CJ Fredrick scored a team-high 14 points — including four 3-pointers — while Jizzle James and John Newman III added 13 apiece to lead 3-point happy Cincinnati to a 93-61 rout of visiting Detroit Mercy on Friday night.
Cincinnati (2-0) put on a remarkable long-range shooting display, finishing 16-for-34 from 3-point range. The 16 threes stand as the third-highest in school history, behind 24 vs. Oakland (Mich.) on Dec. 5, 1998 and 18 vs. Louisiana-Monroe on Dec. 20, 2001.
Day Day Thomas and Dan Skillings Jr. put in 11 points apiece for Cincinnati and Simas Lukosius had 10. Josh Reed grabbed 12 rebounds.
Detroit Mercy (0-2) had only two players in double figures led by Jayden Stone with a game-high 25. Del Cadia finished with 13 points before fouling out six minutes into the second half.
The Bearcats scored the first eight points and raced out to a 16-3 lead, thanks to smothering defense that held Detroit Mercy scoreless in the opening four minutes. The Titans didn’t score until Edoardo Del Cadia sank three free throws with 15:50 left in the first half.
Cincinnati then scored the next eight points before Detroit Mercy recorded its first basket, a 3-pointer from Donovann Toatley at the 13:47 mark of the half.
The Bearcats shot a school-record 13-for-21 from 3-point range in the first half, sparking a 35-10 run over the final 10 minutes for a 60-27 halftime lead.
Fredrick overcame a turned ankle in the season opener and started for the Bearcats, draining all three of his shots from beyond the arc in the first half. His 11 points matched Newman, who also had three triples and finished the torrid half with 11 points.
Cincinnati built its lead to game-high 40, 77-37, on Viktor Lakhin’s layup with 11:17 left in the second half.
Adding to the woes of the visitors, Detroit Mercy was unable to match Cincinnati’s length and size for most of the night, as the Bearcats held a 52-26 rebounding edge.
Cincinnati’s bench outscored Detroit-Mercy 43-7 for the game.
–Field Level Media