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THE RUNDOWN
- Six Bearcats scored in double-figures, led by Simas Lukosius' 20, as the Bearcats steamrolled Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Monday's opener. It was the 10th time UC opened the season in triple-digits (prev.: 2017 and 1995), with the record being 113 in 1972 against Cleveland State.
- Dan Skillings Jr. (17 pts, 11 rebs) and Jizzle James (12 pts, career-high 10 asts) became the first UC teammates with double-doubles since David DeJulius and Landers Nolley II in January 2023 vs. ECU.
- Skillings has scored in double-figures nine-straight games dating back to last year.
- James' 26 minutes were the most on the team. Fellow point guard, and last year's team steals leader, Day Day Thomas is on the mend from a preseason foot injury and is expected back in the near future.
- Connor Hickman also scored 13 points off the bench, shooting 3-for-4 from deep. With help from Lukosius' 3-of-5 clip, the Bearcats were 12-for-24.
- UC's 27 assists in the opener tied for fifth in school history and the most since Nov. 2009 against Toledo.
- Aziz Bandaogo had four blocks to go with 11 points and eight rebounds. He had four swats in three games last year, including against top-15 Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament.
- Halvine Dzellat checked in late. The freshman from France enrolled in September following his move from France. Though the initial plan was to redshirt him as he got acquainted with the program and the U.S., freshman forward Tyler McKinley's season-ending injury in the preseason expedited those plans, and his waiver recently cleared.
- Cincinnati is 20th in the preseason AP poll, its first time entering the season ranked since 2017-18. Its last time ranked overall came in 2018-19, which was also the last year it made the NCAA Tournament.
- Cincinnati enters the upcoming season with its deepest roster to date under Wes Miller, as the Bearcats returned six of its top eight scorers (69.9 percent of its points from last year, second in the Big 12).
- The Bearcats posted four ranked wins (@ BYU, TCU, @ Texas Tech, vs. Kansas) and led the Big 12 in rebounding margin at 7.2, which ranked 16th nationally. UC won the boards, 48-31, on Monday night.
- Cincinnati leads the all-time series 11-2, with all meetings coming between 1938 and 2014.
- The 119-113 win in 1956 marked a Cincinnati program record for most combined points in a game.
- Morehead State went 26-9 last year and won the OVC regular-season and tournament titles, earning a No. 14 NCAA seed. The Eagles return 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game from that squad.
LOT OF POINTS RETURNING
Cincinnati is in its best preseason position yet, and we aren't talking about the AP Top 25. The Bearcats rank second in the Big 12 by returning 69.9 percent of their scoring from last season, which includes six of the top eight performers in that category.
TEAM (Preseason rank) - PCT.
Houston (4) - 73.1
Cincinnati (20) - 69.9
Iowa State (5) - 66.1
Kansas (1) - 59.4
BYU (RV) - 48.9
UCF - 46.9
CINCINNATI'S DOUBLE-DOUBLES
The season-opening blowout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff saw Dan Skillings and Jizzle James become the first teammates with a double-double since David DeJulius and Landers Nolley II in January 2023 against ECU. There have been four instances since 2016.
Teammates - Opponent - Date
Dan Skillings/Jizzle James - UAPB - 11/4/24
David DeJulius/Landers Nolley - ECU - 1/11/23
Tre Scott/Nysier Brooks - Milwaukee - 11/16/18
Kyle Washington/Gary Clark - Iowa State - 12/1/16