The Bearcats improved to 6-0 tonight after defeating Alabama State 77-59 at Fifth Third Arena.

The Bearcats were led by Simas Lukosius who finished with a team high 16 points despite shooting just 6-15 from the field.

Aziz Bandaogo (10 points, nine rebounds) and Dillon Mitchell (10 points, eight rebounds) anchored the Bearcats front court as the Bearcats dominated the glass 52-35. That was simply a huge difference maker was Cincinnati's ability to win the glass, which is something they haven't done in recent games.

Jizzle James had another electric performance finishing with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

"I'm not satisfied by my performance or our performance as a whole," James told reporters. " I still think there is plenty of room for improvement still. We could have played a lot better, but I am glad we grinded it out."

Wes Miller voiced his frustrations following the team's performance on Wednesday night, despite the team coming away with the victory.

"I have nothing positive to say about the game and our team tonight," Miller told reporters. "I am very disappointed in how we played. I feel bad for the people who paid to watch that. There is a standard that this team has met that standard pretty dang consistently. We did not meet that standard tonight and that makes me pretty disappointed."

The Rundown

Cincinnati jumped out to an early 10-2 lead over the Jackets after Jizzle James connected with a high flying Aziz Bandaogo for the easy slam. However, the Jackets responded nicely with five unanswered to cut the lead to three. Simas Lukosius then extended the Bearcats lead back to six after knocking down his second triple of the night.

The Bearcats took an early 23-15 lead over the Jackets with 11:29 left in the first half after Arrinten Page completed the and-1 opportunity to extend the Bearcats lead. Alabama State was able to close the gap and get within four before Day-Day Thomas ended a near three minute scoring draught with a huge triple from the top of the key.

The Bearcats offense would then start to wake up after a defensive stop turned into a Dillon Mitchell slam in transition. Cincinnati followed it up with a huge offensive rebound from Bandaogo who found James for the three to give the Bearcats a 31-21 lead with just over eight minutes to play in the first half.

That would wake the Bearcats offense up as Dillon Mitchell went on to score eight straight for the Bearcats to extend the Bearcats lead to 14. However, the Jackets offense went ice cold during that run as Wes Miller and the Bearcats up the pressure, causing a lot of problems for the jackets heading into the final stretch of the first half.

The Bearcats took a 46-33 lead into the half despite a late turnover by Day-Day Thomas resulting in a Jacket layup before the buzzer. Safe to say, the Bearcats were doing what they are known for, in rebounding as they outrebounded the Jackets 28-18 over the first twenty minutes. However, Cincinnati had no answer for Amarr Knoxx, who led all scorers with 17 points during the first half.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati was led by Mitchell (10 points), and Lukosius (8), while James and Thomas each contributed six points of their own. However, Cincinnati had no answer for Knoxx and looked to get sloppy at times, especially over the final minutes of the first half. Wes Miller and the Bearcats went into the locker room with a 13 point lead, but it was clear to see the veteran head coach was not pleased with how the first half ended to say the least.

Cincinnati controlled a 48-35 lead with 16:00 minutes remaining after both offenses came out completely flat to start the second half. Alabama started the half 0 for their first 10, while Cincinnati shot just 3 for 8 as the Bearcats offense started to find their rhythm after the media break.

The Bearcats quickly extended their lead to 22 with 11:49 remaining in the second half. Alabama State simply could not buy a basket it seemed as they were in full on desperation mode after being held without a field goal over the first eight minutes of the second half before Knoxx put the Jackets on the board on the fast break.

The Jackets were simply outmatched in this one as Cincinnati continued to dominate paint especially in the second half. Lukosius found a high flying Bandaogo on consecutive possessions in the high pick and roll to go up top over the Jackets defense for slams, forcing an Alabama State timeout trailing 69-44 with just over six minutes to go.

The Bearcats held on to defeat the Jackets 77-59 despite a 9-0 scoring run over the final minutes of this one. However, the Bearcats size and physicality was just too much to handle for the Jackets tonight, especially in the second half.

Up Next

The Bearcats travel to Philadelphia on Tuesday to take on Big East foe Villanova in the Big 12/Big East Challange.