Cincinnati will turn to its new-look balanced attack to continue to set the table for the Big 12 Conference gauntlet when it hosts Georgia State on Friday.
The Bearcats (1-0) were dynamite in their season-opening 94-63 win over visiting Western Carolina on Monday. Cincinnati got 18 points each from Baba Miller, Shon Abaev and Moustapha Thiam and 10 from Jordi Rodriguez.
Miller, a transfer from Florida Atlantic, showed his ability as a slasher and finisher, hit on 7 of his 9 field-goal attempts and also paced Cincinnati with 10 rebounds. Thiam, who came to the program in the offseason from UCF, connected on 6 of 7 shots as the Bearcats hit 54.2% from the field and 10 of 28 attempts from beyond the arc (35.7%).
Cincinnati led by 28 points in the first half and by 21 points at the break before adding to the margin after halftime.
“There are some positive things for sure,” Bearcats coach Wes Miller said. “It was good to get that first game under your belt and we had a lot of guys that contributed and scored the basketball tonight. We have a lot of guys that are together for the first time, and it’s going to take us some time to come together.”
Georgia State (0-1) heads to the Queen City on the heels of a 71-49 loss to Eastern Michigan on Monday in the season opener at Ypsilanti, Mich. Jelani Hamilton led the Panthers with 13 points, and Anthony Enoh added a team-high eight rebounds.
The Panthers forced 13 Eastern Michigan turnovers in the loss. Georgia State trailed by nine points and halftime and never made a serious charge after the break.
The Panthers were picked in the preseason to finish 11th in the 14-team Sun Belt Conference. They return six players from last year’s squad, including Hamilton — who was a preseason all-conference second-team pick.