Recap: Cincinnati 66 Dayton 59

Coming off an emotional 68-65 home win over Xavier six days ago, No. 19 Cincinnati took the court Friday night looking for a signature win over No. 22 Dayton in the Simple Truth Hoops Classic at Heritage Bank Center. 

 

(Photos: Taylor Keeton / RiverfronU )

Dayton defeated the Bearcats 82-68 last season, providing plenty of motivation and focus for Wes Miller's group heading into Friday night's ranked showdown between the two rivals.

With wins over the defending national champions, UConn, as well as No. 6 Marquette already on the Flyers' resume, Cincinnati was well aware of what they were walking into Friday night.

"The next opponent's one of the best teams in the country and has already proven it this year so we got our hands full this week preparing for a great basketball team," Miller told media Tuesday afternoon. 

Cincinnati had to overcome a late game field goal drought Friday night, but did just enough down the stretch at the free throw line to hold on for a 66-59 win to improve to 9-1. 

The Flyers finished the game making 39% of their field goal attempts, as well as 14-of-15 free throws but committed 17 turnovers, including 11 in the first half as UC jumped out to a 25-17 halftime lead.

Cincinnati scored 15 points off of the Dayton turnovers, including 11 during the first half, while also out-rebounding Anthony Grant's team, 38-32.

"Cincinnati is as physical as any team we've played until this point," Grant told media following the game. 

Dan Skillings scored 17 points, making all five free throw attempts, while also pulling down six rebounds to lead the Bearcats.

After missing all eleven field goal attempts in the win over Xavier, sophomore point guard Jizzle James made 5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-6 from deep to finish with 14 points in Friday night's victory. 

Simas Lukosius made just 4-of-17 from the field but knocked down timely three's during the second half, contributing 13 points in the win.

Cincinnati shot 36 % from the field and 28% from three.

After not attempting any free throws during the first half, UC made 16-of-21 free throws during the second half to prevent Dayton from inching any closer than four during a field goal drought that lasted the final 6:45 of the game. 

Neither team shot particularly well from deep, as both teams made 28% of their attempts. Cincinnati made 8-of-29 while Dayton made 5-of-18. 

"I'm proud of the win and our kids. We defended our tails off tonight, especially in the first half," Miller explained following the game. "We set a tone defensively, and our kids were completely focused and locked in on the scout, forcing deflections and turnovers. We hit the boards too. We had good some moments offensively early in the game with good shots and getting to the board."

 

Game Recap

Despite starting 1-for-7 from the field and 0-for-5 from three, Cincinnati used a 6-0 run over 2:25 to open up an 8-2 lead at 15:24 of the first half.

Dayton struggled from the field through the first nine minutes, missing all seven field goal attempts, as well as all three attempts from deep. 

Tyler Betsey's drained a corner three at the 10:55 mark  the UC lto give the Bearcats some mometum and extend their lead to 16-4.

The Bearcats were unable to take advantage of Dayton's offensive struggles, as they turned the ball over four times over the next 3:17 and were held without a field goal. 

Simas Lukosius' three with 6:06 remaining in the first half extended the UC lead to 21-8.

Over the next 2:34, UC would miss all four of their field goal attempts.

Leading 21-10, Aziz Bandaogo was called for a flagrant foul on Zeb Key.

The foul was costly because it would be the big man's second foul, but would also lead to a four-point possession as Key drained both free throws, followed by a Malachi Smith jumper to cut the UC lead to 21-14. 

Dayton would close the half making four of their final five shots, while the Bearcats missed 6-of-7.

After the first 20 minutes, UC led 25-17. 

Both teams got off to a hot start offensively to begin the second half. 

Following three's on consecutive possessions by Jizzle James and Enoch Cheeks, Cincinnati led 30-24.

Five straight points from Dan Skillings on a lay up and three-point play gave Cincinnati a 35-24 lead with 16:42 remaining in the game. 

Three's on back-to-back possessions by Simas Lukosius extended the UC lead to 41-27 at 14:41 in the second half.

 

Jizzle James ended Cincinnati's four minute, 57 second scoring drought with a three at the 10:10 mark to extend the UC lead to 48-31. 

 James connected on his fourth three of the game moments later, as the UC lead grew to 53-35 with 7:36 remaining.

