No. 20 Cincinnati overwhelms Arkansas-Pine Bluff in season opener

Simas Lukosius led six players in double figures with 20 points while Dan Skillings Jr. added 17 points and 11 rebounds to help the No. 20 Cincinnati Bearcats overwhelm the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions, 109-54, in Cincinnati in the season opener for both teams.

Jizzle James also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists while Texas transfer Dillon Mitchell made his Cincinnati debut with 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Bearcats (1-0) used a 17-1 run late in the second half to increase their lead to 51. Cincinnati finished with their highest point total in a season opener since scoring 107 against Savannah State in 2017, the last time they began in the season in the Top 25. The Bearcats fell just four points shy of their school record for a season opener, set in 1972 against Cleveland State.

Dante Sawyer was the only Golden Lion in double figures, finishing with 11 points. Caleb Jones came off the bench and scored nine for Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-1), which was outscored 54-22 in the second half.

Sawyer converted a layup with 15:18 remaining in the first half to give Arkansas-Pine Bluff their final lead at 11-10. Cincinnati answered with the next 10 points over the next two minutes to take a 20-11 lead and never looked back.

Skillings capped the run with a dunk and a layup as Cincinnati won the game without starting guard Day Day Thomas, sitting out the game with a stress reaction foot injury.

While the Bearcats won easily, they struggled in some areas such as the free throw line, where they missed nine of their first 10 attempts from the stripe. They finished 13-of-23 from the charity line.

Playing without their projected starting point guard Trejon Ware, the Golden Lions struggled to get any consistent offense going against the Bearcats. Ware tore his ACL in September and is out for the season.

Adding to their struggles, swingman Quentin Bolton fouled out with 15:30 left in the second half.

--Field Level Media