No. 20 Cincinnati will offer Morehead State a challenging road environment on Friday night.
The Bearcats (1-0) opened their season on Monday with a 109-54 home win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Even as his team rolled to a win behind 58.3 percent shooting from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and a 56-28 edge on points in the paint, Bearcats coach Wes Miller wants Cincinnati’s effort and intensity to remain high.
“I love coaching here because if you get a dunk the fans love it,” Miller said. “But if you dive on the floor with three or four guys, they go bananas.”
With 12 points and 10 assists, Jizzle James notched his first career double-double against Arkansas Pine-Bluff. Miller said he has ideal point-guard traits. James also stuffed the stat sheet with seven rebounds.
“Jizzle James is everything you want in a player,” Miller said. “His work ethic; he’s bought in and coachable. He’s as honest as he can be. He doesn’t know how to be dishonest. I said, âWe have to get other guys involved and stop settling.’ He said, âI know coach, I was just excited.'”
Simas Lukosius led six Cincinnati players who scored in double digits with 20 points. Dan Skillings Jr. had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
“Simas was getting downhill (on offense),” Miller said. “It’s his second year in the program and he’s so much more comfortable in our offense. You can see the improvement.”
Even though the Bearcats held a 48-25 rebounding edge, Miller wants more from Cincinnati when it comes to defensive rebounding. He said the Bearcats would use the time between games to “clean up communication and work on rebounding.”
“I didn’t like that Arkansas-Pine Bluff got (eight) offensive rebounds in our gym,” Miller said. “We’re more athletic, bigger and deeper and I expected us to be better on the backboards. I didn’t like some of our defensive communication. But I think our guys responded and put some things together.”
The Eagles (1-1) lost 93-45 to Louisville on Monday in Kentucky. They were outscored 41-14 in the first half. But Morehead State bounced back and won its 27th consecutive home opener on Wednesday with an 89-48 win over Boyce College.
Tyler Brelsford led the Eagles with 16 points, Kenny White Jr. had 15 and Kade Ruegsegger had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jalen Breazeale, with 10 points, was the fourth Morehead State player to score in double figures.
Morehead State improved to 63-0 against non-Division I opponents since 1992. Boyce is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association. It was the first win at Morehead State for new coach Jonathan Mattox, who wants the Eagles to do a better job of finishing in the paint and at the rim.
“The glaring thing for us was our finishes,” Mattox said. “We saw it Monday at Louisville, and credit to them for playing well. But I think we are going in soft. We have to go in with force and not finesse. We have to go in, off two feet, get into a dude’s chest and finish through contact.”