Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Wipes Out Georgia Tech 89-54

Cincinnati is 5-0 for the second time under Wes Miller.

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats made easy work of Georgia Tech 89-54 during Aziz Bandaogo's (eight points, nine rebounds, one block) debut.

What a show it was as UC highlighted some of the high heights this team could reach at full strength. Cincinnati scored 89-plus points for the second consecutive game and nailed 14 triples to power it.

Viktor Lakhin (15 points, six rebounds, 5-of-6 from three) did a lot of the damage there as did CJ Fredrick (11 points, two rebounds), who mixed into a new lineup with Bandaogo that could get a special tag this season.

Georgia Tech is a bad shooting team, but UC forced them into an abysmal PERCENT shooting night as the multiple two-big lineups started terrorizing opponents. It was UC's best performance this season against the top team they've faced early on.

Aziz Ascends

The Fifth Third Arena crowd went ballistic as Bandaogo made a quick impact on the game and showed how much he can raise a defensive and offensive floor when allowed to play.

The rangy center posted just one block but affected the rim all night and set as a reliable lob option instantly for Cincinnati's diverse setup of lead ballhandlers. Bandaogo was a force on the defensive end, tallying the best defensive rating on the team (55.9).

Whether it's deterring a hungry-for-contact GT lineup or clearing out that crew for rebounds, Bandaogo made an instant impact. It was especially useful against one of the better teams in the country at drawing fouls (20.3 per game) and grabbing boards (41.3 per game, 62nd nationally).

Bandaogo did commit one or two careless fouls, but those can get cleaned up in film study along with more game action as he gets into the flow of the season. The defensive impact was palpable as he instantly became UC's best paint defender.

Offensively, the rim runs lead the conversation, but I loved his patience as a post player and the screens were impactful, to say the least. It's not flashy but those brick walls in the half-court opened up a few looks in this balanced offense. He looked like every bit of the player I've seen in practice over the past few weeks.

Lakhin enjoyed slotting back into the stretch four role he prepared for all offseason

Triple Vik

If Cincinnati's big men reach their ceilings this season, it's hard to see how this team doesn't punch its first NCAA Tournament ticket under Wes Miller.

Lakhin showed how he can still keep leveling up despite moving from the five to the four most of the time with Bandaogo back. He nearly went perfect from outside against Georgia Tech, who was allowing opponents to shoot just 24.1% from deep this season (21st nationally).

The Yellow Jackets aren't super big but they do have rangy length at almost every position but it didn't matter compared to the size UC could roll out. Lakhin was mostly open on all six shots as he caught the team sleeping on dragging possessions or trailed into open looks in transition.

Lakhin was in full control in his prepared role this offseason and he seemed to crave that freedom to flash inside and outside throughout different lineups. The scariest looks to be Lakhin, Fredrick, Bandaogo, Skillings, and Jizzle James or Day Day Thomas.

Cincinnati rattled off a 30-2 run in the second half with that unit driving most of it.

Scratching The Surface?

Cincinnati just whooped the 137th-best team on KenPom. It's no crowning achievement, but it showed how good this team can be in just the first game with Bandaogo as Jamille Reynolds and his talents stay restricted.

Cincinnati shot the lights out against the 21st-ranked three-point defense in the country and it wasn't lucky. Open shot after open shot came from great rotations, veteran selflessness, and skill. This is the best team UC's played to open this season as they ease into a light non-conference schedule.

The real tests come against Dayton and Xavier outside Fifth Third Arena. Cincinnati entered Wednesday with a moderate luck rating on KenPom (142nd nationally), but that's not enough to discount a +19.8 scoring margin (21st nationally) before a win over Georgia Tech that will only raise them higher into the top 20.

Cincinnati is dominating teams worse than them. Can they scratch their way to those elusive Quad 1 and 2 wins that eluded recent seasons?

Early signs are positive.

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