Kentucky
Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Storylines: Northern Kentucky Norse
CINCINNATI — The Bearcats hit the road for the first time this season on Tuesday night at Northern Kentucky. Cincinnati lost in this exact scenario two years ago amidst a brutal offensive showing in the second half, but they are ready to avenge that performance with the best UC roster Wes Miller’s had.
UC enters with a 92.9% chance to win the game on ESPN’s Matchup Predictor. The Bearcats are ranked 11th on KenPom, while Northern Kentucky is 186th (highest-ranked UC opponent yet).
“I was pleased with the defensive effort to start the game,” Miller said about his team following Friday’s 86-49 win over Nicholls State. “I was pleased with the defensive effort to start the second half. And there was some good stuff going on.”
Cincinnati is 2-1 all-time against NKU ahead of the 7 p.m. ET Tuesday tip-off on ESPN+.
Will Simas Lukošius keep shooting over 70% from three-point land? Probably not, but Cincinnati is going to be a firm national title contender if he does.
So far, he’s hit 10-14 triple tries to rank tied for third nationally at 71.4% overall. The stroke looks as clean as any shot I’ve seen in person, mixed with the best shape Lukošius has been in during his college career. History says he can’t shoot this well on this type of volume, but above 40% over the full season is very plausible at this rate.
“I don’t feel like he’s forcing the shot at all,” Miller said about his top shooter. “I can’t think of one time when he forced a shot. In fact, early in the game, as he was coming off the floor for the first media timeout, I told him to shoot more. I thought he passed a couple of shots up. He had one he passed up in the corner drove in and turned it over by trying to get a lob to Aziz [Bandaogo]. Those are the turnovers that I can live with because they are aggressive, but he is such a damn good shooter.
“He hasn’t been forcing them, and I think he’s taking the right shots. I believe you have to give credit to the other guys as well because the ball is popping around. You look down tonight and we have 18 assists. The ball is moving around, and there are a lot of other good players on the floor as well. Simas [Lukosius] is not going to shoot 80% this year, because nobody’s ever done that. I want him to do that but that won’t happen. He is going to have a great year, because he’s a really good player, and he continues to improve.”
Off the catch, dribble, and in transition, Lukošius is hitting every type of deep shot through three games, all while he and Jizzle James lead the offense with 5.3 assists per game each.
He’s been the second-most efficient offensive player in the Big 12 so far, posting a whopping 40.3 Player Efficiency Rating and a scorching 92.9% effective field goal rate (fifth nationally). Now, he gets to test that shot outside the friendly confines of Fifth Third Arena. A place where UC shot 28.6% from deep two years ago.
The Lithuanian is showing the end of last season wasn’t just some hot streak—it’s who he can consistently be as a college player. We’ll see if the full-season cement can set on this trajectory.
Time will ultimately tell who takes over the top perimeter guarding role on this Bearcats roster, but Jizzle James has led the way so far.
John Newman III looks like he’s rubbed off on the stout young guard. He’s notched an 82.4 defensive rating this season (16th-best in the Big 12), a big improvement from his 104.6 freshman mark. That’s been showcased with strong footwork on defense and complete control of his on-ball physicality (zero fouls committed in three games).
NKU doesn’t boast any daunting guard matchups like Nicholls’ Rob Brown. The Norse’s leading scorers are both guards, but neither are shooting over 42% from the floor.
“Jizzle James is really improved, and I think that’s so obvious guys,” Miller said on Friday. “He was really, really good on defense tonight. I mean, not only did he defeat ball screens, but I don’t think anybody hit him with the ball screen all night. I mean, he was special, so I was pleased with that, and I could keep going down the line, but I thought Jizzle had a really nice night.”
NKU is bottom-10 nationally in scoring average (57 PPG) and has KenPom’s 300th-ranked offense by efficiency. It should be a clamping field day for James and his teammates.
If healthy, Cincinnati has a few different avenues to hit a high ceiling this coming spring, and these early signs from James are great indicators they can keep climbing up the CBB hierarchy.
