Breakout Players for the upcoming season, has earned his 10-minutes-per-game increase. His 12.8 ppg and 7.0 rpg are up from 5.3 and 3.3 his freshman season. He has two 20-point games in his career, and UC is 7-0 over that span when he scores 10 or more.
- Cincinnati's bench is eighth nationally at 36.8 ppg. It has held the same lineup each of the past four games.
- UC is 2-0 against Howard, with both wins coming at home in 1996 and 2006.
- CJ Fredrick's scoring career-high came against Howard in the 2022-23 opener, his debut for Kentucky. His 20 points included going 2-for-5 from deep while earning a starting nod.
- Howard's Ayodele Taiwo is a product of the NBA Academy Africa, as is UC's Bandaogo.
- Jizzle James' brother, Eden, is an All-MEAC running back at Howard who had 177 yards on the ground at Northwestern this year.