TicketsCINCINNATI – Dillon Mitchell scored 14 points, had several highlight-reel dunks and grabbed three steals to lead the Cincinnati men's basketball team to a 67-60 victory over Arizona State on Saturday at Fifth Third Arena.
After leading by as many as 17 points in the second half, the Bearcats went eight minutes without a field goal and held a four-point advantage, 52-48, with under six minutes left. Cincinnati pulled away when Dan Skillings Jr. made a steal and converted a one-handed dunk moments before another ASU turnover led to a deep 3-pointer from CJ Fredrick to put UC up, 57-48 and lift the Fifth Third crowd to their feet with five minutes remaining.
Fredrick (six points off the bench) helped provide one of the game's final exclamation points when he tossed a lob from 30 feet to Dillon Mitchell, who skied for a thunderous alley-oop dunk that gave the Bearcats a 59-50 lead with 3:47 left in the game.
Mitchell added another emphatic windmill dunk after he jumped the passing lane to put UC ahead 63-52 with just over two minutes remaining.
Mitchell paced four Bearcats in double figures with 14 points. He added two blocks and three steals to lead an outstanding defensive effort for a Cincinnati team that held Arizona State to just 36% from the field.
The Bearcats held a 25-2 edge in fastbreak points, six more than their previous season-high, and scored 17 points off of 14 Sun Devils' turnovers.
Joining Mitchell in double figures were sophomore guard Jizzle James (12 points), Skillings Jr. (12 points) and senior wing Simas Lukosius (10 points).
The Bearcats missed eight of their first 10 shots, but Lukosius score all 10 of his points before halftime. He sparked a 16-0 run that UC used to take control of the game.
Back-to-back buckets from Jizzle James started the run, which also featured deep 3-pointers from Lukosius and Fredrick. The Cincinnati native's shot put the Bearcats in front 24-11 at the 5:20 mark in the opening half.
Arizona State cut the UC lead to 24-20 two minutes before the break, but freshman Tyler Betsey answered with a 3-pointer to spark a 10-0 Bearcats run that featured another long Lukosius trey and tenacious defense. A steal by Day Day Thomas and a layup by Bandaogo gave UC a 34-20 lead with 50 seconds left before halftime.
A contested Thomas jumper at the halftime buzzer gave Cincinnati a 36-22 lead at the break. The Bearcats's stingy defense held the Sun Devils to just 24 percent shooting in the first half.
Consecutive James baskets put the Bearcats in front 42-27 two minutes into the second half.
The Sun Devils chipped into the lead with a 15-4 run. A layup and 3-pointer by Arizona State guard Alston Mason made the score 46-42 with 12 minutes left.
After failing to hit a field goal since the 14-minute mark, the Bearcats still clung to a four-point lead when Skillings stole the ball from Arizona State star freshman forward Jayden Quaintance (15 points, 14 boards) and woke up the Cincinnati offense and electrified the crowd with his dunk. Cincinnati made four of five baskets down the stretch en route to the victory.
FROM WES MILLER
"I'm certainly proud of my players. I thought they played with purpose tonight, offensively and defensively. In the first half, I was pleased. I thought our defense was real and that we made it tough for them [ASU] to get quality looks. And then I was pleased with our transition game. I thought we used live ball stops to run and got some things. Going into the open court is something we have to continue to build on. We weren't as good there in the first eight minutes of the second half, but this is Big 12 basketball, and our guys dug in and found a way to play, found a way to win. We did that the other night in Colorado, after we put together quite a few good minutes, good rotations. A couple of guys like Dillon [Mitchell] just continues to grow. We're putting him in so many different positions, offensively and defensively and he's handling it masterfully and I don't think people realize how many things we're asking of him, but he's handling it really well. Simas seems to be back in a good rhythm, which is really important. We're doing a better job of putting guys in position. I think they'll all benefit from that."
Dillon Mitchell on adjustments and handling what has been asked of him
"I think it's just comes with trust. Coach knows what I'm good at. He knows all my strengths, and he puts me in the best situations to be successful, not only for myself, but for the team. So I'll do whatever he needs me to do to help win games. That's what it's come down to, just doing whatever it is, if it's screening, if it's pick and roll, just doing whatever it is, make passes and stuff like that, just whatever he needs to be do to help the team win, and just being versatile as a player on both sides of the ball, I think that's just the biggest thing."
