TicketsCINCINNATI – Lockdown defense and dominant paint play boosted the No. 16 Cincinnati men's basketball team to a 77-59 victory over Alabama State on Wednesday night at Fifth Third Arena.
The Bearcats held the Hornets to 30% (20-of-66) from the field and 23% (7-of-30) from behind the arc, while also imposing their presence down low, as they outscored the visitors 40-18 in the paint, capturing 19 second-chance points and winning the boards, 52-35.
Cincinnati has held its competition to 35% or lower from the field in four of its first five games this season. The Bearcats are 6-0 for the second-straight season, and its the longest streak of allowing 60 or fewer points since eight games in 2017-18.
Sophomore Jizzle James had a solid all-around performance, the point guard posted 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Senior Simas Lukošius added 16 points, drilling four 3-pointers.
Junior Dillon Mitchell (5-of-7) and fifth-year Aziz Bandaogo (5-of-8) both logged 10 points. Mitchell also hauled in eight rebounds, while Bandaogo brought in a season-high nine.
Cincinnati has boasted four or more double-figure scorers in all six games so far.
Alabama State scored the first basket of the game, but a Lukosius three sparked a 10-0 response from the Bearcats to give the home team an early 10-2 lead. The Bearcats held the lead for the remainder of the game.
A steal by James led to a fast break that was punctuated by a slam from Mitchell, increasing UC's lead to nine, 28-19. With 5:45 left in the first half, Mitchell picked D'ante Bass's pocket and bolted across the floor hammering it down on the other end. The slam from Mitchell started a run of eight straight points from the Bearcats' wing, as the UC lead increased to 39-25.
With 2:02 left in the first half, a dunk from sophomore Arrinten Page capped another 10-point run from the Bearcats, increasing their lead to 18 points, 43-25. Cincinnati went into the locker room boasting a 46-33 lead over the Hornets.
The Bearcats played tenacious defense in the first half, causing the Hornets to struggle from the field. ASU shot 25% (4-of-16) from three, and 37% (14-of-38) from the field.
Later, back-to-back dunks from Bandaogo amplified Cincinnati's lead, 69-44. With 4:21 left in the game, a three-pointer from Lukosius gave Cincinnati a 27-point margin, its largest edge of the game, 74-47.
FROM WES MILLER
"I want to say Alabama State's got a nice team. They've done a really nice job with their team. They will be very, very competitive in their league, and they'll have a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament. I have nothing positive to say about the game, or about our team. I am very, very disappointed in how we played. I feel bad for people to pay to watch that. There's a standard that this team's have, they meet that standard pretty consistently on a practice standpoint, they've met it in terms of approach. They've met that standard for the most part. In all the games that we played today, we did not meet that standard tonight, and that makes me very angry or disappointed. So I have nothing positive to say about it, other than that, we won the game, and we will get back to it as soon as I'm done with you guys, says the staff, we cannot allow them to get in there and practice tonight, that those days are long gone."
Aziz Bandaogo on hitting the boards
"I feel like that's what part of my job is. I am trying to be better every day. I feel like I am trying to get better to try to impact winning. My thought process tonight was trying to hit the boards hard."
Jizzle James on his career-high in rebounds
"This is something we work on every day. I have this habit of going down and trying to be effective on the glass when shots go up and keeping those second chance opportunities open for us. It is a habit I work on every day. Tonight, I was able to showcase that, but I think there is still room for improvement."
NOTABLE
- The Bearcats improved to 38-8 when they hold teams below 40% from the field under Wes Miller.
- Cincinnati held Alabama State to 59 points moving its record to 30-2 when they hold opponents between 50-59 points under Miller.
- Freshman Halvine Dzellat recorded his first points of the season off a free throw with 31 seconds remaining.
UP NEXT
The Bearcats head to Philadelphia for a matchup against Villanova in Finneran Pavilion at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The Bearcats held the Hornets to 30% (20-of-66) from the field and 23% (7-of-30) from behind the arc, while also imposing their presence down low, as they outscored the visitors 40-18 in the paint, capturing 19 second-chance points and winning the boards, 52-35.
Cincinnati has held its competition to 35% or lower from the field in four of its first five games this season. The Bearcats are 6-0 for the second-straight season, and its the longest streak of allowing 60 or fewer points since eight games in 2017-18.
Sophomore Jizzle James had a solid all-around performance, the point guard posted 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Senior Simas Lukošius added 16 points, drilling four 3-pointers.
Junior Dillon Mitchell (5-of-7) and fifth-year Aziz Bandaogo (5-of-8) both logged 10 points. Mitchell also hauled in eight rebounds, while Bandaogo brought in a season-high nine.
Cincinnati has boasted four or more double-figure scorers in all six games so far.
Alabama State scored the first basket of the game, but a Lukosius three sparked a 10-0 response from the Bearcats to give the home team an early 10-2 lead. The Bearcats held the lead for the remainder of the game.
A steal by James led to a fast break that was punctuated by a slam from Mitchell, increasing UC's lead to nine, 28-19. With 5:45 left in the first half, Mitchell picked D'ante Bass's pocket and bolted across the floor hammering it down on the other end. The slam from Mitchell started a run of eight straight points from the Bearcats' wing, as the UC lead increased to 39-25.
With 2:02 left in the first half, a dunk from sophomore Arrinten Page capped another 10-point run from the Bearcats, increasing their lead to 18 points, 43-25. Cincinnati went into the locker room boasting a 46-33 lead over the Hornets.
The Bearcats played tenacious defense in the first half, causing the Hornets to struggle from the field. ASU shot 25% (4-of-16) from three, and 37% (14-of-38) from the field.
Later, back-to-back dunks from Bandaogo amplified Cincinnati's lead, 69-44. With 4:21 left in the game, a three-pointer from Lukosius gave Cincinnati a 27-point margin, its largest edge of the game, 74-47.
FROM WES MILLER
"I want to say Alabama State's got a nice team. They've done a really nice job with their team. They will be very, very competitive in their league, and they'll have a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament. I have nothing positive to say about the game, or about our team. I am very, very disappointed in how we played. I feel bad for people to pay to watch that. There's a standard that this team's have, they meet that standard pretty consistently on a practice standpoint, they've met it in terms of approach. They've met that standard for the most part. In all the games that we played today, we did not meet that standard tonight, and that makes me very angry or disappointed. So I have nothing positive to say about it, other than that, we won the game, and we will get back to it as soon as I'm done with you guys, says the staff, we cannot allow them to get in there and practice tonight, that those days are long gone."
Aziz Bandaogo on hitting the boards
"I feel like that's what part of my job is. I am trying to be better every day. I feel like I am trying to get better to try to impact winning. My thought process tonight was trying to hit the boards hard."
Jizzle James on his career-high in rebounds
"This is something we work on every day. I have this habit of going down and trying to be effective on the glass when shots go up and keeping those second chance opportunities open for us. It is a habit I work on every day. Tonight, I was able to showcase that, but I think there is still room for improvement."
NOTABLE
- The Bearcats improved to 38-8 when they hold teams below 40% from the field under Wes Miller.
- Cincinnati held Alabama State to 59 points moving its record to 30-2 when they hold opponents between 50-59 points under Miller.
- Freshman Halvine Dzellat recorded his first points of the season off a free throw with 31 seconds remaining.
UP NEXT
The Bearcats head to Philadelphia for a matchup against Villanova in Finneran Pavilion at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.