Two ranked rivals coming off narrow victories will meet on Friday night when No. 19 Cincinnati faces No. 22 Dayton in downtown Cincinnati.
The Bearcats hold a 60-32 lead in a series that was renewed last season after being dormant since 2010. The Flyers earned an 82-68 victory in last year’s meeting at the Heritage Bank Center.
This year, the venue — located three miles south of Cincinnati’s campus — remains the same but the Bearcats (8-1) enter the contest with some momentum they didn’t enjoy last year.
Cincinnati defeated its crosstown rival Xavier, 68-65, Saturday in a thriller at its on-campus arena. Leading scorer Simas Lukosius (16.0 points per game) led the Bearcats with 14 against the Musketeers.
“We woke up on Sunday morning, we’ve turned the page, and that’s not to minimize what the Crosstown Shootout means in the community,” Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said. “I’m not trying to do that at all, but there’s no time to dwell.
“If you struggle, there’s no time to dwell. If you have success, there’s no time to celebrate. But especially not this year, because the next opponent is one of the best basketball teams in the country, and has already proven it this year. So we’ve got our hands full this week, preparing for a great basketball team and that’s been the mindset of our program since Sunday.”
After pulling off a 71-63 upset of then-No. 6 Marquette last Saturday at home, Dayton (10-2) survived a homecourt scare Tuesday night against unranked UNLV.
Malachi Smith scored five of his 11 points in the final 37 seconds to lift the Flyers, including a decisive three-point play to provide the winning margin.
“I’m just glad we got the W,” Smith said. “UNLV is a good team. They have not so good of a record, but they’re a good team.”
“Nothing about the game was easy,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said, “but I think the mark of a good team — and these guys have shown this all year — is a level of resiliency and a level of toughness. They continue to keep themselves in the fight when they get hit. It may sting for a minute, but they get right back up and get right back in the fight. They did that throughout the game today.”
Dayton overcame a rough night from 3-point range, going 5 for 21 against the Rebels.
Nate Santos, with 14 points was one of four Flyers in double figures, but the team’s leading scorer on the season, Enoch Cheeks (14.7 points per game) scored a season-low four points.
Miller said the Bearcats are concerned about Dayton’s deep backcourt.
“They’re very, very dynamic at guard,” Miller said. “They have a ton of guards. There’s a ton of guards, whether it’s point guards or guys like Cheeks, like, who’ve really improved as a guard on the perimeter.
“He’s a guy that we weren’t really worried about a year ago on the offensive end. … Look at what he’s doing now. But I mean, you can go up and down their perimeter and they they’re just so skilled, they’re so tough.”
