The inaugural College Basketball Crown continues Tuesday with four more first-round games, which will determine the two second-round matchups on the right side of the bracket.
Cincinnati kicked the day off with a pretty decisive win, taking down DePaul, 83-61. It’ll take on the winner of the Oregon State-UCF game, which tips off at 5:30 p.m. ET
Colorado and Villanova will continue the action later at 8:30 p.m. ET, with the winner of that game taking on the victor of the Tulane-USC matchup. The Tulane-USC game tips off at 11:30 p.m. ET. All of Tuesday’s games can be watched on FS1 and the FOX Sports app.
Tuesday is the final day of Round 1, with four first-round games taking place on Monday. The second round will take place on Wednesday and Thursday as the tournament continues through Sunday, April 6 on FOX and FS1.
Here are the highlights from Tuesday’s games!
Cincinnati uses strong defensive first half to propel its offense in second half and take down DePaul
The Bearcats are moving on to the second round of the College Basketball Crown following a pretty decisive victory.
After both teams went back and forth for the first 10 minutes of Tuesday’s game, Cincinnati outscored DePaul, 23-11, to close out the first half and take a 33-23 lead into the halftime break. Cincinnati used its defense to build a lead, with DePaul shooting just 8 of 25 (32%) from the field and committing eight turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play.
Cincinnati’s Aziz Bandaogo runs the court and throws down UNREAL alley-oop jam vs. DePaul
Cincinnati’s offense wasn’t great in the first half, either. It shot just 13 of 32 (40.6%) from the field and 2 of 9 (22.2%) from 3-point range while standout guard Jizzle James only had five points on 2 of 8 (25%) shooting in the first half. But it turned things around offensively in the second half, with James finding more of a rhythm as he scored eight points and dished out a pair of assists in the second half.
James was just one of a handful of contributors, though, to Cincinnati’s balanced attack. He was one of six Bearcats to finish Tuesday’s game in double-digit scoring. An 8-0 run spearheaded by bench guard Dan Skillings helped Cincinnati expand its lead to 20 early in the second half while another run later on helped Cincinnati expand its lead by as much as 27.
Those runs led to a 50-point second half for Cincinnati, shooting 20 of 35 (57.1%) from the field and 7 of 12 from deep (58.3%). Forward Dillon Mitchell led the Bearcats in scoring with 15 points on 7 of 10 shooting, but his biggest impact might have come defensively. He had three steals as Cincinnati’s defense continued to play strong in the game’s final 20 minutes.
Day Day Thomas was also part of the Bearcats’ second-half offensive outburst. However, he also had seven steals, giving him a new career high. DePaul committed 10 more turnovers in the second half, allowing Cincinnati to cruise to victory.
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