How It Happened
The Bearcats would force the Jackets into three early turnovers, one resulting in the first points of the night after Day-Day Thomas caught the Jackets walking through the motions and took the steal for the easy layup. The Bearcats would get huge momentum after Aziz Bandaogo made his first appearance as a Bearcat which spaced the floor for Viktor Lakhin to knock down the open three. Bandaogo came in and made an immediate impact on the very next defensive possession and sent a Jacket shot six rows deep into the student section in his first minutes as a Bearcat.
Bandaogo would then score his first career points as Bearcat after Simas Lukosius threw it for the big man for the easy slam. Lukosius would then follow with a deep triple to give the Bearcats an 11-8 lead with 14 minutes remaining in the first half. The Bearcats would extend their lead after a stop on defense lead to a Viktor Lakhin pull up three to give the Bearcats a 16-10 lead with 12:00 remaining following the Georgia Tech timeout.
The Bearcats would extend their lead to 22-13 after Lakhin knocks down his third triple of the night. The three ball he spent nearly two years on, and it has started to pay off for the big man here to kick off the 2023-2024 season. The Jackets would cut the Bearcats cut the early lead to single digits after consecutive threes made this a 23-19 game with 6:32 remaining in the first half.
However, Lakhin would find himself in early foul trouble, which is why it was crucial to have Aziz Bandaogo available for the Bearcats to provide that extra depth there in the front court. We all saw how much he impacts the game for the Bearcats on both ends of the floor. Bandaogo quickly dove two rows into the stands for the loose ball, Jizzle James would quickly draw a foul, setting up John Newman for the three silencing a Jacket 8-0 run, as the Bearcats lead 26-21 with just over four minutes remaining in the first half.
The Bearcats would take a 40-32 lead to the break after Viktor Lakhin knocked down his fourth triple of the night to finish the first half with a team high 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting. Simas Lukosius also chimed in with eight points of his own on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting. The Jackets on the other hand were able to keep within striking distance after going 14-of-18 from the foul line in the first half. That was the difference maker in this one as the Bearcats were held to just six free throws in the first half.
The Bearcats started the second half with seven unanswered quickly forcing a Georgia Tech timeout trailing 47-32. Newman got the scoring started, then Lakhin faked the three ball and dropped it down inside to a wide open Oguama for the slam, where Day-Day Thomas quickly followed with a dagger three and just like that the Bearcats offense was clicking.
The Bearcats just poured it on the Jackets after a huge steal by Thomas sparked some momentum as the junior guard would then come down in transition snatch some ankles and hit the step back jumper. CJ Fredrick immediately followed with a deep three all the way from Calhoun Street as the Bearcats quickly scored 10 unanswered. Damon Stoudamire and Georgia Tech had no answers for the Bearcats here in the second half as they were forced to call a timeout to stop the bleeding as they trailed 58-35 with 15:10 remaining in the second half.
The Bearcats just poured it on the Jackets as this quickly became a 71-37 as they poured on a 30-2 run in the opening segments of the second half as everything continued to drop for the Bearcats. CJ Fredrick was held scoreless for the Bearcats in the first half and quickly caught fire to start the second half after 11 quick points including nine from deep. The Bearcats just poured it on as they came out firing in the second half.
The Bearcats quickly put this one out of reach as Wes Miller and his staff just simply outcoached the former Damon Stoudamire as the former NBA veteran was quickly left thinking about that first half as they trailed by eight at the end of the first half. The Bearcats quickly extended their lead to 39, as they led the Jackets 80-41 with just under eight minutes remaining. Georgia Tech would score 10 unanswered as they looked to show some fight, but the Bearcats were just too much for the Jackets this evening.
The Bearcats dominated the Jackets after a huge second half where they outscored the Jackets 49-22 as they defeated Georgia Tech 89-54 to improve to 5-0 on the season. The Bearcats just dominated the second half and Damon Stoudamire and the Jackets just simply unmatched for what the Bearcats were trying to do this evening and it showed here at Fifth Third Arena.
Up Next
The Bearcats will be back in action next Tuesday as they travel to Washington, DC to take on Howard as the Bearcats look remain perfect in non-conference.