Bookmark Bearcats Talk for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and so much more. Check out our YouTube page as well, starting with the video below.
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The Enquirer’s Just Askin’ series aims to answer the questions that no one seems to have an answer for, not even Google.
Here in Cincinnati, we like to keep our talent local. Our athletes are no exception.
You’ve already heard the story of Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose, a West Sider who went on to become the all-time MLB hit king while playing for his hometown baseball team. Avondale native DeHart Hubbard became the first Black athlete to win an Olympic gold medal when he won the long jump in the 1924 games. More recently, former Moeller High School football star Sam Hubbard is hailed as a cornerstone of the Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive line, nabbing eight tackles in the nail-biting Super Bowl of 2022.
In honor of football season, The Enquirer is honing in on our local NFL team. Which Bengals are Tristate heroes?
Which Cincinnati Bengals players are from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana?
Six Bengals players were born in Ohio, including two from Greater Cincinnati. One is from Kentucky, and two are from Indiana.
Here are those players:
- Erick All Jr., No. 83 tight end, is from Fairfield, Ohio.
- Tycen Anderson, No. 26 safety, is from Toledo, Ohio.
- Joe Bachie, No. 49 linebacker, is from Brook Park, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb.
- Joe Burrow, No. 9 quarterback, is from Athens, Ohio.
- Chris Evans, No. 25 running back, is from Indianapolis, Indiana.
- Sam Hubbard, No. 94 defensive end, is from Blue Ash, Ohio.
- Ted Karras, No. 64 center, is from Indianapolis, Indiana.
- Isaiah Williams, No. 18 wide receiver, is from Cleveland, Ohio.
- Logan Woodside, No. 11 practice squad quarterback, is from Frankfort, Kentucky.
Do you have a question for Just Askin’? Send it to us at localnews@enquirer.com.
Noah Waterman’s driving layup with 1.2 seconds to play helped Louisville avoid what would have been a catastrophic loss to Eastern Kentucky Saturday afternoon inside the KFC Yum Center.
Trailing by one in the closing moments, U of L forced Colonels star Devontae Blanton into a missed jumper. Reyne Smith then took off up the left side of the floor, where he nearly lost the ball before finding Waterman, who nearly lost the ball as well. After regaining his footing, Waterman drove to the rim for a contested bucket that would give the Cardinals a 1-point lead.
A steal and a free-throw by Terrence Edwards would set the game’s score at its final margin.
The end-of-game sequence allowed the Cardinals to avoid what would have been a crippling defeat in game they were favored to win by 21.5 points. Instead, they’ll enter the New Year with an 8-5 record and only losses to quality opponents on their resume.
Still, the fact that Louisville couldn’t put away an EKU team that nearly knocked the Cardinals off for the first time since 1963 was more than a little unnerving.
After knocking down nine three-pointers in the first half, U of L could manage just two makes from deep in the second frame. The most important of those came from Smith, whose three with just under two minutes to play put the Cards ahead, 75-73. EKU’s George Kimble, who finished with a game-high 24 points, promptly answered with a three of his own to set up the game’s frantic final moments.
I don’t know if it was the holiday break or what, but the energy was down, the defense was downright bad, and the head-scratching unforced turnovers were back.
We are extremely fortunate that this wasn’t a Quad 4 loss that would have completely tanked our resume right before we begin our dive into the heart of conference play.
The most crucial two week stretch of the season — one which features games against North Carolina, Virginia, Pitt and Clemson — is now upon us. Handle it well, and we can dream March Madness dreams as we go deeper into January and February. Handle it the way we handled things today, and the season shifts to “keep fighting, see how many wins we can scrap together, and maybe we can pull off a crazy run in Charlotte” mode.
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Posted Dec 28, 2024
All eyes are now on Caleb Wilson, the top recruit from the state of Georgia and the No. 8 overall player in the Class of 2025, per 247 Sports. Wilson is considering Kentucky, and it appears that it could come down to the Cats or UNC. “According to a source, Kentucky has the highest NIL pledge for Wilson by a significant margin,” On3’s Joe Tipton wrote.
(A Sea of Blue)
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