Three Man Weave: Cincinnati Basketball Topples Arizona State For Second-Straight Win

The Bearcats are starting to pick up some momentum in the Big 12.
Cincinnati Bearcats forward Dillon Mitchell (23) dunks over Arizona State Sun Devils forward Basheer Jihad (8) and Arizona State Sun Devils guard/forward Amier Ali (5) in the first half of the NCAA basketball game at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati on Saturday, January 18, 2025.
Cincinnati Bearcats forward Dillon Mitchell (23) dunks over Arizona State Sun Devils forward Basheer Jihad (8) and Arizona State Sun Devils guard/forward Amier Ali (5) in the first half of the NCAA basketball game at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati on Saturday, January 18, 2025. / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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CINCINNATI — UC basketball used some big first-half runs to power a 67-60 home win over Arizona State on Saturday afternoon. Cincinnati's backcourt came to play just enough on the offensive end to lead throughout the game and get UC back on track in conference play.

Dillon Mitchell (14 points, three rebounds) hammered home the win with a patented deep lob dunk in the final minutes. Defense and Rim Drives. That's the formula for UC in the Big 12 and they brewed it up well with 11 assists and a 25-2 fastbreak point advantage.

"I was pleased with our transition game," UC head coach Wes Miller said after the game. "I thought we used live ball stops to run and got some things going into the open court is something we have to continue to build on. We weren't as good there in the first eight minutes of the second half, but this is Big 12 basketball, and our guys dug in and found a way to play, found a way to win."

Cincinnati caused havoc all afternoon with 19 combined blocks and steals at home. They are now 2-2 all-time against the Sun Devils and 2-4 in conference play.

Lukošius Trending Up

Cincinnati's best offensive player had another strong outing on Saturday to keep breaking out of his cold streak. Simas Lukošius (10 points, four rebounds) was aggressive on offense and used his savvy defensive skills to create plenty of that.

He led the team with four steals and was a big reason UC got out in transition as much as it did. Causing chaos like that while staying disciplined hasn't been easy for the Cats', but they figured it out throughout the first half while stalling in the second. Lukošius did a nice job of trailing plays and hitting multiple threes, just like he did against Colorado.

It all amounted to a solid efficiency score (11). He maximized his minutes on Saturday by staying patient and turning defense into offense. UC needs more full-game impact from him though (0-4 shooting in the second half). Jizzle James (12 points, two assists) added a nice offensive performance as well. He finally started attacking the rim more in transition and it helped bust through his shooting slump a bit.

Cincinnati continued to shoot the ball poorly but found enough free throws (12-16) and offensive moments from its backcourt to prevail. CJ Fredrick (six points, one assist) was a part of that as well by hitting multiple threes for the first time since Dec. 22, 2023.

Dialed Gameplan

Mitchell was UC's top scorer, and he played a big role in limiting the top things ASU does well: Deep shooting and foul shooting.

"I think it's just comes with trust," Mitchell said about his diverse set of responsibilities each game. "Coach knows what I'm good at. He knows all my strengths, and he puts me in the best situations to be successful, not only for myself, but for the team. So I'll do whatever he needs me to do to help win games. That's what it's come down to, just doing whatever it is, if it's screening, if it's pick and roll, just doing whatever it is, make passes and stuff like that, just whatever he needs to be do to help the team win, and just being versatile as a player on both sides of the ball, I think that's just the biggest thing."

Cincinnati was highly disciplined on Saturday. They committed just 15 fouls and only allowed 13 free throw attempts to a team that averaged 21.4 per game coming into the contest.

Mitchell had his fair share of those fouls, but he and the rest of the players who closed out on shots did an overall great job. It was a big reason ASU scored 15.7 points below its season average. Things weren't much better on the outside for Bobby Hurley's team shooting the three ball. They hit 3-4 to start the second half but were stifled besides that (6-22 overall). UC rotated very soundly and played tight coverage with some great closeouts in recovering situations.

Cincinnati allowed more than its nation-best average of 4.8 per game, but it was still clearly enough to formulate a win.

Freeman Finds The Net

The Sun Devils didn't have star guard Joson Sanon available on Saturday due to injury, and it forced the whole backcourt into a more magnified role.

B.J. Freeman (12 points, six rebounds) took most of that spotlight in a decent shooting outing against arguably the best three-point defense in the country. The 6-6 guard shot over the top of good man-to-man coverage and kept some scoring pressure on Cincinnati all game. Unfortunately, he got hurt in the final 10 minutes, to put a bigger damper on ASU's afternoon, but returned after a short absence.

Cincinnati had trouble with one other Sun Devil besides Freeman. Freshman standout Jayden Quaintance (15 points, 14 rebounds) made an impact. He pressured the rim all game, as a big reason why ASU won the rebounding battle (42-33).The youngest player in college basketball looked anything but that on Saturday. Still, Cincinnati held him at bay to get the victory.

UC will be a tournament team if it keeps rolling out defensive outings like this and pairing them with consistent attacks in transition. Next up is a home matchup against Texas Tech on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.

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Russ Heltman
RUSS HELTMAN

Russ Heltman is a contributor for AllBearcats and AllBengals. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH. Russ can be found on Twitter: @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.