Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Rattles Off Dominant Win Over Morehead State to Cap Opening Week

The Bearcats moved to 9-1 all time against MSU.

Cincinnati Bearcats forward Dillon Mitchell (23) dries against Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions guard Raphael Dumont (13) in the first 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 led 55-32 at halftime. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats moved to 2-0 on the season with a wire-to-wire 83-56 win over Morehead State. UC was missing Dan Skillings Jr. and Day Day Thomas due to injury but it didn't matter thanks to the program's great depth.

Cincinnati spread the scoring around, led by a group of playmakers as they locked in on the defensive end to silence one of the worst projected offenses in the country entering this season.

UC now gets a week off before facing Nicholls State next Friday.

Destructive Defense

UC was on a string all night defensively, showing why they are the 14th-best team in the country by defensive efficiency. Whether at the rim or on the perimeter, the Bearcats' communication was fantastic.

Aziz Bandaogo (12 points, five rebounds) and Dillon Mitchell (14 points, nine rebounds, plus-37 in the game) led the way on that end with their length and agile lower frame causing huge trouble for a smaller MSU team. Cincinnati's top-20 size nationally stood out in a big way.

Cincinnati matched great ball handling on their end with active hands in passing lanes to force 10 turnovers from the Eagles. The defense led to about five shot clock violations across 40 minutes. Wes Miller's team ran through the defensive end and this looks like his best outfit yet on that front.

Arrinten Page (career-high 13 points) flashed more great things as a defender, slotting well across the paint and leading the team in defensive efficiency.

Simas Lukošius Locked In

The veteran sharpshooter was stellar once again on Friday night. He was a hyper-efficient 6-of-7 from the field for 14 points while leading the team with six assists to pick up more offensive load without Thomas and Skillings.

He and Jizzle James (14 points, two assists) were the best creators all night, operating as one-man offenses at respective points of the game.

The Lithuanian's probing and silky smooth shot have seemingly just gotten better since the ending of last season. Morehead State had no one who could decipher his command of Cincinnati's offense. It led to a scorching 177 offensive rating with him on the floor.

UC's top offensive creator role is ever-changing game to game, but Lukošius may get that baton the most this season after being the leading scorer in Game 1.

Flattened Finish

Cincinnati missed Skillings' energy and rebounding a bit on Friday night. It wasn't close to a big enough problem to prompt a losing scare throughout the game, but Morehead State matched the Bearcats on the glass (30 rebounds each) and beat its 19-point first half handily in the second frame (37 points).

The Eagles are much better than Arkansas-Pine Bluff and it showed throughout points of the second half. Big man Dieonte Miles (nine points, four rebounds) used his size well to keep things interesting in terms of the second-half scoreline, but MSU had already shot too poorly for it to matter much.

Like the free throws in Game 1, Friday brought about another big win with plenty of things to work on. Cincinnati's size led to rough shooting from the Eagles, but the box-outs could've been much cleaner. Miller knows that better than anyone and he'll have plenty of film to work with across a week to get the full rotation healthy heading into the back half of the month.

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