While it looked like Cincinnati was going to cruise to an easy victory, Dayton wasn't ready to give in just yet.

Malachi Smith answered James' three with a three-point play of his own, kick-starting a 15-6 run to cut the Bearcats lead to 9, 59-50, with 3:29 remaining.

With UC leading 61-52, Smith converted two free throws then knocked down a three to cut the deficit to four with 2:01 showing on the clock,

Dayton had an opportunity to inch closer following a missed three-pointer by Simas Lukosius, but Nate Santos missed a shot at the rim at the other end, leading to two Aziz Bandaogo free throws with :56 seconds remaining. 

Day Day Thomas made 3-of-4 free throws over the final :29 seconds to put the game out of reach and end any hope of a Dayton comeback. Santos' dunk in transition with :09 seconds left would be the final score of the game, as Cincinnati walked off the Heritage Bank Center floor with their ninth win of the season. 

 

Key Stats and Notes:

- The game was won on how Cincinnati defended Malachi Smith (13 pts) as well as Nate Santos (13 pts). Both are shooting better than 44% from three this season, but were limited to a combined 3-of-9 showing. Smith had just three turnovers to 25 assists during the last three wins for Dayton. Smith tripled that number against Cincinnati, turning the ball over a season-high six times.

Dayton's leading scorer Enoch Cheeks was also limited to five points, fouling out with :16 seconds remaining. 

 

- Cincinnati made just 2-of-10 field goals over the final 7:36 and missed all seven attempts from the field over the final 6:45 but still found a way to win. Against a team that entered Friday night as one of the best teams nationally in offensive efficiency, the Bearcats once again won with defense. The Flyers were held under 60 points for the first time this season. 

"We're not humming on offense yet, but we're coming," said Miller. " We are starting to see some stretches where the offense starts to get better. If these guys will keep working and we can continue to grow our defense and we can get our offense to the level that we're capable of playing consistently, I think we have a lot of better basketball to play."

 - Winning the battle of the boards was key in this victory. Dillon Mitchell and Dan Skillings both pulled down five offensive rebounds as Cincinnati scored 18 second chance points off 17 offensive rebounds. 

 

- UC led for 37:55 and never trailed. Offensive droughts aside, this was a convincing win over a team that Wes Miller suggested is good enough to make it to the Sweet 16 or Elite 8.

"Two years now going through the prep and coaching against those guys," said Miller. "It was the most difficult prep I've had in a long time. They're very difficult for the coaches to prepare for. They're tough, they defend, they get underneath you, they run great stop. They're a great offensive team. They can shoot the lights out. I think they're going to have a great year if they're fortunate enough to stay healthy and that's a team right there that could play in the sweet 16 or Elite 8." 

 

- The Flyers finished the game with eight assists on 20 made baskets and 17 turnovers. On the flip side, Cincinnati had 11 assists on 21 made baskets, with 11 turnovers.

 

- Aziz Bandaogo has spent a lot of time throughout the off-season, as well as during water breaks during practice to improve his foul shooting. The 7'1" big man made all four of his free throw attempts tonight and was instrumental in Cincinnati closing out the Flyers down the stretch.

 

- Day Day Thomas was also a big part of Cincinnati winning this game. Thomas made 5-of-6 free throw attempts, finishing with seven points, three rebounds, and just one turnover.

 

- Miller mentioned during the post-game that Arrinten Page, Conner Hickman, and JJ Rembert were limited this week due to having the flu. Page was still able to contribute 2 points, while pulling down four rebounds in 14 minutes.

 

- This was the sixth ranked win for Wes Miller at Cincinnati, with three of those now coming on neutral floors (Illinois in Kansas City in 2021-22 and Kansas in KC for the Big 12 Tourney in 2023-24).

 

Final Thoughts

While Cincinnati will have many opportunities throughout conference play to build their tournament resume, this win end up being just as important as any win they collect in Big 12 play. 

Dayton entered Friday night owning wins over UConn and Marquette and nearly knocked off both Iowa State and North Carolina. 

This was a damn good team that Cincinnati defeated tonight and should be seen as such when March rolls. 

"That was a hell of a basketball team we played tonight," Miller told media following the game. 

 

Video: Miller, Skillings, James Recap win over Dayton 

(Video Credit: UC Athletics)