Whether or not you are invested in the Bearcats run through the NIT, there are some positives that can come out of however far the Bearcats go. For one, they found a way to close out their First Round game Wednesday night after struggling so much to win games like the one they won against San Francisco. In addition, Simas Lukosius is clearly emerging as this team’s most exciting player with his three-point rain-making.
The Bearcats will now get to play a second home game in the NIT when they host Bradley on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. E.T.. The history between these two teams goes back to both of them being in the Missouri Valley Conference. These two teams also hold the distinction for the longest college basketball game in history, a seven-overtime marathon back in 1981 that was won by the Bearcats. Now these two teams will meet in the Second Round of the NIT Saturday afternoon. Here are my Players to Watch and Keys to the Game on Saturday afternoon.
Looking at Bradley: The Braves have had a good season up to this point. They have wins over multiple teams that earned bids to the NCAA Tournament this season, and they went toe-to-toe with other teams in the Big Dance. They went 0-4 against Drake and Indiana State in the regular season but 13-3 against everybody else in the Missouri Valley Conference.
This team reminds me of San Francisco. Bradley shoots the ball well at a 47.5 percent clip from the floor. But they do have some holes that Cincinnati can exploit. They are prone to turning the ball over with 412 turnovers as a team coming into this game. They only have a 1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio. In addition, they don’t have a great rebounder like San Francisco had in Jonathan Mogbo, but they have three guys averaging over 4.5 rebounds per game. Bradley does shoot well from three-point range, but they’re only hitting at 72.6 from the charity stripe. The Braves enter Saturday afternoon’s game at 23-11 and 13-7 in Missouri Valley Conference play. Bradley lost to MVC Tournament Champion Drake 72-67 in the MVC Tournament Quarterfinals.
Players to Watch
1. #10 Connor Hickman, 6’3″, 200 lbs., Jr., G, Bloomington, Indiana
14.5 pts, 3.4 rebs, 46.6 FG%, 40.7 3-PT FG%, 70.1 FT%, 89 ast.-56 TO, 36 stl, 32.3 mpg
Hickman is Bradley’s leading scorer with eight 20-point games this season. He’s also Bradley’s second-leading three-point shooter with 11 games hitting three or more from beyond the arc and three hitting six threes. Hickman is also durable with only four games playing less than 30 minutes. From his freshman season, Hickman has been one of this program’s best players. He has now started 86 games in his three seasons with the Braves.
2. #21 Duke Deen, 5’8″, 170 lbs., Sr., G, Shreveport, Louisiana
14.2 pts, 3.1 rebs, 44.3 FG%, 39% 3-PT FG, 78.7 FT%, 134 ast.-61 TO, 31 stl, 33 mpg
Do not let his size fool you. Deen is an outstanding player. The former Sun Belt Freshman of the Year in his one season at Troy, Deen has immersed himself as one of Bradley’s best players in his two seasons in the program. This season, Deen has six 20-point games including a 31 and 35-point performances. His three-point shooting is tremendous, with 23 games hitting multiple three-point shots and five games hitting six or more. His best game was a 9-12 against Missouri State back on February 21st. Deen leads the Braves in assists with 134, including 11 games with five or more assists.
