No. 19 Cincinnati dominates Grambling State 84-49 to close out its non-conference schedule

CINCINNATI (AP) — Aziz Bandaogo scored 15 points and No. 19 Cincinnati extended its winning streak to four games with an 84-49 win over the Grambling State on Sunday.

Dillon Mitchell added 13 points and seven rebounds, and Day Day Thomas finished with 12 points for the Bearcats (10-1).

Ernest Ross scored 16 points, and Mikale Stevenson added 11 points and seven rebounds for Grambling (2-10), which lost its fifth straight game overall and seventh straight on the road.

Grambling closed the first half on a 9-0 run, cutting its deficit 37-24 at the break. But the Tigers were outscored 47-25 in the second half.

Takeaways

Grambling State: The Tigers struggled to find consistent offense and ball distribution, shooting just 34% from the field and committing 16 turnovers with 10 assists.

Cincinnati: Playing less than 48 hours after outlasting No. 22 Dayton on Friday night, the Bearcats jumped out to a 17-3 lead.

Key moment

Simas Lukosius hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to stretch the Bearcats' lead to 44-29 with 17:26 left in the second half. It was the first of three straight made 3s for the Bearcats, giving them a 50-29 lead. The Bearcats used a 20-4 run to put the game out of reach.

Key stat

Cincinnati finished with 17 assists and committed six turnovers. Only two of the turnovers came in the second half.

Up next

Grambling State hosts the College of Biblical Studies on Dec. 30, while Cincinnati opens Big 12 play at Kansas State on the same day.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Alex Frank, The Associated Press