For the second year in a row, the Cincinnati Bearcats played in an arena in their own city where fans of the opposition outnumbered them. That is the simple truth.
The other truth is the 15,107 that took in the game at Heritage Bank Center sporting red and black left happy after the 19th-ranked Bearcats defeated No. 22 Dayton 66-59. That avenged last year’s 14-point loss to the Flyers and upped UC’s record in the series to 61-32.
The Bearcats had to withstand intense fullcourt pressure by the Flyers late who whittled the game down to single digits after UC had led by as many as 18. Malachi Smith’s 3-pointer after a long rebound pulled Dayton within four at 61-57, but the Bearcats were able to pull away on late free throws to up their record to 9-1. Dayton drops to 10-2.
UC went over six minutes late in the game without a field goal. They finished 16-for-21 on free throws.
Dan Skillings Jr. led UC with 17 points while Jizzle James had 14 and Simas Lukošius 13. Dayton did hold Lukošius to 4-of-17 shooting, 3-of-12 from the perimeter. UC outrebounded Dayton 38-32.
Leading the Flyers was Nate Santos and Malachi Smith with 13 points each. It was Dayton’s lowest-scoring output of the season, the previous being Tuesday night when they got by UNLV 66-65 at UD Arena.
The last time UC was ranked and playing a ranked opponent was when they defeated No. 11 Houston in the 2019 American Athletic Conference championship game in Memphis. Friday was the fifth matchup where the Bearcats and Flyers were both ranked with the other games coming in 1955, 1958, 2000 and 2003.
Takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats basketball vs. Dayton Flyers
Cincinnati Bearcats get quick start
Thanks to Dan Skillings Jr. scoring six of UC’s first eight points and the Flyers unable to buy a bucket for over five minutes, the Bearcats had advantages of 8-2 and 16-4 at the first two media timeouts. UC would lead by as many as 13 in the first half 21-8, but the Flyers got it into single digits thanks to a nearly four-minute drought by the Bearcats. UC led 25-17 at the break and was up for over 18 minutes of the opening half.
3-pointers off target for UC, UD
Dayton was off the mark for much of the first half, while UC was 0 for their first 10. Jizzle James broke the string, then shortly after it was Tyler Betsey giving the Bearcats a 16-4 lead on a bomb a little over nine minutes into the game. Simas Lukošius didn’t hit his first until the 6:06 mark of the opening half.
At halftime, UC was just 3-for-17 but Dayton had missed all seven of their perimeter shots. UC shot just 33% to start to Dayton’s 28%.
Dayton finally hit from deep in the second half, but neither team was consistent. UC finished 8-for-29 while Dayton was 5-for-18.
Comparing Heritage Bank Center crowd to Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout crowd
The Hoops Classic intends to divide the house. However, when both teams became ranked ticket sales went from a slant toward Dayton to more UC sales. From the media section, the Dayton powder blue appeared to be mixed with more red and a smattering of black. While the Flyer faithful were noisy before the game, UC’s early run brought the C-Paws back to life.
When Jizzle James buried a 3-pointer to make UC’s lead 18 under the 10-minute mark, it was the first time all night that the “Let’s go ‘Cats” cheer drowned out the “Let’s go Flyers!” cry.
Will Cincinnati Bearcats/Dayton Flyers games continue?
Friday was UC’s 93rd meeting against the Flyers, one more game than they’ve played with Xavier. Two other rivalries have been longer but haven’t been on the schedule of late. UC and Louisville have tangled 100 times while the Bearcats and Miami RedHawks have played 149 times.
Next on the menu?
UC has a quick turnaround as they return to Fifth Third Arena Sunday afternoon at 4 to face Grambling State in their final non-conference game of the season. After that, they’re off to Kansas State Dec. 30 to start the Big 12 slate.
Dayton is off until New Year’s Eve at 2 p.m. when the Flyers start their Atlantic 10 schedule by hosting La Salle at UD Arena.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Takeaways from Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Dayton at Heritage Bank Center
