Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Storylines: Morehead State Eagles

The Bearcats are trying to go 9-1 all-time against MSU.

Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jizzle James (2) guards Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions guard Caleb Jones (55) in the second half of the NCAA mens basketball game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions at Fifth Third Arena on the University of Cincinnati campus on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. The Bearcats won 109-54. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats roll into another game at home on Friday with Morehead State coming to town for its third contest in five days.

Cincinnati is 8-1 all-time against the Eagles and shouldn't have much trouble here with a massive talent and rest advantage. MSU is ranked 283rd on Kenpom.com as of Nov. 6, while UC is 15th and slotted that high for the first time this decade.

The Eagles got throttled by Louisville 93-45 on Monday night and play a non-D1 game against Boyce on Wednesday. Cincinnati has a 97.3% chance to win on ESPN's Matchup Predictor.

"The first thing I will say is enjoy the win. A lot goes into this and we're hard on these guys," UC head coach Wes Miller said after Monday's win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. "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. But 2-for-16 from three for them. I thought that was really good."

Offensive Storyline: Jizzle Dimes

Jizzle James practiced what he preached leading into the season. The sophomore guard noted he wanted to be a complete point guard and make the right reads more often this year. That mentality resulted in a career-high 10 assists and 12 points against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

His ball pinging was infectious and will be a huge catalyst toward maximizing the offensive strengths of Miller's deepest roster yet.

"The most important thing than the total points scored is the assisted baskets," Miller said about Monday's offensive performance. "I haven't studied the stat sheet yet, but we had 27 assists. 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."

James looks like Cincinnati's top playmaker as a sophomore and he should continue growing this month before some tough opponents start showing up. Add in a smoother-looking shot from outside, and James may end up one of the Big 12's best guards by season end.

Defensive Storyline: Page Power

UC shouldn't have much trouble with Morehead State, given the massive advantages playing their way, but I am intrigued to see how Arrinten Page keeps progressing in his second UC game. Monday marked the sophomore's ninth college game playing 13-plus minutes, posting nine points and two rebounds on 50% shooting.

MSU has a decent wing scorer in 6-7 Kenny White and 6-10 center Dieonte Miles to bang with Page and Aziz Bandaogo. It should be another good chance for Page to keep flashing his footwork on both ends but especially defensively. 

Miller is excited about how he's developed in just the past few months.

"You want to talk about AP? I'll have some fun," Miller said on Monday. "I think he could be so special. I'm so excited about him, and I thought tonight, if you're watching, you got to see why I'm excited. He can really move. He's got great hands, he's got great touch and feel. He's smart as a whip, and he plays hard, like he can play with the motor. I don't know if we would have said that in the summertime. 

"The deal with him now is, can we do it consistently? But I'll say this, he is so much better than he was two weeks ago, and he was so much better two weeks ago, than he was four weeks ago. And he just keeps getting better and better and better and better. And if that trend continues, because he's been working his butt off. Boy, he's going to be really good and really important to this team but I'm really excited about it."

We'll see how that excitement grows across UC's second game this season at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Prediction: 98-62 Bearcats 

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