Recap: Cincinnati 67 Arizona State 60

It has been a roller coaster ride over the past three weeks for Cincinnati basketball players and coaches, as well as their fans.

After losing four consecutive games to open Big 12 play, there were questions and doubts from all different directions in regards to whether or not this team had what it took to be successful within the Big 12 as well as if they could live up to the hype of a preseason top 25 ranking.

(Photos; Taylor Keeton / RiverfrontU )

Wes Miller and his team have responded to those critics and continued to prove that they are going to dig in and do what is necessary to get back on track.

After going on the road and defeating Colorado on Wednesday, Cincinnati returned to Fifth Third Arena and improved to 2-4 in Big 12 play, defeating Arizona State 67-60.

"I’m certainly proud of my players. I thought they played with purpose tonight, offensively and defensively," Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller told media following the game.

"In the first half, I was pleased. I thought our defense was real and that we made it tough for them [ASU] to get quality looks. And then I was pleased with our transition game. I thought we used live ball stops to run and got some things. Going into the open court is something we have to continue to build on. We weren't as good there in the first eight minutes of the second half, but this is Big 12 basketball, and our guys dug in and found a way to play, found a way to win. We did that the other night in Colorado, after we put together quite a few good minutes, good rotations."

Dillon Mitchell led the Bearcats with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting while also pulling down three rebounds and providing a spark defensively with three steals.

Mitchell described how his role has continued to grow and how he has embraced what the Cincinnati coaching staff has asked of him. 

"I think it's just comes with trust. Coach knows what I'm good at. He knows all my strengths, and he puts me in the best situations to be successful, not only for myself, but for the team," Mitchell said. " I'll do whatever he needs me to do to help win games. That's what it's come down to, just doing whatever it is, if it's screening, if it's pick and roll, just doing whatever it is, make passes and stuff like that, just whatever he needs to be do to help the team win, and just being versatile as a player on both sides of the ball, I think that's just the biggest thing."

Mitchell's versatility was on full display down the stretch as UC made four of their final five field goal attempts to close the game out.

After being on the receiving end of a lob from CJ Fredrick for an alley oop dunk with the shot clock winding down, Mitchell read a pass from Jayden Quaintance near mid court perfectly and turned it in to a two-hand windmill dunk at the other end.

The dunk gave the Bearcats a 63-52 lead with 2:33 remaining.

Dan Skillings also reached double figures, scoring 12 points.

Skillings scored eight straight for UC during an eight-minute field goal drought, consistently getting to the line and then ending the drought with a steal and dunk in transition,

Simas Lukosius was the final Bearcat to reach double figures, scoring all ten of his points during the first half to help UC jump out to a 36-22 halftime lead. 

Cincinnati turned Arizona State over fourteen times, leading to 17 points.

The Bearcats also outscored ASU 25-2 in fast break points, finishing with 11 steals and eight blocks.

Arizona State came into Saturday with the third best three-point shooting percentage in the Big 12 (37%), but were held to a 6-of-22 showing as Cincinnati continually applied pressure on the perimeter.

The Devils also finished 35% from the field, making 22-of-62 field goal attempts.

With the win, UC improves to 12-5 and will now turn their attention to Texas Tech as they try to win a third consecutive game before a road trip to BYU and Utah.

Game Recap:

It was an ugly start by both teams offensively.

At 15:41 of the first half, Cincinnati trailed 4-2 and the two teams were a combined 2-of-15 from the field, including 1-of-9 from three. 

Simas Lukosius got UC on the board with a steal and layup in transition at 16:22 but ASU's Adam Miller responded at the other end with a three to give the visitors an early advantage. 

Dillon Mitchell converted a three-point play at 14:59, following a foul by ASU freshman Jayden Quaintance, to put UC on top, 5-4. 

The Bearcats were 3-of-13 from the field and trailed 9-7 at 11:56 following an Alston Mason three.

After taking an 11-7 lead, Arizona State missed their next seven field goal attempts and were held scoreless for 3 minutes, 33 seconds as the Bearcats took advantage and used a 7-0 run over 1:31 to give the home team a 15-11 advantage at 8:07.

Jizzle James scored on consecutive possessions and Simas Lukosius buried a three from the wing to end an 0-for-8 start from deep by the Bearcats. 

Freshman Tyler Betsey scored off a Day Day Thomas miss and Simas Lukosius got in the lane and finished at the rim on the next two UC possessions to extend the lead to 19-11 at 6:54. 

CJ Fredrick's three at 5:21 extended the UC run to 16-0 and gave the Bearcats a 24-11 advantage.

BJ Freeman ended Arizona State's stretch of 10 consecutive misses with a three at 4:58 to cut the Bearcats' lead to ten with 4:09 remaining in the first half. UC's 16-3 run over 5:31 coincided with a 1-for-12 stretch from the field by ASU. 

