Simas Lukosius GOES OFF in 2nd Half, Cincinnati Basketball Avoids Upset at NKU | Chatterbox Bearcats

Simas Lukosius GOES OFF in 2nd Half, Cincinnati Basketball Avoids Upset at NKU | Chatterbox Bearcats

Reaction to the Cincinnati Bearcats at Northern Kentucky Norse NCAA college basketball. Be sure to subscribe to Chatterbox Bearcats wherever you get your audio podcasts.

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CINCINNATI — The No. 18 Cincinnati men’s basketball team will make a short trip across the river Tuesday evening for its first road test of the season at Northern Kentucky. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

THE RUNDOWN
Cincinnati is 3-0 for the fourth time in as many years under Wes Miller, with last year’s 7-0 start being the best of those.
Cincinnati’s 14 blocks marked its most since a school-record 18 against Marquette in January 2006. Arrinten Page had a career-high five off the bench to go with 11 points, while Aziz Bandaogo swatted four. He is averaging 3.7 per game to rank third nationally.
Simas Lukosius has started 10-for-14 from deep, with his 71.4 percent clip tying for third in Division I. He leads UC with 17.7 ppg and 75.0 percent from the field to go with a 16:2 A/TO ratio (13th nationally).
Cincinnati boasts a +39.7 scoring margin this year, which includes a 43.3 to 25.5 difference in three-point percentage. The Bearcats last year averaged 85.2 ppg over their first five home contests before winning at Howard in overtime in their road debut. UC is in the top-10 for eight NCAA stat categories so far.
Page is averaging 11.0 ppg to start his UC career, which included a triple against Nicholls. He was 5-for-16 from deep for USC as a freshman. His nimble moves down low and smooth stroke at the foul line have him at 50 percent from the field and 73.7 percent at the foul line.
Cincinnati is one day closer to the hopeful return of senior point guard Day Day Thomas, who is day-to-day at this point with his October foot injury, built off a broken foot in the NIT opener. He led the team with 116 assists and 61 steals while averaging 10.4 ppg.
Cincinnati will be without Dan Skillings Jr. for the third-straight game. The leading scorer (12.9 ppg) and second-leading rebounder (6.4) in 2023-24, he put together 17 and 11 in the opener against UAPB. The Bearcats will look to offset his length absence after Morehead State was even on the boards and Nicholls grabbed 17 on the offensive glass, the first thing Wes Miller addressed in his opening statement Friday night. UC finished 16th nationally, and first in the Big 12, with a 7.2 rebounding margin last year.
Dillon Mitchell has been as advertised so far, leading UC on the glass (8.7 rpg) and scoring in double-figures each of the first three contests. Cincinnati is +78 its last two games when he’s been on the floor.
Jizzle James has also upped his scoring from 12 to 14 and 19 points to start, shooting 4-of-9 from deep after saying that would be an emphasis his sophomore year. He had a 10-assist double-double in the opener.
SERIES HISTORY
This is the 11th all-time meeting between the teams.
NKU was UC’s home base for the 2017-18 season, where its eventual No. 5 ranking became its highest since 2000.
UC went 15-1 in what was then BB&T Arena, drawing 8,911 for its Senior Day against Tulsa.
The 2018 meeting in the newly-renovated Fifth Third Arena marked the first campus matchup in the series.
Cincinnati defeated the Norse, 90-66, in last year’s meeting exactly one year ago behind Dan Skillings’ and Day Day Thomas’ career-highs of 25 and 20 points, respectively, while holding NKU to 4-of-20 three-point shooting.
NKU got the best of UC in Truist Arena in 2022. Cincinnati’s second-half shooting struggles were the final blow after holding a 40-36 halftime lead, falling 64-51.