By Henry Rawn
GAME NOTES
https://gobearcats.com/documents/2025/1/2/2024-25_Game_Notes_-_Arizona.pdf
CINCINNATI — The No. 16 Cincinnati men’s basketball team is set to host Arizona on Saturday afternoon in its Big 12 home opener. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2, and doors will open two hours early for this one and all other weekend home games.
CYMI: Saturday’s Big 12 opener against Arizona is a STRIPE OUT.
THE RUNDOWN
- Cincinnati is looking to bounce back after a tough 70-67 loss at Kansas State to begin Big 12 play. UC shot a respectable 46.7 percent, but a season-high 15 turnovers was the difference.
- UC’s only other loss, at Villanova, included 13 turnovers, which remains the second-most on the season. Cincinnati is still 24th nationally at 9.8 per game in that department.
- Dan Skillings Jr. looked like his old self with a driving, left-handed slam from the wing and four made 3-pointers as part of a season-high 18. He had three deep balls entering the night and played a season-high 32 minutes. It was UC’s first loss with him playing, as he missed six games (Nov. 8 – Dec. 3) due to a knee injury.
- Day Day Thomas, who missed the first three games of the season, played a season-high 27 minutes with nine points, three assists and four rebounds. He is shooting 44.4% from deep (12-of-27), up from 28.0 last year. Starting point guard Jizzle James is 31st nationally with a 3.1 assist-turnover ratio, and they will share the floor.
- Dillon Mitchell’s season-highs of 15 points and 11 rebounds accounted for his third double-double of the season. He also went 2-of-3 from deep, the junior’s first-career game with multiple 3-pointers. He also has a steal in every game this season, leading all Bearcats with 21, while ranking fourth nationally with 31 dunks and eighth in field-goal percentage at 67.0.
- Aziz Bandaogo, second nationally with 35 slams, was a point and rebound away from a double-double at K-State, the latter still a season-high. The two of them will be tasked on the glass with Arizona ranking eighth in rebound margin, but UC is 13th nationally in fouls while the Wildcats are 193rd.
- Simas Lukosius remains UC’s leading scorer at 14.0 ppg. Prior to going 0-for-2 from long range at K-State, he had made a three-pointer in 29 consecutive games.
- Kansas State was the first team to score 70 on the Bearcats, snapping an 11-game streak. UC’s next-longest of allowing in the 60s or less was 12 games in 2018-19. Still, the Wildcats were held to 6-of-20 from deep (30.0 percent). Only Howard and Villanova have made one-third or better or its attempts on the Bearcats, who rank ninth in scoring defense, 14th in field goal defense and 16th in three-point defense.
- Cincinnati responded to its Villanova loss with four-straight wins, including over Xavier and No. 22 Dayton. Its last two Big 12 losses of last year saw rebounds of a final-second win over K-State and 36-point thrashing of West Virginia. Dating back to last year, nine of UC’s 12 league losses have been by five points or less.
NEW MINDSET? NOT NECESSARILY
Cincinnati has been ranked all season, including for its two losses at Villanova and Kansas State.
While this is the first season UC has been ranked under Wes Miller, he offered his own insight regarding a question of how it changes the mindset of being the hunted versus perhaps the hunter.
“I think at this level of basketball, you’re gonna get the best shot all the time. If you look at our league, everyone’s good and hungry. What I challenge our staff, myself and our team on a daily basis is to never allow ourselves to believe we’ve figured it out and arrived. You never have it figured out. You try to take something you’re doing well and master it.
“I think it’s human nature, when you have some relative success, to think you’re good. To me, that’s the death of excellence and sustainable success. That’s the challenge with not just this team, but every team. That can be harder and harder in this social media society with so much instant gratification…you have to remain in the moment and be consumed and obsessed with improving.”
CINCINNATI’S DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Player (Opponent, Date) – Pts – Rebs
Dan Skillings (UAPB, Nov. 4) – 17 – 11
Jizzle James (UAPB, Nov. 4) – 12 – 10 (assists)
Dillon Mitchell (@ GT, Nov. 23) – 14 – 11
Dillon Mitchell (Xavier, Dec. 14) – 11 – 10
Dillon Mitchell (@ KSU, Dec. 30) – 15 – 11
SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats are 4-0 all-time against Cincinnati, with Wes Miller and Tommy Lloyd facing each other for the first time in the opener of the 2022 Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
That contest, a 101-93 win for Arizona, saw 124 combined points in the second half. UC’s Landers Nolley II finished with 33 points on 9-of-14 three-point shooting, tied for second in school history.
The first meeting between the teams came at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu as part of the 12th annual Rainbow Classic.
Both the 1993 and 1996 matchups were played for the 7-Up Shootout in Phoenix. Nick Van Exel led UC with 31 points in the first of those.
COURTESY UC SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS
