CINCINNATI – Newcomers CJ Fredrick and Day Day Thomas both reached double figures in their Bearcats debuts to lead the Cincinnati men's basketball team to a 69-58 victory over UIC to open the 2023-24 season at Fifth Third Arena.
Thomas got the starting point-guard nod and led UC with 15 points. Fredrick, the Cincinnati native playing in front of several family members, scored 11 points off the bench, making three of his first four deep attempts, and sophomore wing Dan Skillings Jr. also added 13 points as Cincinnati got 30 points from reserves.
However, it was stifling perimeter defense that forced 15 turnovers that ultimately allowed the Bearcats to pull away from the visiting Flames.
Cincinnati held UIC to just 13% (2 for 16) from the 3-point arc and also tallied 11 steals, ultimately holding a 20-2 edge in points off turnovers.
The win marked Cincinnati's fourth straight win in a season opener.
After Toby Okani (20 points) cut Cincinnati's lead to 5, 43-38, four minutes into the second half, back-to-back layups by Thomas sparked a 9-0 run that gave Cincinnati a comfortable 14-point lead.
UIC's CJ Jones kept the Flames in the game with a tough basket in the paint to make the score 52-44, but Lukosius drilled a 3 from the extended elbow to put Cincinnati back up by double digits, 55-44, with nine minutes left.
A pair of free throws and a layup from Skillings Jr. put Cincinnati up by 15 with just over six minutes remaining.
UIC took an early 9-4 lead on a layup from Jones, but Cincinnati answered right back with three straight baskets, capped by a layup from Thomas that put Cincinnati in front 10-9 five minutes into the contest.
The Bearcats missed their first six 3-pointers before Fredrick drilled his first of the game.
Fredrick's second trey sparked a 9-0 UC run that was capped by a Skillings fastbreak layup to put Cincinnati in front 26-18 with 7:03 remaining in the first half. The run featured a two-handed baseline dunk by sixth-year wing John Newman III.
Fredrick buried his third trey of the night from the corner to extend Cincinnati's lead to 33-26 with just under two minutes left in the first half.
A 3 from Thomas and layup by Skillings Jr. put UC in front by double-digits just before the halftime buzzer to make the score 40-30 at the break.
FROM WES MILLER
"The first thing I will say is enjoy the win. A lot goes into this and we're hard on these guys. I can be the devil sometimes to them, but I'm going to let them enjoy a win tonight because they got the first one under their belt. I'm proud of that and happy about that. I'm going to be positive on the first night. That's what I'm going to do, I'm going to be positive, but when it hits midnight, I'm going to go to being negative, because we have a lot to work on. But two for 16 from three for them. I thought that was really good.
NOTABLE
-UC is 5-0 when Dan Skillings Jr. scores in double-figures.
-It was Cincinnati's fifth-straight season-opening win and Wes Miller's sixth.
-Cincinnati held one opponent, Tulsa, last year to two made threes.
UP NEXT
The Bearcats welcome Detroit Mercy on Friday at 7 p.m. and Eastern Washington at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday for the Cincinnati Basketball MTE presented by Allegiant Air at Fifth Third Arena.
Newcomers Power Bearcats Past UIC in Season Opener
Newcomers CJ Fredrick and Day Day Thomas both reached double figures in their Bearcats debuts to lead the Cincinnati men's basketball team to a 69-58 victory over UIC to open the 2023-24 season at Fifth Third Arena.