UP NEXT
Cincinnati stays home to welcome Texas Tech on Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside Fifth Third Arena. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
After leading by as many as 17 points in the second half, the Bearcats went eight minutes without a field goal and held a four-point advantage, 52-48, with under six minutes left. Cincinnati pulled away when Dan Skillings Jr. made a steal and converted a one-handed dunk moments before another ASU turnover led to a deep 3-pointer from CJ Fredrick to put UC up, 57-48 and lift the Fifth Third crowd to their feet with five minutes remaining.
Fredrick (six points off the bench) helped provide one of the game's final exclamation points when he tossed a lob from 30 feet to Dillon Mitchell, who skied for a thunderous alley-oop dunk that gave the Bearcats a 59-50 lead with 3:47 left in the game.
Mitchell added another emphatic windmill dunk after he jumped the passing lane to put UC ahead 63-52 with just over two minutes remaining.
Mitchell paced four Bearcats in double figures with 14 points. He added two blocks and three steals to lead an outstanding defensive effort for a Cincinnati team that held Arizona State to just 36% from the field.
The Bearcats held a 25-2 edge in fastbreak points, six more than their previous season-high, and scored 17 points off of 14 Sun Devils' turnovers.
Joining Mitchell in double figures were sophomore guard Jizzle James (12 points), Skillings Jr. (12 points) and senior wing Simas Lukosius (10 points).
The Bearcats missed eight of their first 10 shots, but Lukosius score all 10 of his points before halftime. He sparked a 16-0 run that UC used to take control of the game.
Back-to-back buckets from Jizzle James started the run, which also featured deep 3-pointers from Lukosius and Fredrick. The Cincinnati native's shot put the Bearcats in front 24-11 at the 5:20 mark in the opening half.
Arizona State cut the UC lead to 24-20 two minutes before the break, but freshman Tyler Betsey answered with a 3-pointer to spark a 10-0 Bearcats run that featured another long Lukosius trey and tenacious defense. A steal by Day Day Thomas and a layup by Bandaogo gave UC a 34-20 lead with 50 seconds left before halftime.
A contested Thomas jumper at the halftime buzzer gave Cincinnati a 36-22 lead at the break. The Bearcats's stingy defense held the Sun Devils to just 24 percent shooting in the first half.
Consecutive James baskets put the Bearcats in front 42-27 two minutes into the second half.
The Sun Devils chipped into the lead with a 15-4 run. A layup and 3-pointer by Arizona State guard Alston Mason made the score 46-42 with 12 minutes left.
After failing to hit a field goal since the 14-minute mark, the Bearcats still clung to a four-point lead when Skillings stole the ball from Arizona State star freshman forward Jayden Quaintance (15 points, 14 boards) and woke up the Cincinnati offense and electrified the crowd with his dunk. Cincinnati made four of five baskets down the stretch en route to the victory.
FROM WES MILLER
"I'm certainly proud of my players. I thought they played with purpose tonight, offensively and defensively. In the first half, I was pleased. I thought our defense was real and that we made it tough for them [ASU] to get quality looks. And then I was pleased with our transition game. I thought we used live ball stops to run and got some things. Going into the open court is something we have to continue to build on. We weren't as good there in the first eight minutes of the second half, but this is Big 12 basketball, and our guys dug in and found a way to play, found a way to win. We did that the other night in Colorado, after we put together quite a few good minutes, good rotations. A couple of guys like Dillon [Mitchell] just continues to grow. We're putting him in so many different positions, offensively and defensively and he's handling it masterfully and I don't think people realize how many things we're asking of him, but he's handling it really well. Simas seems to be back in a good rhythm, which is really important. We're doing a better job of putting guys in position. I think they'll all benefit from that."
Dillon Mitchell on adjustments and handling what has been asked of him
"I think it's just comes with trust. Coach knows what I'm good at. He knows all my strengths, and he puts me in the best situations to be successful, not only for myself, but for the team. So I'll do whatever he needs me to do to help win games. That's what it's come down to, just doing whatever it is, if it's screening, if it's pick and roll, just doing whatever it is, make passes and stuff like that, just whatever he needs to be do to help the team win, and just being versatile as a player on both sides of the ball, I think that's just the biggest thing."
UP NEXT
Cincinnati stays home to welcome Texas Tech on Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside Fifth Third Arena. The game will be televised on ESPNU.