Dan Skillings Jr. scored a team-high 17 points while Jizzle James added 14 to lead No. 19 Cincinnati past No. 22 Dayton 66-59 on Friday night in downtown Cincinnati.
In his third game back from minor knee surgery, Skillings looked more comfortable assuming a scoring role for Cincinnati (9-1) while adding six rebounds and four steals. James rebounded nicely from an 0-for-11 shooting performance against Xavier last Saturday, finished 5-of-9 from the field, with three rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Simas Lukosius added 13 for Cincinnati despite 4-of-17 shooting from the field at Heritage Bank Center, three miles south of Cincinnati’s campus.
Nate Santos and Malachi Smith led Dayton (10-3) with 13 points apiece, while Zed Key and Posh Alexander each had 11. Cincinnati avenged its 82-68 loss to Dayton on the same court last December. The Bearcats lead the series 61-32.
Dayton, which had a five-game winning streak snapped, showed the effects of playing its third game in seven days. After rallying from 13 down to beat then-No. 6 Marquette last Saturday at home and escaping unranked UNLV by a point on Tuesday, Dayton couldn’t muster any momentum against its longtime rival 50 miles to the south.
The Flyers opened the game ice-cold from the field, missing their first 11 shots before Santos put back a missed Key layup with 8:45 remaining. Dayton’s only points in the first 11 minutes came via the free-throw line.
While Dayton missed all seven threes in the first half, Cincinnati missed twice as many, converting just 3-of-17 attempts from beyond the arc to allow Dayton to trail by just eight (25-17) at the half.
The Bearcats opened the lead up to 14 several times in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, then expanded their lead to 53-35 on a James three with 7:36 left.
Leading 55-38 with just under seven minutes to play, Cincinnati missed seven straight shots from the field to open the door for Dayton. Malachi Smith drained two free throws with 2:36 remaining to draw the Flyers within seven before Smith rattled home a 3-pointer off a loose-ball rebound.
With a chance to draw to within two, Santos missed a reverse layup with 1:22 remaining, allowing Cincinnati to put the game away.
–Field Level Media
