Recap: Cincinnati 109 Arkansas Pine-Bluff 54

Heading into year four of the Wes Miller era, expectations are sky high for a team and program that has missed the NCAA Tournament in four consecutive seasons.

(Photos: Taylor Keeton/ RiverfrontU )

The Bearcats are ranked for the first time since the 2018-19 season, entering the season ranked 20th in the AP poll. It is the most talented roster that Wes Miller has had, returning six of his top eight scorers from last season's team who reached the quarterfinals of the NIT after just missing the NCAA Tournament.

The Bearcats started their season opener against Arkansas Pine-Bluff 2-for-8 from the field, but quickly settled in shortly after.

After UAPB took an 11-10 lead with 15:10 remaining in the first half, Cincinnati outscored the Golden Lions 45-21 over the final fifteen minutes and led 55-32 at the half.

The Bearcats ended the half on a 14-1 run over the final 3:40, with Jizzle James knocking down a three at the buzzer to give the Cats momentum.

James flirted with a triple-double, finishing the game with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists.

"That's what point guards do," Miller said following the game.  "He's everything you want in a player. Work ethic, bought in, coachable, and honest as can be. I thought he was terrific at point guard tonight, especially in the second half." 

Simas Lukosius scored the first two points of the game and finished with a game and team high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 from three.

"Simas is one of the better players on the team in action and off the bounce," said Miller.  "We've known that for a long time. He's improved and has become more of a complete player. He always had the ability but I think you can see the skill level's improved. So much more comfortable on offense compared to this time last year. I thought he was pretty good tonight with the ball in his hands. There's no doubt about that."

Lukosius was able to show an improved ability to get to the rim during the Bearcats' blowout victory, attributing open lanes to the rim to the type of roster around him. 

"I had some easy layups and was able to get to the free throw line. I'm hoping you'll see more of that."

During the off-season, Dan Skillings mentioned that he had opportunities to leave but wanted to stay at Cincinnati because of the belief he has in head coach Wes Miller as well as how good this team can be this season.

Skillings finished with 17 points and a team high 11 rebounds in game one.

Most coaches would be pleased with that performance....but Wes Miller is not most coaches.

Rather than praising Skillings, Miller took a different approach by discussing areas his junior leader can improve and how Skillings is just scratching the surface.

"I think the world of Daniel Skillings. Nobody is a bigger fan of Dan Skillings and what he's capable of doing on the basketball court than me and I want more. I'm still not happy," Miller said. " I'm hard on him because I think he can be great." 

The Bearcats as a team finished the game shooting 42-of-72 (58%) from the field and made 12-of-24 three-point attempts.

Two of the key additions this off-season on the perimeter were Bradley transfer Connor Hickman and Top 40 four-star freshman Tyler Betsey.

Hickman finished with 13 points, making 3-of-4 shots from three in his Bearcat debut, while Betsey made 2-of-3 from deep for six points in 14 minutes.

While it was just one game, Miller knows it's a matter of when, not if, Betsey has a breakout freshman performance.

"It's hard for freshmen in today's college basketball. I don't care who you are. He's good enough and he has the right intangibles to impact the Big 12 as a freshman and I thought he showed some of that tonight."

Cincinnati's length and athleticism showed throughout the game, out-rebounding UAPB 48-25. UC was able to turn 17 offensive rebounds into 26 second chance points. 

UAPB was forced into four turnovers and held without a basket over the final 3:37 of the game. Cincinnati's pressure forced 17 turnovers for the game, leading to 24 points at the other end for UC.

Wes Miller has discussed all off-season how Cincinnati's continuity and experience will be the two biggest factors in why they are successful this season, especially early in the year.

That continuity and experience of playing with one another was on full display for all 40 minutes as the Bearcats had 27 assists on 42 made baskets. For comparison, UAPB had seven assists on 20 made baskets.

"The most important thing than the total points scored is the assisted baskets. I haven't studied the stat sheet yet, but we had 27 assists." Miller said. " I think that's more important. If people make the right decision all year and play the right way, we'll have nights that different guys score it. You give guys a chance when all five on the floor play the right way. It wasn't perfect by any we got a lot of guys. We had a lot of work to do, but there was some good possession sharing the ball that we can build off of."

If there was one area to complain or show concern about, it was the Cats' free throw shooting. 

Dan Skillings and Rayvon Griffith were a combined 7-for-7 from the charity stripe, but the rest of the team was a combined 6-of-16. 

Griffith made his Bearcat debut after sitting out last season as a redshirt and tallied eight points in eight minutes. Griffith made his first appearance at the 10:29 mark of the second half and scored his first points as a Bearcat on a three from the wing with 8:50 remaining to give the Cats an 87-49 lead. 

While Miller wanted his players to enjoy the win after the game, he knows there is still a lot to work on after game one.

"The first thing I will say is enjoy the win. A lot goes into this and we're hard on these guys. I can be the devil sometimes to them, but I'm going to let them enjoy a win tonight because they got the first one under their belt. I'm proud of that and happy about that. I'm going to be positive on the first night. That's what I'm going to do, I'm going to be positive, but when it hits midnight, I'm going to go to being negative, because we have a lot to work on."

Other key stats and notes:

- Not much has been made of Aziz Bandaogo's return this off-season other than him being a returning starter. Bandaogo scored 11 points tonight and pulled down eight rebounds in 24 minutes. After dealing with NCAA transfer eligibility issues during the last off-season, Bandaogo was finally able to focus on strictly basketball this off-season and his presence will be a key factor this season.

- Dillon Mitchell made his official Bearcat debut after transferring from Texas during the off-season. The former projected lottery pick made his final four shots of the game, including a nice dunk off a behind the back pass from Simas Lukosius, and finished with 10 points while also pulling down eight rebounds. 

- USC transfer big man Arrinten Page also made his Bearcat debut and he was just shy of double figures, scoring nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field. Page also made 3-of-5 free throw attempts. 

Final Thoughts:

The Bearcats were favored by 32.5 points and did exactly what you would expect from a top 20 team against a team that is projected to finish 10th in the SWAC. Wes Miller played everyone on his roster and every player who checked in made an impact in some way. 

Up Next:

Friday 11/8 v Morehead State 7pm

Postgame Video: Miller, James, Lukosius (UC Athletics)