A season-high 19 points from graduate student guard CJ Fredrick Jr. led the University of Cincinnati men's basketball to a 99-62 victory over Florida Gulf Coast University on Sunday inside Fifth Third Arena.

The Bearcats' undefeated season continued as the team improved to 7-0, the team's best start to a season since also winning the first seven games to begin the 2017-18 season.

The 99 points are the most points in a game for the Bearcats since the team scored 103 against Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 14, 2022.

Fredrick Jr. had his best shooting performance of the season, going 5-6 from behind the arc and 6-7 from the field to score his season-high. The Cincinnati native was lights out to begin the game, knocking down his first five threes.

Redshirt junior forward Viktor Lakhin scored over 15 points for the third consecutive game as he finished with 19 points on 8-10 of shooting, nine rebounds, and a career-high six assists.

Also scoring in double digits was graduate student forward Ody Oguama, who posted a season-high 13 points, and senior center Aziz Bandaogo who finished with 10 points.

As a team, the Bearcats shot an efficient 57% from the field while also controlling the glass, out-rebounding the Eagles 40-21. UC also went 11-19 from deep.

Cincinnati set the tone of the game right off the opening tip as junior guard Day Day Thomas found a streaking Bandaogo for the alley-op slam to score the first points of the game.

Multiple double-digit runs and stout defense gave Cincinnati total control of the first half as the team shot a blistering 61% from the field and went 6-9 from behind the arc as a team to lead 49-26 at the break.

Fredrick Jr. went a perfect 4-4 from behind the arc leading all scores with 14 points at the break. Not to be outdone, Lakhin was also a perfect 5-5 from the field, including a three of his own as he posted 11 points and four boards at the half.  

The Bearcats turned up the heat on both offense and defense going on a 15-2 run as freshman guard Jizzle James drilled two mid-range jumpers off the bench and another dunk from Bandaogo increased the lead to 19-8.

Lakhin checked back into the game and went to work on the low block, scoring four more points and adding to the 19-2 run over a 7-minute span as the lead grew to 25-12. UC went 9-11 from the field while holding FGCU scoreless for over five minutes and forcing them to go 1-11 during the run.

Cincinnati's lead continued to grow with little resistance as junior guard Day Day Thomas hit a deep 3, followed by sophomore wing Dan Skillings Jr. knocking down his first bucket of the game as UC extended its lead to 19 (36-17) with just over five minutes left in the half.

FGCU began to press the Bearcats and created two turnovers that would results in a 6-0 run for the Eagles before Lakhin answered, scoring five straight points, including a 3 from the top of the arc.

The Bearcats would end the half on an 8-0 thanks, two more 3's from Fredrick and two big blocks from Bandaogo in the final seconds of the period.

Cincinnati would come out of the half with the same offensive intensity as in the first, going 5-7 from the field and leading 61-38 at the first media timeout.  

After two straight buckets from FGCU, Bandaogo responded with an empathic two-handed slam after corralling an offensive rebound to bring the lead back up to 26 (69-43) with 11:30 left to go in the game.

The Bearcats would go on another 9-0 as Oguama scored seven straight points, including hitting his second career 3, as the UC grew to 31 (88-57) with just over five minutes left in the game.

NOTABLE
-Dan Skillings had a season-high 12 boards.
-CJ Fredrick's 19 points were a season-high. Over his last two years at Kentucky and UC, his teams are 10-0 when he makes three or more treys.
-It was UC's third game with 20 or more assists; Lakhin's six were a career-high.
-Lakhin's 16 dimes on the year is one off his 2022-23 total.
-Cincinnati's 11 threes marked its fourth game with 10 or more, with the 57 percent mark a season-high.

UP NEXT
Cincinnati resumes its Crosstown Shootout with Xavier at Cintas Center at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.