By Cord Rankin
November 08, 2024
Dillon Mitchell and Aziz Bandaogo shot a combined 12-for-13 from the field
CINCINNATI – Strong frontcourt play paced the No. 20-ranked Cincinnati men’s basketball team to an 83-56 victory over Morehead State on Friday night at Fifth Third Arena.
The Bearcats improved to 2-0 on the season as UC’s starting frontcourt of center Aziz Bandaogo and junior forward Dillon Mitchell combined for 26 points on 12-of-13 shooting from the field.
Bandaogo also tallied three blocks to lead a Bearcats’ defense that held the Eagles to just 36% (20-of-56) shooting for the game.
Cincinnati took care of the ball as the Bearcats had only four turnovers and dominated in the paint, outscoring the Eagles, 48-26.
Five Bearcats had 10 or more points, after six Bearcats reached double figures in the season opener.
Mitchell grabbed nine rebounds to go along with his 14 points, shooting a perfect 7-of-7 from the field.
Sophomore post Arrinten Page added 13 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the bench.
Senior Simas Lukosius scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and dished out a team-high six assists. Cincinnati had 18 assists for the game after recording 27 assists against Arkansas Pine Bluff in the on Monday night.
The Bearcats played stifling defense in the first half as they held Morehead State to 35% (8-of-26) from the field and forced eight turnovers, while their offense was fluent with 12 assists on 16 made field goals.
Cincinnati shot 59.3% from the field in the first half and led 37-19 at the break.
Back-to-back dunks by Bandaogo punctuated an early 8-0 run for the Bearcats and gave the home team a 10-3 lead four minutes into the game.
Lukosius hit a corner three with 6:34 left in the first half to force Morehead State into a timeout after the Bearcats took their largest lead of the half, 28-14.
Page glided in for a layup to cap a Cincinnati 12-0 run improving the lead to 33-14.
Early in the second half, Mitchell threw down a thunderous jam that ignited the Fifth Third crowd, giving the Bearcats a 20-point lead, 41-21.
Minutes later, Bandaogo had back-to-back blocks before he hustled down the floor slamming a lob from sophomore Jizzle James, extending Cincinnati’s lead to 47-23 over the Eagles.
James finished with 14 on 6-of-10 shooting.
FROM WES MILLER
“Dillon Mitchell was terrific tonight. He was really good, you look down and he’s plus-37, and I’m not a big plus minus guy, because that stuff can be misleading, especially in limited data like a one game situation, but it’s not misleading tonight. I thought he was a difference maker on both ends when he was in the game tonight. I was pleased with that; I thought he looked really good defensively. He was great on the glass, with nine rebounds. He’s been showing us flashes of some things that he could do offensively, and I thought he was able to apply that to the game tonight and I was excited about that. Obviously, anytime you win a division one game, they’re hard to win, so you feel good about that, but there’s a lot of and I like that. We didn’t turn the ball over. So, I’m trying to start with the positive stuff. I’m not pleased with our rebounding. That’s something we got to hang our hat on. So, I’m not pleased with that at all. To not have one offensive rebound after 32 minutes of play, you guys know me well now, that frustrates me. Dan’s [Skillings Jr.] not playing. I’m sure you guys will ask about that next, but he’s a terrific offensive rebounder, but one guy shouldn’t affect our ability to get to the board. There was some really good stuff out there. I don’t want to be the Negative Nancy just to be the Negative Nancy, but I didn’t think that we rebounded to our standard tonight, and I didn’t like some of our defensive possessions tonight. Then again, there was some good stuff too. I give Morehead credit; I thought they did a good job of trying to hold the ball a little bit. Go deep down into the clock, and then they made some tough shots over the top of us late in the clock a couple times. But at the same time, there was some things that weren’t up to par there. It would be good to learn from on the film.”
DILLON MITCHELL ON NERVES TO START THE SEASON
“It’s the second game. It’s fun playing in front of the fans, I think that’s what’s most fun and showing out. It’s the reason why we go so hard for the name across our chest, like I said before. I usually don’t get nervous before games, but it’s fun. It’s a lot of fun.”
MITCHELL ON ARRINTEN PAGE
“AP works hard and he practices hard, so I think it just translates on the court. That’s the kind of player AP is. He’s someone we can depend on, count on, and he’s a big presence for us. AP works hard every day in the gym, practice, workouts, whatever it is. We’ve all got confidence in him, and he helps us a lot.”
COURTESY UC SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS
