Recap: Cincinnati 68 Xavier 65

Saturday marked the 92nd edition of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. In a series that Xavier has dominated over the past 20 years, Cincinnati was trying to end a five-game losing streak to their crosstown rival.

 

(Photos: Taylor Keeton / RiverfrontU )

 

The No. 22 Bearcats entered the game as an eight-point favorite, but anyone who has watched how this series has unfolded over the years, knows that it rarely matters which team is favored.

 

Facing a seven-point deficit with 7:46 remaining in the game, Wes Miller called a timeout.

 

Over the final 7:46, Cincinnati outscored Xavier 22-12 to secure a gritty, hard-fought 68-65 victory in front of a sold out Fifth Third Arena crowd. 

 

 

"Man, that place tonight was just on fire. Fifth Third was electric," Miller told local media following the game.  "I loved how early people were here. It had our guys so ready to play, and it's what makes this place one of the most special places to coach and play college basketball. Keep doing it for us. Don't let it just be for the Crosstown that was awesome. I appreciate all our fans that came out tonight.

 

Playing in his first Crosstown Shootout, forward Dillon Mitchell contributed 11 points, 10 rebounds. Following the game, Mitchell told media that the rivalry between Cincinnati and Xavier lived up to the hype.

 

"This is my first year here, but I could easily say that was by far the most fun I've had in college basketball. By far that was 100% the best atmosphere I've ever been in, home or away. That was so much fun to play, and especially being new here. Everybody talks about the whole Xavier Cincinnati rivalry, but to be a part of it and then having all the fans out like that, it pushed us to a whole nother level. I think just as far as we knew shots weren't falling and we knew we were making mistakes. But digging through to the end, for the city, for us, for our brothers, that's what it was all about. Like I said before, that was the most fun I've had tonight. If we have Fifth Third like that every game, I don't see how anybody could really come in here and take a win from us."

 

Game Recap

After Xavier jumped out to a 13-10 lead following two Dante Maddox free throws, UC answered with a 15-3 run over the next five minutes to give the home team a 25-16 advantage with 7:07 remaining in the first half. 

 

 

Connor Hickman's three at 12:07 was the start of the run. Hickman would finish with six first half points to lead the Bearcats in scoring. 

 

 

Xavier answered the UC run with a run of their own, outscoring the Bearcats 10-1 over the next four minutes to tie the score at 26 with three minutes remaining in the first half. 

 

Two free throws by Day Day Thomas gave UC a 30-28 lead with 1:21 remaining. 

 

Following two Jizzle James misses during the final minute of the half, Zach Freemantle buried a three at the buzzer to give the Musketeers a 31-30 halftime advantage.

 

Freemantle led all scorers during the first half, finishing with 16 points.

 

Cincinnati was held without a field goal over the final 7:07, missing their final nine field goal attempts.

 

Those poor shooting numbers would highlight an 8-for-29 showing from the field during the first half by UC as X also won the rebounding battle, 22-17.

 

Dunks by Dillon Mitchell and Aziz Bandaogo to open the second half put UC on top 34-33.

 

 

Xavier responded with a 6-0 run over the next 1:11, forcing Wes Miller to call a timeout with 17:07 left in the game and his team trailing 39-34. 

 

After a four-minute scoring drought, Dillon Mitchell converted a three-point play and Conner Hickman buried a corner three to cut the Xavier lead to 41-40 at 13:48 in the second half. 

 

Simas Lukosius' jumper in the paint with 13:12 remaining knotted the score at 42.

 

 

Cincinnati had multiple opportunities to take a lead and re-gain momentum following missed shots by X but an offensive rebound and loose ball steal led to four quick points by Jerome Hunter to give the away team a 46-42 advantage with 11:22 remaining.

 

Despite four consecutive misses and four-minutes without a field goal, two Zach Freemantle free throws extended the X lead to 50-46 with 8:06 remaining. 

 

Ryan Conwell's corner 3-pointer extended the X lead to 53-46 on the next Musketeer possession following a Lukosius turnover. 

 

Trailing 55-53 with 4:03 on the clock, Aziz Bandaogo converted both free throws to tie the score at 55. Dan Skillings scored on the next possession to give the Bearcats a two-point lead with three minutes remaining. 

 

Simas Lukosius extended the UC lead to 59-56 on Cincinnati's next possession to up his total to 11 points in the second half with 2:41 remaining. 

 

Dillon Mitchell's steal on the next Xavier possession led to a Dan Skillings dunk in transition to give the Cats a 61-56 lead. 

 

 

After briefly extending their lead to seven with two Day Day Thomas free throws, Ryan Conwell buried a three to cut the UC lead to 63-59 with 1:47 remaining. 

 

Conwell's four-point play following a put back by Skillings off his own missed free throw would cut the UC lead to 66-65 with :16 seconds remaining. 

 

Up one, Jizzle James went to the free throw line and calmly sank both free throws to give the Bearcats a three-point lead.

 

 

Xavier had one final opportunity to send the game to overtime, but Zach Freemantle's three with :01 second remaining went off the back of the rim, as Cincinnati's fan base erupted at the sighting of ending a five-game losing streak to their crosstown rival. 

 

Final Stats/Notes:

 

- UC has struggled to finish in this game but made five of their final six field goal attempts to close the game out.

 

- Jizzle James finished the game missing all eleven field goal attempts but came up when his team needed him the most. The sophomore point guard finished with just two points, both on free throws.

 

" I have zero worries about Jizzle James. Zero. We see it every day and he is the most ever day guy and if you go from freshman year to this point as a sophomore, I've never had a kid that was more consistent with his work ethic and that much of an every day guy at this stage in his career than Jizzle James," Miller stated following the game. "He's been dominating our practices since the summer time. I got zero worries."

 

- Luksosius batted foul trouble during the first half, finishing with just three points and three free throws, but the senior leader stepped up when UC needed him most with eleven second half points. Lukosius' three with 5:56 remaining cut the X lead to 53-51 and was a key point in the game where UC needed an answer and momentum.

 

 

- Like Lukosius, Dan Skillings also struggled during the first half, scoring just three points on 1-of-5 shooting. The junior responded in the second half, scoring seven points on 3-of-5 shooting. Skillings scored all seven of his points during the final 3:22 of the game to help close out the Bearcat win. 

 

" It felt good to get back out there with my team but for the whole team, shots weren't falling. We were getting good looks and weren't hitting them," Skillings said following the game.  "We just trusted in our process and what we do every day, and we just kept fighting. We won that game because we fought..... We won that game because we fought, we rebounded, and we played tough and kept believing in ourselves and stayed together the entire game."

 

-The Bearcats' depth showed tonight with six players scoring eight or more points. Leading that group was Aziz Bandaogo, who scored 12 points and pulled down five rebounds, while also making 4-of-6 of his free throws. The Bearcats are now 11-1 in games that he scores double figures. 

 

" AZ is the guy I should probably give a little more credit to," Miller explained. " He played 31 minutes tonight and that's the most minutes we've played him in a game this year. I thought he was pretty dang good.....like a lot of our guys, he's not playing his best basketball yet but it's coming. He can be one of the best shot blockers in college basketball."

 

 

- Connor Hickman made his Shootout debut and finished with nine points. Day Day Thomas converted 5-of-6 free throw attempts on his way to an eight point contribution. 

 

- Zach Freemantle had 16 points in the first half but was held to just two points on 0-for-4 shooting during the second half. Ryan Conwell (17 points) and Dailyn Swain (13 points) were the only other Musketeers to reach double-figures.

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

The Bearcats dug deep for that win. From the 7:08 mark of the first half to the 15:50 mark of the second half, UC missed 15-of-17 field goal attempts. Still, they dug in defensively and kept battling at both ends of the floor. 

 

These are the types of games that make a coach proud after the game because he knows his team didn't play well, but did the little things that matter most to pull out a win when shots aren't falling. 

 

The Bearcats will get a week off and then go to battle with a Dayton team that knocked off sixth-ranked Marquette following the UC win over Xavier. Another big time opportunity next Friday night at Heritage Bank Center. 

 

Postgame video: Wes Miller, Dan Skillings, Dillon Mitchell followed by opposing comments from Sean Miller and Ryan Conwell