By Cord Rankin

GAME NOTES

https://gobearcats.com/documents/2024/11/26/2024-25_Game_Notes_ALST.pdf

CINCINNATI — The No. 16 Cincinnati men’s basketball team is looking to head into Thanksgiving on a high note when it hosts Alabama State on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

THE RUNDOWN

• Cincinnati is 5-0 for the third time in Wes Miller‘s four years, with last year’s 7-0 start being the best of those.  UC has also shot 50 percent or better in every game this season, its best-such streak since late 2002.
• The offensive consistency includes four or more double-figure scorers in each of those five games. Jizzle James, Dillon Mitchell and Simas Lukosius have scored in double-figures all of them as well.
• The Bearcats lead the nation in shooting (55.5 percent) and effective field goal percentage (63.5).
• The perimeter defense should also not be forgotten. Cincinnati is 21st nationally in allowing 25.9 percent from deep. No team has made more than five treys on the Bearcats yet. Georgia Tech was held to its season-low in points, field-goal percentage, three-point percentage and rebounds on Saturday.
• The 81-58 rout of Georgia Tech marked UC’s ninth-straight win over the ACC that dates back to 2009. Mitchell was the headliner, collecting his first Bearcat double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The junior had eight at Texas last season. Mitchell swiped a pass at midcourt in the opening minutes for an easy dunk and later had a personal 6-0 run, all dunks on passes from James, plus blocking a Yellow Jacket dunk as well.
• James had 14 points and seven assists to one turnover at Georgia Tech, and his 5.8 dimes per game rank 35th nationally. Fellow point guard Day Day Thomas worked his way back in with 16 minutes in his second game of the season, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. He and James also shared the floor some on Saturday, a part of the offense that became more commonplace in the second half of last season.
• Lukosius is fourth nationally with a 64.3 percent clip from deep. He will also be honored pregame on Wednesday for his 1,000-point milestone, set in the NIT finale at Indiana State as part of his 26-point performance.
• That Georgia Tech game also saw Cincinnati lead 45-29 at the break and win the boards 36-29, and it was without Dan Skillings Jr. and only seven minutes from Arrinten Page, a further statement of the team’s depth.
• Connor Hickman split the defense for a pair of layups early to set a tone. He is averaging 12.0 ppg on 4-of-8 deep shooting the last two games. He is also at 996 points for his career.
• Tyler Betsey continued his fascinating, consistent freshman start by swishing both his 3-point attempts at Georgia Tech. He is now 9-for-16 (56.3 percent), making multiple treys in four of the five games.

SERIES HISTORY

• Cincinnati has won both meetings between the teams, which were home games in 2011 and 2017.
• The first of those marked one of three games in program history in which UC’s opponent had one or fewer free-throw makes.

COURTESY UC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS