Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball Winners and Losers: Bradley Bears NIT

UC is continuing their season.

Cincinnati Bearcats guard Dan Skillings Jr. (0) rises to th basket as Bradley Braves guard Connor / Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY

CINCINNATI —  Early Saturday afternoon, Wes Miller and the Cincinnati Bearcats punched their ticket to the NIT quarterfinals for the second consecutive season with a 74-57 win over Bradley. 

"It is great to be playing for something late in March," Wes Miller told reporters following the game. "That is the standard we are trying to set here. Certainly, everyone knows we would much rather be playing in the NCAA Tournament, but we are playing for a championship."

Winners

Jizzle James is the story of the afternoon following his elite performance with a career-high 25 points while shooting nearly 65% from the field (11-of-17). James saw an increased role with the absence of Day-Day Thomas, who is now out for the season after suffering a broken foot vs San Francisco earlier this week. 

James got called on to carry most of the point guard duties with Thomas out, but people got a great glimpse of what kind of player James could be throughout his career on Saturday. Miller has discussed the freshman's work ethic at times this season, saying how he spends so much time in the gym, they had to restrict some access for him earlier this season because of how much time he spent perfecting his craft. 

However, fans got a great glimpse of the elite talent this afternoon after playing a career-high 38 minutes in the Bearcats' 74-57 victory over Bradley. It is worth noting that James only committed one turnover during those 38 minutes.

As James walked off the court after the game following his postgame interview, he embraced the crowd and clapped his hands as he took in the moment on his way back to the Cincinnati locker room. 

That was a dream come true moment,” James told reporters following the game “I had to take it all in with the students and fans. I was proud of how I played and contributed to the game, so I had to take it all in.”

"Happy for Jizzle to score a new career high," said Miller. " It doesn't surprise me with the opportunity that was given. I told him in the locker room he also had a career-high how he played defensively. It is really neat to see the growth he has had and you can see what kind of future he will have which is cool,"

Dan Skillings finished with another 20-point performance after a dominant second half showing. Skillings, recorded 17 of his 20 points in the second half, following eight unanswered points that sparked a big Cincinnati run to open the second half. However, the most impressive thing about Skillings this afternoon was his defensive showing on Bradley's leading scorer Connor Hickman. 

Skillings and John Newman made it tough for Hickman this afternoon after holding him to just two points in the second half despite having 12 in the first half. That was interesting to see, which was who would be the next guy to step up and take on opposing teams' top offensive threats with Thomas out for the season. Skillings did just that this afternoon as his size and length gave Hickman all kinds of difficulties in the second half. 

Losers

Wes Miller and the Bearcats received some gut-wrenching news following the victory over San Fransisco. They are going without starting point guard Day-Day Thomas for the remainder of the season after X-rays revealed the junior broke his foot in the victory over San Francisco. 

Thomas was coming off a career-high in points against West Virginia last week in the Big 12 Championships after appearing to hit his stride at the right time. Thomas finished the season averaging 10 points, two rebounds, and three assists per game while shooting from a 39% clip. 

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