By Henry Rawn
1 18 2025
GAME NOTES
https://gobearcats.com/documents/2025/1/17/2024-25_Game_Notes_vs._Arizona_State.pdf
CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati men’s basketball team will look to build off its momentum in Colorado when it hosts Arizona State on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Doors open at 12 p.m. as part of the new initiative for weekend home games. The arena’s happy-hour-and-a-half includes $5 domestic beer and $3 popcorn from 12 – 1:30 p.m. Limited 2025 all-sport calendars remain as well.
THE RUNDOWN
- Cincinnati trailed for only 19 seconds, leading by as much as 12 early in the second half, and finished 8-for-8 from the foul line and 4-of-4 from the field over the final four minutes to defeat Colorado, 68-62.
- UC shot a season-best 76.2 percent from the foul line. A fast start was also what the doctor ordered after leading for only 4:10 in the first half combined over the first three Big 12 games and 15:07 against Kansas.
- Cincinnati is 10-1 when leading at the half, with Kansas as the only loss and Xavier the lone win when trailing.
- Simas Lukosius’ 16 points were his most in a Big 12 game this season. He entered the night with the sharpest wins-and-losses splits on the team, and he is now at 15.2 ppg on 50.0 percent shooting when victorious and 6.6 ppg on 25.6 in losses.Lukosius, who had three game-winning shots last year among several other clutch moments, had a season-high seven rebounds at Colorado in addition to 3-pointers in the final minutes that extended the lead to four and seven points, respectively.
- Cincinnati’s 11 steals were a season-high and the fourth time with that many against a Big 12 opponent in its one-plus year in the league. UC held Colorado to 1-of-14 shooting to start the game, and it remains seventh in scoring defense at 60.6 ppg, 21st in field goal percentage (39.0) and second in three-point defense (26.9). The Bearcats are also seventh defensively in KenPom.
- Dan Skillings Jr. is the team’s top scorer in Big 12 play at 14.6 ppg, up from 10.2 in non-conference play. Those six games missed due to injury notwithstanding, he opened the league slate with three-straight 18-point outings. Twenty-one of his 41 rebounds have come on the offensive end, and Aziz Bandaogo is close at 47 of his 98. Bandaogo is averaging 8.0 rpg in Big 12 play after 5.3 in the non-conference following his season-high 10 boards against Colorado.
- The Cincinnati bench has progressed within and outside the box score the last couple of games, especially with Connor Hickman temporarily shut down to get healthy again. Arrinten Page knocked down his third and fourth treys in the past week, averaging 7.0 points and 5.0 rebounds over 12.5 mpg.
- CJ Fredrick has played 28 minutes the last two games, his most action since the first two of the year. The seventh-year former Iowa and Kentucky sharp-shooter played only 41 minutes in the Big 12 last season due to injury, but he has added an additional wrinkle to the offense and knocked down a triple at Colorado.
- Josh Reed, an unsung defensive ace off the bench, had 3 steals and 3 rebounds in 13 minutes on Wednesday.
SERIES HISTORY
- Arizona State leads 2-1, with the last meeting coming in 1997. D’Juan Baker’s 26 points were not enough for the Bearcats to defend its home court.
- Wes Miller, the former national champion at North Carolina, has won his last six games against Duke grads, which includes four over UCF’s Johnny Dawkins and two against Howard and Kenny Blakeney.
COURTESY UC SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS
