7. I thought James, once again, was fantastic Saturday night. Seven points with an assist in 14 minutes may not stand out on the stat sheet, but it was James who put the Bearcats ahead 73-71 with 1:33 to go. Those were his final two points on the afternoon. He doesn’t overthink anything. He just goes out and plays basketball, making big plays along the way.
8. It was great seeing CJ Fredrick play 15 minutes and knock down a three-point basket. It’s easy to forget the kind of player he is because he missed a good amount of time this season, but he can impact this team with his sharp shooting. He looked confident Saturday afternoon both shooting and passing.
9. I think one thing to take note of going forward is sneaky depth in the frontcourt. Viktor Lakhin didn’t play much (less than a minute) Saturday afternoon, but Jamille Reynolds and Josh Reed each played 14 minutes contributing nine points and 12 rebounds combined. The Bearcats may not have a star in the frontcourt, but a committee approach could potentially work.
10. Aziz Bandaogo may be a star in the frontcourt, and he was tremendous Saturday afternoon. Everything he did was a positive: 13 points, eight rebounds, two blocks. All that in 26 minutes. Very good, effective, efficient performance.
11. Simas Lukosius is a good basketball player. He may make you want to pull your hair out when he misses three or four straight three-point shots in a row, but he can make the big shot when it counts. In the Bearcats last two road games at Texas Tech and Central Florida, he’s had a crucial last-minute basket in each of them.
12. Skillings has worked his way into the starting lineup several times this season. I think Jizzle James should be next. The benefits could be astronomical to this team as over the final three weeks of the regular season and the Big 12 Tournament. It’s time for this team to start identifying who their best players are. Skillings is this team’s best player, in my opinion, and should become a permanent starter. If James is one of this team’s five best players, which I think he is, he should be next to crack the starting lineup.
Next Game: The Bearcats welcome Oklahoma State to Fifth Third Arena next Wednesday night. This is not a game to take lightly. Oklahoma State just hung 93 points in a win over BYU Saturday afternoon. Should the Bearcats win? Yes. Will they? That remains to be seen. Welcome to the Big 12.
