By Colin McGuigan

GAME NOTES

https://gobearcats.com/documents/2024/12/12/2024-25_Game_Notes_Xavier.pdf

CINCINNATI — The 92nd edition of the Crosstown Shootout returns to Fifth Third Arena on Saturday as the No. 22 Cincinnati Bearcats host Xavier at 2 p.m.

Doors open at 12 p.m., up 30 minutes from the normal time, with concession specials and prizes throughout that time. The university’s College Conservatory of Music also has an event at 2 p.m. in Corbett Auditorium, so people parking in CCM and other garages within Corry Street should be aware of increased traffic beyond normal gamedays.

THE RUNDOWN

• This is the 37th meeting in which at least one of the teams were ranked. Thirteen of those came with UC in the top-10, including four at No. 1.
• Dan Skillings, UC’s leading scorer (12.9 ppg) and second-leading rebounder (6.4 rpg), entered the Howard game as the first off the bench to a thunderous cheer. He had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the season-opener, suffering a knee injury in the second half that he was not aware of until the following morning. He had a procedure on Nov. 11 and played 14 minutes on Sunday in his return.
• This game was Jizzle James’ coming-out party last year, as the then-freshman scored a career-high 19 points to go with a block in 21 minutes. This year, he is 37th nationally in assist-turnover ratio at 3.15. He played 20 minutes against Howard due to foul trouble, but scored a season-high 19 at Villanova.
• Aziz Bandaogo’s 17 points against Howard were his most in his year-plus as a Bearcat. Per Wes Miller after the game, “he played the right way and found himself offensively by doing his job against different ball screens. He got switched at Villanova and tonight, which is something he’s not used to, but he found his rhythm there.”
• UC is 10-1 (4-0 this year) when Bandaogo scores in double-figures, which includes two top-15 Big 12 road wins. Cincinnati won the boards 37-23 against Howard, one of four times with 10-plus more than its foe.
• Simas Lukosius, 13th in KenPom’s offensive rating, is sixth nationally with a 52.8 percent 3-point clip. He was 16-for-23 his first four games (69.6 percent) and is the only Bearcat to score in double-figures all eight games.
• Connor Hickman started in Skillings’ place the last seven games and scored his 1,000th point late against Howard. His season-high 14 came in the road win at Georgia Tech, driving for a pair of layups early and going 2-for-3 from deep overall. Should Skillings start, it will be the first time since UC’s 109-point season opener.
• Three-point play will continue to be an emphasis in this one. UC is 23rd in shooting and 33rd on the defensive front. In its only loss, it had season-low percentages in each. Cincinnati is seventh nationally with a 59.2 effective field goal percentage (fifth defensively at 42.1), helped by Dillon Mitchell’s 68.8 percent clip for the year that ranks eighth.
• Not only that, Mitchell is 3-for-6 from deep his last four games after not having a make in his two years at Texas. Plus, he went 3-for-4 at the foul line against Howard, his best-such clip of the year.
• UC has three averaging double-figure scoring (Lukosius 16.3, James 13.6, Mitchell 11.9), with Skillings at 9.5.

THE NEW THREADS

• Cincinnati returned to familiar threads in 2023-24 with the Jordan brand. The Bearcats were one of the three original schools rewarded with it in 1997, joining St. John’s and North Carolina A&T.
• Michael Jordan himself helped present the uniforms to the public on the Rosie O’Donnell Show on Sept. 9, 1997.
• This year’s Crosstown Shootout threads are focused on the black, an adopted school color for 130 years, the Cincy moniker that spotlights the city, fight song, newspapers and how ESPN labeled the school on its scorebugs in Big East games, as well as elephant print on the sides as a nod to the Air Jordan 3, a hallmark of the Jordan Brand aesthetic.

SERIES HISTORY

• Arguably the most-passionate local rivalry in college basketball, UC leads 51-40 in a series that began in 1928 but hit full-speed in 1946.
• Xavier’s five-game win streak is the first in the series since UC from 1972-79. Cincinnati had also won 20 of 21 from 1957-79.
• Last year’s meeting saw Xavier jump out to a 16-8 lead. Xavier’s Quincy Olivari went 6-for-8 from deep for 27 points and the difference in the game. UC had four double-figure scorers, including Jizzle James’ then-career-high 19 points, while Day Day Thomas had 15.
• Simas Lukosius, who last year against the Musketeers was returning from being hit by a car, played Xavier five times over the his two seasons while at Butler. He scored 27 points against the Musketeers in the 2022 Big East Tournament, and his defensive rebound and succeeding free-throws with 4 seconds left extended it to OT as well.
• Two Musketeers saw plenty of Cincinnati last year. John Hugley, previously of Oklahoma, missed the second game of the series but scored 11 points in Fifth Third Arena on Jan. 20. Ryan Conwell scored 18 points for Indiana State when UC played there in the NIT.

COURTESY UC SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS