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Four takeaways from No. 19 Cincinnati’s win over No. 24 Xavier

Gary Clark, RaShid Gaston

Cincinnati’s Gary Clark (11) shoots against Xavier’s RaShid Gaston (35) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

AP

Trevon Blueitt’s 40-point performance wasn’t enough for Xavier as No. 24 Xavier fell at No. 19 Cincinnati, 86-78, on Thursday night at Fifth Third Arena.

The Bearcats dominated the boards, scoring 30 second-chance points, got 21 points from Jacob Evans and 16 from Troy Caupain.

Blueitt got to 40 points on just 15 shots. J.P. Macura, with 13 points, was the only other Musketeer to score in double figures.

Cincinnati was just 18 of 37 from the free-throw line line Xavier went 19 of 23.

Here are four things to know following the Crosstown Shootout:

1. Cincinnati was uncanny on the glass: The Bearcats missed 30 shots on the night, but 19 times after one of those clanks, Cincinnati kept possession courtesy of an offensive rebound. That’s an offensive rebounding percentage of 63.3. Which is absurd. What’s even more astonishing is that Xavier is one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the country, ranking third nationally in defensive rebounding percentage. It’s crazy that Cincy, which isn’t even that great of an offensive rebounding team typically, was able to totally dominate the glass like that. The 30 second-chance points they were able to score won them the game.

2. Trevon Blueitt is a baaaaaaad man: Blueitt’s entire game was phenomenal but his first half was especially nuts. He went 8 of 8 from the field and canned six 3-pointers to score 26 points (again, on eight shots) in 20 minutes. It was a sight to behold, especially in a rivalry of this magnitude, and on the road no less. He finished 12 of 15 from the floor to get his 40. X may have not come away with a victory, but Blueitt’s performance is probably what is going to get talked about for years when people discuss this game.

3. The Bearcats have it rolling: Cincinnati has now won 11-straight games, a streak that now includes wins over Xavier, Houston and SMU. The Bearcats are now 17-2 on the season with blemishes only coming to Butler and Rhode Island, both of which came away from home. The strength of schedule obviously isn’t going to be elite in the AAC, but they’ve got a chance to really rack up a gaudy win total. They get Houston at home later this year and still have two bouts with Central Florida still on the docket, but it’s not out of the question that they’ll be sitting on 30-plus wins come Selection Sunday

4. It’s been a tough two weeks for Xavier: The Musketeers have now lost four of their last five games, with a home win over Georgetown the only respite from the losing. While that can’t be a lot of fun for Chris Mack and his crew, it’s hard to chalk it up to anything other than the schedule with back-to-back road games against Villanova and Butler followed by Creighton at home (then Georgetown) and the Crosstown Shootout in their rivals’ gym.

Maybe you’d have picked them to beat the Bluejays at home, but otherwise this stretch went about as anyone would predict. While it’s certainly not ideal, this little skid really isn’t an indictment of who Xavier is, but just a testament to who they play.