Friday night the Bearcats defeated Ohio State 80-62 in their charity scrimmage at Fifth Third Arena.

In a game in which, the Bearcats never trailed from start to finish, Wes Miller and the Bearcats dominated the Buckeyes in a full forty-minute effort as the Bearcats made an early statement to show to the Cincinnati faithful why they were ranked #20 in the AP preseason poll.

However, it is worth noting Ohio State was without former five-star center Aaron Bradshaw due to injury.

"Tonight, was about raising awareness for mental health. It is a real thing," said head coach Wes Miller. "We were at a function this morning at Princeton High School, both Jake Diebler and Ohio State, along with me and our team. It was great to see four high major programs in the State of Ohio all come together and be a part of this thing and benefit Jay's Light, which is the charity associated with the Grant's. That is what tonight was all about."

"This game was about mental health, like Coach Wes said. It is something that isn’t talked about a lot but something that is very important." Said Dillon Mitchell." Notes him, Dan Skillings, Cj Fredrick and Day-Day Thomas had a Ted talk last night where they were interviewed and opened a discussion about mental health and why it is so important.

“Especially for us athletes, there’s a lot of kids that look up to us. A lot of people think, it’s ok to hold things in, but reality, it is ok to talk about mental health. It’s ok to not be ok, which was the phrase used four used. That was something we wanted to preach. This game tonight was about spreading the awareness of mental health. We wanted to let people know that there is always help and resources out there and is something we want to offer and approach.”

Final Stats

The Bearcats were led by Dillon Mitchell, who led the Bearcats with 12 points and seven rebounds on a perfect six-for-six shooting. The Texas transfer made an immediate impact on both ends of the floor from start to finish. It all started when Mitchell had a huge block on the defensive end then turned around and finished a thunderous slam on the other hand on the assists from Dan Skillings Jr.

Cincinnati finished the game slashing 54%/38%/100%, while the Buckeyes struggled to get anything going on offense. The Buckeyes finished the night with shooting splits consisting of 36%/33%/75%.

Cincinnati fans have a lot to be excited about between the likes of Mitchell and Aziz Bandaogo at the four and five position to say the least. The two combined for 12 of Cincinnati's 29 rebounds, while Arrinten Page and Dan Skillings combined for another 10 rebounds. It was clear that teams would have a hard time getting to the rack on this defense and it showed tonight.

Cincinnati outrebounded the Buckeyes 29-15 on the night, and it was certain that Wes Miller has instilled an identity for this team, to simply be an elite rebounding team. For those who remember, the Bearcats finished the 2023-2024 season top-10 in the country in terms of rebounding. Now, its for certain Cincinnati is looking to make sure that happens again here in the 2024-2025 season.

Junior wing player Simas Lukosius finished with 12 points on the night and continued to be a viable scoring option for the Bearcats, after a scorching hot end to the season, where the Lithuanian shot nearly 45% from behind the arch.

Day-Day Thomas came off the bench and contributed 11 points and a game high six assists. Thomas really sparked some energy there in the second half on the defensive end which was a great sight to see. Now, despite the six assists Thomas did commit four turnovers, which isn't something you like to see essentially, despite the game being a blowout.

The Bearcats had an electric showing on Friday night as they proved to shoe why they were ranked nationally in this week's AP preseason Poll.

Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler shared his thoughts on the Bearcats following the exhibition game on Friday.

"When I thought this was a good idea, make no mistake I wanted us to get exposed in a couple areas. It's no secret that Cincinnati is a very good offense rebounding team. We needed to go into an environment like this and see a team like this to be prepared for non-conference play. Cincinnati is a really good team, and they are going to have a very good season."

My takeaways

Cincinnati is going to be very efficient with the Bandaogo and Mitchell playing alongside one another. The length and rebounding ability between the two are off the charts. If both Bandaogo and Mitchell are able to play at a similar level like they did tonight, for the whole season, there's no reason that neither of them should be left off an all-Big 12 conference team.

I also thought Arrinten Page stepped in and played significant minutes as well off the bench. The Southern California transfer finished with six points and five rebounds over 16 minutes of action. Now, what stood out to me the most about Page, was his effort and ability to get up and run the court and be another viable option in the front court.

Wes Miller did note that they are still working on getting him up to speed especially when January comes around just in time for big 12 conference play.

Live and Die by the Three ball.

Wes Miller and the Bearcats made it clear they wanted to shoot the three-ball last season, however, struggled at times due to injuries and inconstancy throughout the season. Now for the Bearcats, they shot nearly 40% from behind the arch tonight and saw three players each knock down two or more made threes in Lukosius, Jizzle James and Josh Reed.

If Cincinnati is able to consistently shoot the three balls at around that 40% clip all season, this team is capable of making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament with all the other surrounding pieces. Cincinnati has so many scoring options and it could be plethora of guys that make you pay this season, and if you're Wes Miller, you're pretty happy about the talent you have here heading into the 2024-2025 season.

Worth noting that CJ Fredrick didn't play in the second half of this contest, which Miller told reporters following the game, that he wasnted to see more looks at Rayvon Griffith, Tyler Betsey and CJ Anthony, and the two had a conversation at halftime to be on the same page. Miller made it clear to say, that Fredrick is expected to see significant more minutes in the teams next closed scrimmage next week.

Veteran presence and leadership showing early.

junior forward Dillion Mitchell gave a lot of praise to this team and preached how bought in this team is as a whole group collectively.

"The main thing with this group is we have fun together. I think that is what it is all about," Mitchell told reporters. "I think this is something this team really connects on. It is a big reason as to why I came to Cincinnati, with them bringing a lot of guys back. Then you add myself to that, I think the way we went out and competed I think that is the biggest thing. Coach can deal with mistakes and turnovers. However, it is the effort that counts."

"I know the goal I have that I want to accomplish with this team. That goal is a national championship. I want to get a ring and hang a banner here at Fifth Third Arena. It's also good to know that every player down the bench has that same goal. That motivates the whole team to stay together."

However, not only did Mitchell preach about how connected this team is, but he also gave high praise to point guards Day-Day Thomas and Jizzle James for being unselfish players and leaders amongst this team.

"It's fun playing with guys like Jizzle and Day-Day. Those guys are unselfish, they try to get everyone involved." said Mitchell. "They try to get the whole team involved. That is the type of point guard you want to have on your team. They rather have their guys get going, before they get their game going. They are both leaders and can really take coaching. Not only from coaches, but us veterans too. We can talk to them, and we know they will listen and help us."

Up Next
The Bearcats officially kick off the 2024-2025 season in just under two weeks when they welcome in Arkansas-Pine Bluff on November Fourth. Tip-off for that game is slated for 7pm and will be streamed on ESPN+.