By Reggie Gatlin-Holt

3 9 2024

GAME NOTES

https://gobearcats.com/documents/2024/3/7/2023-24_MBB_Game_Notes.pdf

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati men’s basketball team will conclude its regular season Saturday afternoon against West Virginia at 2 p.m., which includes senior recognitions at 1:35 p.m. Fans are also asked to wear RED in accordancee with annual tradition.

SENIOR DAY
There will be a pregame senior ceremony for managers Peter Barton, Brandon Tolbert, Mason Slinker and players Chase Kirkwood, Landen Long, John Newman III and Ody Oguama. Last year’s Senior Day saw David DeJulius drop a career-high 30 points and kiss the floor upon his exit in a 97-74 win over SMU.

THE RUNDOWN

• Cincinnati built a 13-point lead in the opening minutes and led by five late, but Oklahoma fought its way to overtime and ultimately steal one from the Bearcats on Tuesday night. The Sooners went 21-of-23 from the foul line in the second half. Only Houston (6.0) has an average margin-of-defeat smaller than UC’s 6.4.
• The Bearcats were without Viktor Lakhin, but gained Dan Skillings Jr. who missed the Kansas State game. He scored 13 points and was one rebound shy of his third double-double of the season, while his three steals were a season-high.
• With Lakhin’s absence, the Bearcats enter Saturday with 37 missed games among its rotation for injury, illness or transfer waiver procedures.
• The Bearcats had a season-low six turnovers in the home K-State win, then had nine in the first half against Oklahoma before committing only three over the second half and overtime.
• Jizzle James was electric with 16 points, two steals and no turnovers off the bench. He has seven double-figure scoring games in Big 12 play and his season-high 19 came at Xavier.
• Cincinnati had 11 steals and five blocks for the second-straight game, second to only its Oklahoma State contest on Feb. 21. The three-highest games with such a combination have come over the last five.
• Day Day Thomas had two more steals on the heels of four against Kansas State, bringing him to 51 for the most since Gary Clark in 2017-18. Next is Justin Jackson’s 55 in 2013-14.
• Aziz Bandaogo had three blocks against the Sooners, his sixth-straight game with multiple swats. He has also had five steals the last two contests, and UC has won the paint scoring battle five-straight games.
• Each of Cincinnati’s five highest FG% games in Big 12 play have come at home, led by 52.5 against TCU and 50.0 versus Oklahoma State.
• Cincinnati remains 14th nationally, and tops in the Big 12, with an 8.1 rebounding margin that is the team’s highest since at least the 2000-01 season.

SERIES HISTORY

• The last meeting was a heartbreaker for the Bearcats, who let WVU off the hook in a 69-65 defeat after leading by 10 with 6:29 left.
• An 11-0 run to get to that point helped Cincinnati erase a five-point deficit early in the second half. It was also UC’s first loss of the season (previously 10-0) when leading at the half. Dan Skillings Jr. had 15 points, while Simas Lukosius and Day Day Thomas followed with 13 and 12, respectively.
• The schools are most known in the hoops circles as the shared home of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Huggins, who coached the Bearcats during a memorable 1989-2005 run and leading his alma mater Mountaineers from 2007-23.
• The Bearcats went to 14 NCAA Tournaments during his 16 years, reaching the 1992 Final Four and No. 1 in the country during the 1999-00 season.
• WVU assistant coach DerMarr Johnson was the sixth-overall pick out of UC as a fres man in 2000 and served on Wes Miller‘s staff his first two years. He joined the WVU staff in January 2023 when one of the main assistant jobs opened.
• These two teams were Big East rivals from 2005-12 as well before the Mountaineers joined the Big 12.
• Cincinnati saw WVU guard Kerr Kriisa while he was with Arizona last year at the Maui Invitational.

COURTESY CINCINNATI ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS