No. 19 Cincinnati never trails in win over No. 22 Dayton

The Bearcats were in control for most of the game, aside from a late rally from the Flyers to cut the Cincinnati lead to 61-57 with 2:01 remaining.

The defenses were the story throughout the game. While Cincinnati only shot 36.2 percent from the floor and went 8-for-29 from three-point range, the Bearcats won the rebounding advantage, 38-32, including nearly doubling up the Flyers on offensive rebounds, 17-10.

Although Cincinnati's leading scorer Simas Lukosius made just four of his 17 shots and recorded 13 points, Dan Skillings Jr. (17 points, six rebounds, four steals) and Jizzle James (14 points, three rebounds, three assists, three blocks) balanced out the production.

Despite overcoming an abysmal 17-point first half by scoring 42 points the rest of the game, Dayton was not much better from the floor. Dayton was 20-for-51 overall and 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) from long range. The Flyers turned the ball over 17 times, which only made matters worse.

No player was able to take over the game for Dayton as Nate Santos and Malachi Smith each had 13 points for the Flyers. 

Cincinnati marked the fifth ranked opponent Dayton has faced this season. The Flyers have split their four prior games against ranked opponents with losses to then-No. 12 North Carolina (6-5), 92-90, and No. 5 Iowa State (9-1), 89-84, in the Maui Invitational and wins over then-No. 2 UConn (9-3), 85-67, and No. 6 Marquette (10-2), 71-63. The Flyers shot 50 percent from the field against UConn and controlled the paint, 46-26, against Marquette. Those two areas were lacking for Dayton on Friday night.

After a 6-0 start to the season, Friday night's win over Dayton gives Cincinnati three straight wins after its only loss to Villanova on Dec. 3. The Bearcats made less than 40 percent of their shots on that night as well, which is concerning going forward if the defense has a subpar night.

Cincinnati (9-1) returns home to face Grambling on Sunday before opening up its Big 12 slate at Kansas State on Dec. 30.

Dayton (10-3) gets some extra time off before opening up Atlantic 10 conference play against La Salle on Dec. 31.