UC coach Wes Miller, Simas Lukosius, Dillon Mitchell on Georgia Tech
UC Bearcats basketball coach Wes Miller, Simas Lukosius, Dillon Mitchell on Georgia Tech win
ATLANTA – In their first visit to Georgia Tech since the Carter Administration, the Cincinnati Bearcats stung the Yellowjackets for the second consecutive season, 81-58 Saturday. Leading the No. 16 (USA Today)/No. 18 (AP) Bearcats was junior Dillon Mitchell with his first double-double of the season. The forward from Tampa finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
“This was a big road test for us,” Mitchell said. “First Power Five game and not only that it’s an away game. It’s hard to get wins like this but we need it under our belt to get ready for the Big 12.”
Mitchell’s game was accented by his first NCAA 3-pointer in the second half by the UC bench. Before nailing the shot in the corner in the second half, he had been 0-for-13 on threes. Head coach Wes Miller remains unfazed.
“I’m happy, he’s worked at it like crazy,” Miller said. “He’s making them in practice. It actually took longer than I thought. To me, when you do it in practice it carries over to games.”
Joining Mitchell in double figures, also with 14 points, were Connor Hickman and Jizzle James. Simas Lukošius added 12 in front of a crowd of 4,970 at McCarnish Pavilion. There was a noticeable amount of red and black scattered throughout the building.
UC goes to 5-0 with the win and Georgia Tech drops to 2-3.
Most complete game of early season?
Last season at Fifth Third Arena, UC won by 35 points, 89-54, over Damon Stoudamire’s Georgia Tech crew. This season it was a 23-point advantage and maybe their most complete game thus far against a Power Four opponent. The Bearcats shot 52% to Georgia Tech’s 36%.
“From a performance standpoint I think all of us can find something we didn’t do good enough and I’m sure Coach will find a lot of stuff we didn’t do good enough,” Lukošius said. “From a challenge standpoint, from how we had to prepare for this game, it’s a road win at an ACC school. It’s a big deal.”
Takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats win vs. Georgia Tech Yellowjackets
Rotation update
Head coach Wes Miller played nine guys in the first half. Day Day Thomas was briefly in to spell James. Josh Reed, who is from Atlanta, and freshman Tyler Betsey entered in the first five minutes. The Bearcats stuck with nine until late in the game when Rayvon Griffith entered along with Halvine Dzellat. Griffith scored causing the bench to erupt and Thomas added a late exclamation point with a dunk.
“I thought our depth was effective tonight,” Miller said. “Arrinten Page, an Atlanta native, got in foul trouble and fouled out in seven minutes. That put a little pressure on us. Our other guys stepped up. Dillon was able to slide down and play some small-ball five (center) and Aziz was able to hold the fort down. To have one of your key players be in foul trouble and not miss a beat, I like that.”
Miller was also impressed that even though Jizzle James was 0-for-5 from three-point range, he still had 14 points and the Bearcats still buried nine deep balls.
Jizzle James to Dillon Mitchell
It’s not quite Joe Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase but when James lofts the ball to Mitchell it tends to be thrown down with authority. It’s also a major momentum changer coming off a stop or a turnover. In the first half, Mitchell had three dunks in a row, with James on the assist. James would finish with seven assists on the day.
“That’s the type of point guard he is,” Mitchell said of James. “He gets everybody going before he gets going. That’s the way he’s always been since watching him in high school in EYBL and AAU. Jizzle’s always been like that.”
Were the boards any better?
Rebounding was an emphasis in practice this week after UC lost on the glass at NKU, 36-27 despite winning by 16. Though they led by 16 against the Yellowjackets at halftime, they trailed on the boards, 16-15.
Late in the second half, UC regained the lead in the carom department. At game’s end, UC outrebounded Georgia Tech 36-29.
“Our guys were trying harder on the boards tonight than I thought they were the last couple games,” Miller said. “It’s good to see a statistic improvement, but we still got a lot of work to do there.”
What about ‘3-mas Lukošius’?
The 6-foot-8 senior came into the game at a ridiculous 70% pace from the perimeter. He wasn’t as accurate Saturday afternoon finishing 4-of-11 from the field and 2-of-5 from trey range, but there were reinforcements behind him and it’s pretty unrealistic to keep a 70% from the clip from the field all season.
UC finished 9-for-22 from behind the arc with their depth from downtown.
“Dillon’s one of them now, which is surprising,” Lukošius said jabbing his teammate next to him at the press conference. “You’ve seen in the previous games, we have a lot of guys that are dangerous from the three-point range.”
Cold-blooded Betsey
Freshman Tyler Betsey continues to come in cold and make shots. He buried a pair of 3-pointers in the first half that helped the Bearcats distance themselves. While he often doesn’t look like a freshman, Miller still sees growing pains.
He pointed out his dribbling over half-court and traveling and a missed box-out. On the other hand, there were positives.
“He’s really defending better than any freshman I’ve had at this stage,” Miller said. “He does things like a freshman but his maturity and his work ethic and his understanding how to play is not like most freshmen I’ve been around.”
Keeping Baye (Ndongo) at bay
The 6-foot-9 sophomore from Senegal came into the game averaging 15.8 points per game for the Yellowjackets. In the first half, UC held him to three points and he had three fouls. Ndongo finished with five points and six rebounds. Naithan George led the Yellowjackets with 13 points.
One more before Thanksgiving
UC returns home Wednesday night to take on Alabama State at 7 p.m. before the Thanksgiving holiday. The Hornets are playing three games this weekend in the Akron Classic against Omaha, Lamar and the host Zips before coming to Cincinnati.
UC women’s basketball in the Atlantic Slam
In Canada, Coach Katrina Merriweather’s Cincinnati Bearcats beat Georgetown 59-57 Friday as Jillian Hayes had 28 points and 11 rebounds. They play again Sunday at 3 p.m. against Florida Gulf Coast.
