By Henry Rawn

2 22 2025

UC GAME NOTES

https://gobearcats.com/documents/2025/2/21/2024-25_Game_Notes_vs._TCU.pdf

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati men’s basketball team is back home for the start of a two-game homestand, first hosting TCU on Saturday at 12 p.m.

The Happy Hour and a Half tradition continues with doors opening at 10 a.m. (and specials served until 11:30 a.m.), but this time with a twist. In addition to $5 domestic beer and $3 popcorn, there will also be $5 mimosas (specifically at Fans First on the east side), while supplies last.

THE RUNDOWN

• Cincinnati trailed by nine in the first half Wednesday night, then led by six with 10 minutes left and ultimately  fell 62-59 at West Virginia on Wednesday.
• Dan Skillings Jr. was Reggie Miller at the end of the game with a pair of 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds, the latter off a failed WVU in-bounds pass. After WVU again lost the ball out of bounds with a couple of seconds left, Tyler Betsey’s game-tying deep attempt from the top of the key was just short.
• Skillings, who opened Big 12 play with a season-high 18 points in each of the first three Big 12 games, scored in double-figures for the first time since back-to-back wins over Colorado and Arizona State (Jan. 15-18). He has often said rebounding is what gets him in the right state to play well, and he had seven boards off the bench, his most in a league game this season. For the year, 36 of his 77 rebounds are on offense.
• Aziz Bandaogo’s 10 rebounds matched his season-high set previously in wins over Colorado and Utah, and his three blocks marked his sixth game this year with that many or more.
• Josh Reed, playing in his 88th game at UC, earned his first-career start Wednesday with Simas Lukosius dealing with a shoulder injury from Saturday at Iowa State. Reed scored four of UC’s first six points, the latter a steal and breakaway layup. Reed is also UC’s leader in plus/minus within Big 12 play.
• It was Cincinnati’s fourth different lineup of the year, leaving Bandaogo, Dillon Mitchell and Jizzle James as the three who have started all 26 games.
• As part of Lukosius’ absence, Day Day Thomas and Jizzle James combined for 35 shot attempts, far away their most combined in the same game in addition to being the most by any two Bearcats in a game this season. Both had 13 points against WVU, and James was coming off being the first Bearcat with three-straight 24-plus-point games since Deonta Vaughn in 2008.
• James is averaging 20.4 ppg on 54.2 FG% and 45.2 3FG% the last five games after 8.4/34.0/12.9 in the first half of Big 12 play.
• Cincinnati committed only six turnovers against West Virginia, ranking second in the Big 12 and 33rd nationally with 10.1 per game. The offense only relented two blocked shots and two steals, matching the BYU home win for its lowest-combined total in any Big 12 game of its two years in the league.
• Wes Miller is 19-4, and 6-0 at Cincinnati, in noon games for his career. It’s the first for UC since Nov. 12, 2023.

SERIES HISTORY

• TCU’s home venue, Schollmaier Arena, is named for Cincinnati grads Ed and Rae Schollmaier. Ed was a Queen City native as well, and the couple met at UC. Rae passed away in 2015, and Ed in 2021.
• Cincinnati is 6-1 against the Horned Frogs, with three coming as Conference USA foes and two in the Big 12.
• The first meeting last year saw TCU make nine of its first 10 shot attempts and lead by 11. Cincinnati countered fine to eventually lead early in the second half, though it fell back down nine and eventually 64-58 with five minutes left. It took clutch shots but three combined missed free-throws over the final three seconds to send the game to overtime.
• Day Day Thomas’ then-career-high 20 points led the Bearcats’ scoring attack.
• The second matchup, in Fort Worth, was all TCU. The Horned Frogs scored the game’s first eight points and remained hot at the start of the second half for a 75-57 decision. It was Cincinnati’s only double-digit loss of Big 12 play.
• The first meeting came in the first round of the 1959 NCAA Tournament, with Cincinnati prevailing, 77-73, to kick off its first of five-straight Final Fours. It was the Bearcats’ second of 46 all-time NCAA Tourney wins and included Oscar Robertson, who had 34 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
• TCU coach Jamie Dixon is 9-5 over his career against UC, which includes 8-4 while at Pitt. The last of those was a 44-43 Cincinnati win on Dec. 17, 2013 in the Madison Square Garden.
• Since leaving C-USA, TCU became members of the Mountain West and Big East (no competitions) before securing Big 12 status. Cincinnati went from the Big East to the AAC before joining last season.

COURTESY UC SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS