Recap: Cincinnati 85 Xavier 75

Cincinnati has struggled to close games out at points during this season. Their inability to do so heavily contributed to their 2-8 start in Big 12 conference play. 

 

The Bearcats dug deep over the final four minutes Tuesday night to defeat Utah, 85-75, outscoring the Utes 13-3 over the final 3:24.

( Photos: Taylor Keeton / RiverfrontU )

 

 

"Our guys made plays down the stretch when it mattered and that is the part that sticks out to me the most," Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller said following the game. 

 

"We needed to make some plays to win a game. It's a tie game at the under-4 media (timeout) and I thought we made plays to win it....I was really pleased with the kids' fight and their toughness to go win a league game in the last four minutes."

 

The Bearcats saw four different players score in double figures, finishing the game shooting 49% as a team from the field while making 11-of-22 3-point attempts. 

 

Jizzle James scored a team-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, making 2-of-5 3-point attempts, while also dishing out six assists.

 

 

"He's a really talented guy. We recruited him some out of high school," Utah head coach Craig Smith explained when discussing James' performance. " He's a dynamic player. He's a strong guy. Got good size. Obviously very athletic.....He's good. He's really good and we didn't have a lot of answers for him, obviously. It started right from the jump."

 

After being held to six points in UC's blowout loss to BYU two weeks ago, James responded by scoring 18 at Utah three days later. The sophomore point guard followed that up with 0 points in a loss to West Virginia.

 

Since the West Virginia game, James is averaging 21 ppg during UC's three-game win streak.

 

"He's starting to find the rhythm that we know he can play with," said Miller.

 

"Just knowing when to be aggressive and when not to be. Knowing when I got my shot or to create for others. Just been making sacrifices and it's paying off," James explained when detailing his recent consistency. "I'm glad that we got this win streak but we're not going to get too content on it."

 

Other Bearcats to finish in double figures included Josh Reed with 13 points, Simas Lukosius with 11 points, and Aziz Bandaogo, who scored 10 points while also pulling down 10 rebounds.

 

 

Bandaogo was a major reason for UC winning the rebounding battle, 41-29, after being out-rebounded by 18 in the loss at Utah. 

 

"He's playing with a different pop. He's converting around the basket," said Miller. " I thought some of those catches in traffic and conversions the last couple games has been a differentiator and seeing the double-double and him getting on the boards, he finally making his presence felt on the offensive and defensive board a little more."

 

The highlight and story of the game, however, was the contributions of Josh Reed once again off the bench.

 

Reed made his first three attempts from deep then scored four points during a 7-0 run to help turn a 72-72 tie with 3:33 remaining to a 79-72 lead following two free throws with 1:58 on the clock. 

 

 

"As I told you guys, he played the best game of his career in here this past weekend and we knew that wouldn't stand," Miller said. "He's not doing anything that surprises his teammates or his coaches but I thought he played another terrific game tonight and gave us a huge lift."

 

Dan Skillings was also a key contributor, scoring 9 points while securing six rebounds, including four on the offense end. 

 

Utah was led by former Bearcat, Gabe Madsen, who finished with a game-high 28 points on 8-of-22 shooting from three. Madsen scored 12 straight for Utah but missed his final seven shots after making his final 3-pointer with 9:00 remaining. 

 

Lawson Lovering was the only other Utah player to reach double figures, scoring 12 of his 14 points in the first half. 

 

With the win, Cincinnati improves to 15-9 (5-8 Big 12) while Utah drops to 13-11 (5-8 Big 12).

 

Game Recap:

First Half:

15:59- Bearcats open a 9-7 lead at the first media timeout following seven points from Jizzle James on a perfect 3-of-3 from the field. Gabe Madsen got the Utes on the board with a three after James knocked down two mid-range jumpers.

 

13:21- Wes Miller calls a timeout after Utah cuts the UC lead to 14-11 with a wide open dunk. Cincinnati missed six straight shots following a three by Simas Lukosius that extended their lead to 14-7 at 15:13.

 

11:46- UC leads 14-13 but haven't scored in 3:27 and have missed eight consecutive field goal attempts. The Bearcats also turned the ball over three times during their scoring drought. 

 

7:46- Utah hasn't scored in 2:31 and Cincinnati leads 21-17 following a three by Tyler Betsey at 8:12. Bearcats are owning the boards with a 19-9 advantage and 10 offensive rebounds. 

 

 

5:21- Josh Reed knocks down three's on consecutive possessions to give UC a 27-21 lead after Utah briefly tied the score at 21. 

 

3:14- Reed answers a 5-0 Utah run by draining his third 3-pointer of the first half to extend the UC lead to 32-26. 

 

1:31- Tyler Betsey knocks down his second 3-pointer of the first half to answer three's on consecutive possessions by Gabe Madsen and Keanu Dawes. Simas Lukosius made two free throws on the next possession to extend the lead to 39-32 with under a minute remaining in the first half.

 

0:19- Dan Skillings knocks down a three from the top of the key with the shot clock winding down. Lawson Lovering gets an easy dunk with :05 seconds left to cut the UC lead to 42-36 at the half. Lovering led all scorers during the first half with 12 points.

 

Second half:

 

17:29- Wes Miller calls a timeout after an 11-2 run by Utah to open the second half to give the visitors a 47-44 advantage. Gabe Madsen made all three of his attempts from deep to key the Utes' run.

 

15:42- UC responds to the Utah run with a 7-2 run of their own, making three straight field goal attempts. Jizzle James scored five points during the UC run, including a three at 15:51 to put the Bearcats back in front. 

 

12:00- Jizzle James answers Gabe Madsen's fourth 3-pointer of the second half with an and-one at the other end to give UC a 60-57 lead. James makes the free throw out of the under-12 media timeout to extend the lead to 61-57.

 

11:09- Dan Skillings knocks down a three over Madsen to push the UC lead out to 7, 64-57, forcing a Utah timeout at the other end. 

 

 

8:13- Wes Miller is forced to call a timeout after Gabe Madsen knocks down his eighth 3-pointer of the game and Hunter Erickson follows that with another Utah three. The 6-0 Utah run came in a span of :47 seconds to cut UC's lead to 68-66. 

 

5:57- Dunk by Dillon Mitchell forces a Utah timeout. Day Day Thomas ended an 8-0 Utah run over 1:54 on the previous possession. UC leads 72-68

 

3:55- Cincinnati hasn't scored in 2:02 and the score is tied at 72 following a goaltend call on Aziz Bandaogo. 

 

2:09- Day Day Thomas knocks down a three with the shot clock winding down to give the Bearcats a five-point lead. Josh Reed's floater on the possession prior put UC back in front by two. Reed extended the UC lead to 7 with 1:59 remaining on two free throws. 

 

1:16- James throws a lob to Bandaogo for an oop dunk to extend the lead to nine, 81-72. The dunk extended the UC run to 9-0 over the previous 2:08. 

 

0:28- Mike Sharavjamts ends an almost four-minute scoring drought by Utah with a three to cut the UC lead to 83-75

 

0:26- Jizzle James two free throws are the final two points of the game.

 

 

Postgame video: Wes Miller, Jizzle James, Aziz Bandaogo

 

 

Postgame Video: Gabe Madsen, Craig Smith

 

 

Final Thoughts:

 

This team has finally established an alpha (Jizzle James) and others have fell into their roles nicely to compliment James. There is a noticeable difference in how UC starts games with Jizzle and Day Day playing together. The two put more pressure on the defense with their ability to create for themselves or others, creating more driving lanes to the basket. 

 

The group looks to be more in a rhythm offensively and there is a noticeable difference in their pace both on made baskets, as well as defensive rebounds. 

 

It's hard to determine if Josh Reed can maintain this level of play, but his improved play has also coincided with Dan Skillings looking more like himself on the glass. 

 

A difficult road test at Iowa State awaits Wes Miller's team on Saturday, but for right now, there is reason to be optimistic that their confidence is back and so are the Bearcats after scoring 80-plus points in three consecutive games.

 

"It's not just playing confidently, they're playing better together. They're sharing the ball better, they're executing better so they're getting higher quality shots," Miller explained when asked about his teams' confidence after scoring 80-plus points in three straight games. "These guys are really good players. They put the work in. They should play with confidence. It's been really nice to see that."