No. 19 Cincinnati has been almost perfect during nonconference play, but the Bearcats’ offense remains a work in progress entering Sunday’s home game against Grambling State.
Both of Cincinnati’s last two wins have come despite the Bearcats charting their lowest field-goal percentages of the season. Cincinnati shot 37.9 percent overall in last Saturday’s 68-65 win over Xavier before hitting just 36.2 percent of its shots in Friday’s 66-59 victory over No. 22 Dayton.
The Bearcats (9-1) shot 51.7 percent in their first eight games, albeit against a relatively soft schedule aside from clashes against Villanova and Georgia Tech. Cincinnati has won three straight since falling at Villanova, 68-60, on Dec. 3.
Sunday is the final chance for the Bearcats to regain their shooting touch ahead of their Big 12 opener on Dec. 30, but coach Wes Miller thinks his squad is on the right track.
“We’re not humming on offense yet, but we’re coming. We’re getting there,” Miller said after the win over Dayton. “If these guys keep working and we can continue to grow our defense and we can get our offense to the level that we’re capable of playing consistently, I think we have a lot of better basketball to play.”
Cincinnati’s most efficient shooters are Dillon Mitchell (69.4 percent overall) and fellow forward Aziz Bandaogo (67.9 percent), though the duo combined for just 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting against the Flyers.
Simas Lukosius, the Bearcats’ leading scorer (15.7 points per game), slogged to a 13-point night Friday while going 4-of-17 from the field.
Cincinnati will poke at a below-average Grambling defense that allows opponents to shoot 44 percent overall, which ranks 227th out of 364 teams.
The Tigers (2-9) have lost four straight after dropping a pair at the HBCU Classic in Uncasville, Conn. They stumbled against Delaware State, 73-60, on Thursday and Norfolk State, 76-70, on Friday.
Grambling has not defeated a Division I team this season (0-9), but coach Donte Jackson’s squad has proven it can hang with a ranked opponent. The Tigers led by 12 points in the second half at then-No. 24 Ole Miss on Nov. 8 before losing 66-64.
That game was just one of the many challenging matchups Jackson scheduled to test his team during nonconference play. After facing the Rebels, Grambling played at then-No. 20 Florida and New Mexico — both of which made the NCAA Tournament last season — and Southern California.
The Tigers lost those three games by an average of 19 points, but Jackson believes Grambling’s early-season gauntlet will pay dividends later on, especially with the team favored to repeat as Southwestern Athletic Conference champions.
“I think it will strengthen the team,” Jackson told Fox 14 in Monroe, La., before the season. “It’s a tough schedule, you know, unfortunately we gotta play it. So we’ll be ready to compete at a high level no matter where we go and play.”
The Tigers’ offense this season has run through their backcourt — the team’s top four scorers are guards.
Antwan Burnett leads the way with 12.6 points per game, though he has just 11 over his past two outings and didn’t play Friday for an undisclosed reason.
Louis Hutchinson and forward Ernest Ross each led Grambling with 15 points off the bench against Norfolk State.
–Field Level Media