Tyler Betsey ended a 9-0 Arizona State run with a three at 2:10 to give UC a 27-20 lead.

UC would close the half on a 12-2 run over the final 2;10, making all five field goal attempts to build a 36-22 halftime lead.

Day Day Thomas capped the run off with a pull up jumped with five seconds remaining in the half to put an exclamation point on the UC run. 

Despite being out-rebounded 21-17 during the first half, UC outscored ASU 18-8 in the paint and 15-1 in fastbreak points.

Jizzle James scored six points during the first four minutes to open the second half to help extend the UC lead to 44-27 at 16:59.

Three pointers by Adam Miller and BJ Freeman keyed a 6-0 run over :41 seconds to cut the UC lead to 44-33 with 15:54 remaining in the game. 

Those three's by Miller and Freeman would be the beginning of a 15-2 ASU run over 4:31 as UC missed four consecutive shots from the field and went 3:23 without scoring. 

At 10:47, UC's lead was 46-42 after another three by Alston Mason.

Dan Skillings ended the Bearcats scoring drought with two free-throws but BJ Freeman answered with a tough basket in traffic on a put back to cut the lead back to four, 48-44, with 9:51 on the clock.

At 8:48, Cincinnati had missed eight straight field goal attempts, were 1 of last 11, and hadn't converted a field goal in 5:22. Still, UC led 49-44 after Skillings made 1-of-2 free throws. 

Skillings split a pair of free throws again at 7:36 to push the lead to 50-44 as Arizona State was 1 of their last 7 and hadn't scored since the 9:51 mark.

With 5:59 remaining, Skillings took a loose ball at half court and turned it in to a dunk in transition at the other end. CJ Fredrick buried his second three of the game on the next UC possession to extend the lead to 57-48 with 5:04 remaining in the game. 

The dunk by Skillings marked his eighth straight point for the Bearcats.

UC led 59-50 with 3:21 remaining, following an end of shot clock lob from Fredrick to Mitchell from the top of the key. 

Dillon Mitchell extended the UC lead to 63-52 at 2:33 after taking Jayden Quaintance's bad pass at midcourt the other way for a two-hand windmill dunk to reignite the Cincinnati fanbase and bring them to their feet.

Jayden Quaintance cut the UC lead to 65-58 with :39 seconds remaining after finishing through a foul. Quaintance missed the free throw following the shot, leading to a Mitchell rebound. Mitchell was tied up after securing the rebound resulting in possession going back to ASU.

BJ Freeman scored on a straight line drive to the basket to make it a five point game with 36.8 on the clock. 

Jizzle James' two free throws with :31 seconds remaining would be the final two points of the game as UC walked off the floor with a 67-60 win. 

Key Stats and Notes:

• Wes Miller has continually said this team needs to use their depth in order to be successful. Cincinnati outscored ASU 17-4 in bench points, led by CJ Fredrick and Day Day Thomas, who both scored six points. Fredrick made timely three's and also had a key assist on the lob to Mitchell late in the game. With Conner Hickman sidelined with a foot injury, Fredrick has provided a much needed spark off the bench.  Freshman Tyler Betsey scored five points off the bench, making his first three-pointer since December 22nd against Grambling.
• UC has done a better job taking care of the ball over the last two games, While 10 turnovers against Colorado was probably higher than Wes Miller wants, that number along with just seven turnovers against Arizona State are an improvement compared to the 13 turnovers the Bearcats were averaging during the four-game losing streak. 
• The Bearcats scored on 49% of their possessions, averaging 1.06 points per possession. The scoring and field goal droughts are frustrating, but the analytics say this offense isn't as bad as it may suggest during the game. UC made 4 of their last 5 field goal attempts and once again found a way to close the game out down the stretch.
• Three Sun Devils finished in double figures, led by freshman Jayden Quaintance with 15 points, 14 rebounds. Leading scorer BJ Freeman was held to 12 points, 6 rebounds, while Alston Mason scored 13 points. 
• UC was +16 with Simas Lukosius on the floor and +11 with Tyler Betsey on the floor. While some will simply focus on what Betsey does shooting the ball, you are starting to see him do the little things and make the same progress that we seen from Jizzle James last season.
• Aziz Bandaogo finished with just two points, but made an impact defensively and around the rim, pulling down nine rebounds and blocking three shots.

Final Thoughts:

Defensively, this team continues to show an elite ability to keep themselves in any game. Shots still aren't falling at the rate most would like, but they're finding ways to win games, which is all you can ask for with how competitive the Big 12 is.

Another big game looms on Tuesday night with Texas Tech coming to town. Continuing to take care of business in Fifth Third Arena will be the biggest key over the final 14 games of Big 12 play. 

Postgame video: