No. 18 Cincinnati will face its first major test of the season on Saturday afternoon when it travels to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech.
The Bearcats are 4-0 — the third time they’ve done that in coach Wes Miller’s four seasons at the helm — and are coming off a 76-60 win over Northern Kentucky on Tuesday. Still, Cincinnati has played only one road game and has not faced an opponent with the Atlantic Coast Conference pedigree of Georgia Tech.
But the Yellow Jackets (2-2) have had their own issues, particularly on defense, and were beaten by rival Georgia 77-69 on Nov. 15 in their most recent game.
Cincinnati passed its first road test on Tuesday, and Miller liked what he saw.
“That was good for us,” he said. “I thought we got better and there were a lot of things we can learn from.”
The Bearcats got 18 points from Simas Lukosius against Northern Kentucky; he was 6-for-9 on 3-pointers and hit all five attempts in the second half. Lukosius leads the team with an average of 17.8 points and has made 69.6 percent of his 3-pointers, good for fourth in the NCAA.
“People have asked how he’s been playing and if I’m surprised,” Miller said. “I don’t put stock in a game or two, but I see him every day, and I’m not surprised because he continues to work on his game and gets better every day.”
The Bearcats are without Dan Skillings Jr., who had minor knee surgery Nov. 11 and could return to practice next week. He had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the opener, but his knee was swollen the next day and surgery was performed.
The Bearcats’ other top players are Jizzle James (averaging 14 points per game), Dillon Mitchell (12 points, team-leading 8 rebounds) and Arrinten Page (10.3 points).
Day Day Thomas played 14 minutes in his season debut Tuesday and contributed four assists and two points. Thomas broke his foot during the NIT in the spring and had not played since.
“Having Day Day back was such a lift for our team,” Miller said. “I thought he was really good at times defensively. He puts so much more pressure on the point with his ability to drive.”
Georgia Tech is coming off a loss to Georgia in which it set season lows for points (69), field-goal percentage (36.5), 3-point field goals (six) and assists (11), but a high for fouls committed (28). The Yellow Jackets have had trouble scoring, making just 37.2 percent from the field over the past two games.
Baye Ndongo leads the team in scoring (15.8 ppg) and is tied with Luke O’Brien for the lead in rebounding (8.0). Ndongo has scored in double digits every game.
Lance Terry averages 14 ppg. Doryan Onwuchekwa has started the past two games and totaled 20 rebounds, including 11 against Georgia.
“A lot of times I think we’re our own worst enemy,” Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire said. “I just don’t like our mental makeup. That’s probably the toughest thing about losing, to me. We’ll work on it and we’ll get better.”
–Field Level Media
