Cincinnati will try to remain perfect as it hits the road for the first time this season to battle Howard on Tuesday in Washington D.C.
In their last game, the Bearcats (5-0) routed Georgia Tech 89-54 last Wednesday. It’s the second time in three seasons that Cincinnati has opened a season with five straight wins under coach Wes Miller.
Cincinnati made 14 3-pointers — shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc — while turning the ball over just six times against the Yellow Jackets.
The game was the debut of 7-foot center Aziz Bandaogo. The Utah Valley transfer, in his first game after his waiver was approved, scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds in 21 minutes. Viktor Lakhin drained his first five 3-point attempts and led Cincinnati with 15 points.
On defense, the Bearcats scored 20 points off 19 Georgia Tech turnovers. Cincinnati put the game away with a 30-2 run in the second half and cruised to its fifth straight win.
“That was fun,” Miller said. “I told the guys in the locker room that was really fun there in the second half. I thought they did some things in the first half to just kind of stagnate the game and frustrate us a little bit. I thought we handled it well.”
The Bearcats are seeking their first 6-0 start since the 2017-18 season, when they opened the campaign with seven straight wins.
Howard (3-4) snapped a two-game skid with an 87-83 double-overtime road win at Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday.
The Bison were led by graduate forward Seth Towns with 26 points and 11 rebounds and Bryce Harris, who added 23 points. Both Towns and Harris have picked up the slack for Dom Campbell, who has missed three of the past four games.
Towns, a 26-year-old in his eighth season of college basketball, took last season off, but he’s glad to be back in action.
“It feels good. It’s interesting getting back out in full force with a college basketball atmosphere … and I’m just happy to be able to do this with my team,” Towns told Howard’s student newspaper. “I love Howard.”
The Bison have averaged 76.9 points over their first seven games.
Cincinnati has won the two previous meetings between the teams, including the most recent in 2006 when the Bearcats cruised to a 70-39 win at home.
–Field Level Media