One of the nation’s most intense rivalries renews Saturday afternoon as No. 22 Cincinnati welcomes its crosstown rival Xavier.
The Musketeers (8-2) enter the game after posting their biggest margin of victory in school victory, a 61-point home blowout of Morgan State, 119-58, on Tuesday.
The Bearcats (7-1) have had an extra two days of rest, having last played on Sunday in an 84-67 home win over Howard. Cincinnati bounced back from its only loss of the season, a setback to Villanova on Dec. 3.
Cincinnati leads the all-time series, 51-40, but Xavier has dominated of late, winning the last five meetings, six of seven and nine of the last 11 matchups.
The two teams were built very differently coming into the season, with Cincinnati led by a group of returning starters, including sharp-shooter Simas Lukosius, star point guard Jizzle James and wing Dan Skillings Jr.
In the win over Howard, Skillings saw his first action for the Bearcats since Nov. 4 after a minor knee procedure. He played just 14 minutes, with two points, three rebounds and three assists. Skillings was Cincinnati’s leading scorer from a year ago at 12.9 points a game.
“You just feel different about our team with him out there,” Bearcats coach Wes Miller said. “Dan Skillings has the ability to make plays even in bad situations. We’re a much better team with Dan. We missed him dearly. Now it’s about getting him back in rhythm and getting his game back.”
Texas transfer Dillon Mitchell is new to the Xavier rivalry this season. Mitchell has added scoring and rebounding punch to the Cincinnati lineup, averaging 11.9 points. Lukosius is leading the Bearcats this season at 16.3 points a game.
James had a team-high 19 points in last season’s 84-79 loss at Xavier and is averaging 13.6 points and 5.1 assists per game this campaign.
Xavier rebuilt its roster with several transfers, including Ryan Conwell from Indiana State and Marcus Foster from Furman.
Zach Freemantle scored a season-best 27 points in the rout of Morgan State and is leading Xavier in scoring at 16.8 points a game while Conwell is scoring at a clip of 16.4 points per contest.
“It was definitely necessary,” Freemantle said. “You go back through our non-conference, there hasn’t been a game where we really put it to anybody. We won most of them but there hasn’t been that blowout or us dominating another team. It was a great sign for us moving forward.”
Foster added 18 for the Musketeers, who made 12 of their 18 attempts from beyond the arc.
“It was good to see Marcus Foster be so assertive,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said. “We’re a much more difficult team to defend and play against when he’s more assertive.”
The Crosstown Shootout is the first of a challenging three-game stretch for the Musketeers, who will play at No. 18 UConn next Wednesday before returning home to play No. 6 Marquette on Dec. 21.
Xavier announced that backup point guard Trey Green is on an indefinite leave of absence with the team due to a “heath-related” issue.
–Field Level Media
