By Anna Bella Ramirez

GAME NOTES

https://gobearcats.com/documents/2024/11/21/2024-25_Game_Notes_at_GT.pdf

CINCINNATI — The No. 18 Cincinnati men’s basketball team returns to action Saturday at Georgia Tech for its second-straight road game. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.

The game will air on both ESPN+ and ACC Network Extra. The latter is of no additional cost if you already have ACC Network, and that channel is available through a variety of live TV streaming services like Sling, YouTube TV, fubo and more. ACCNX is available on ESPN.com and its apps, but it still requires a cable or live TV streaming subscription to access.

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THE RUNDOWN

• Cincinnati is 4-0 for the third time in Wes Miller‘s four years, with last year’s 7-0 start being the best of those. The Bearcats are also seeking their ninth-straight ACC win on Saturday, a streak that began in the 2009 Maui Invitational and includes three games under Miller.
• Simas Lukosius was 5-for-5 from deep in the second half at NKU as the Bearcats pulled away for the 76-60 win. He also had 26 in the second half of UC’s win over WVU in the Big 12 Tourney, and he is second nationally at 69.6 (16-for-23).
• Cincinnati has had at least four double-digit scorers in each of the first four games. UC is seventh nationally in deep shooting at 44.9 percent after going 7-for-9 in the second half at NKU (77.3 FG% in that period as well).
• Aziz Bandaogo is fourth nationally with 3.5 blocks per game, and he is the first Bearcat with three or more swats in four-straight games since Justin Jackson in 2013-14.
• Day Day Thomas (10.4 ppg, team-highs of 116 assists and 61 steals last year) made his season debut in a big way. He deflected a pass that led to a steal on his first possession, then found a driving Dillon Mitchell for a dunk on the ensuing one.
• Jizzle James, UC’s other point guard, is averaging 14.0 ppg and 5.5 apg. He also had a career-high three steals at NKU and is shooting 45.5 percent from beyond the arc.
• Cincinnati is in the top-10 of nine different categories nationwide, ranging from assist-turnover ratio to effective field goal percentage to fewest fouls per game and scoring defense.
• UC has held its opponents to 26.2 percent from deep. Thomas’ return to the fray will be huge for the perimeter, especially as leading scorer and highly-improved defender Dan Skillings Jr. misses another few games.
• While Lukosius is 15th nationally with a 73.0 overall shooting percentage, Dillon Mitchell is 30th at 68.6. His 8.0 rpg also leads the team, and he had a career-high four steals at NKU. His abilities on both ends of the floor as UC is ranked sixth in KenPom for height at an average of 6’6″.
• Freshman Tyler Betsey has made the most of his 16.9 minutes per game, starting 7-for-14 from deep. The two-time Gatorade Connecticut Player of the Year had Alabama and UConn in his top three as well, and one of his high school coaches was former Bearcat standout Cane Broome (2017-19).

SEEKING NINE-STRAIGHT IN THE ACC
Cincinnati is looking to claim its ninth-straight win against the ACC on Saturday, which began in the 2009 Maui Invitational against Maryland. The last three have come under former North Carolina star Wes Miller, whose first power-conference win as a head coach came at Virginia Tech in 2013.

Team    Score    Date
vs. Maryland (Maui)    W, 69-57    11/24/2009
Florida State (NCAA)    W, 62-56    3/18/2012
NC State    W, 68-57    11/12/2013
vs. Pittsburgh (NYC)    W, 44-43    12/17/2013
@ NC State    W, 76-60    12/30/2014
vs. Louisville (Maui)    W, 81-62    11/23/2022
Virginia Tech (NIT)    W, 81-72    3/15/2023
Georgia Tech    W, 89-54    11/22/2023

SERIES HISTORY

• Last year’s contest saw Cincinnati outscore Georgia Tech 49-22 in the second half, en route to an 89-54 win, its largest over a power-conference team since Arkansas in 1997.
• Aziz Bandaogo made his debut following his NCAA two-time transfer waiver battle, providing an emotional scene when he checked in at 17:14. He immediately blocked a shot to force a shot-clock violation and had an alley-oop as part of an eight-point, nine-rebound performance in 21 minutes.
• Last year’s contest was the first meeting between the teams since Cincinnati’s 87-70 win in the 1996 Sweet 16, played in Lexington, Ky.
• Stephon Marbury led the Yellow Jackets in scoring, while all five UC starters scored in double-figures.
• The two teams were charter Metro Confer- ence members in 1975. Georgia Tech left in 1978, while Cincinnati departed in 1991 for the Great Midwest.
• UC has won seven-straight games against ACC foes as well, dating back to Mary- land in the 2009 Maui Invitational. It also won 81-72 over Virginia Tech in last year’s NIT opener, plus Florida State in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, Pittsburgh, N.C. State twice and Louisville in Maui last November.
• Cincinnati associate head coach Chad Dollar spent the 2011-16 seasons at Georgia Tech, with the latter two as associate head coach under Brian Gregory.

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