A trio of newcomers made a major impact in the Cincinnati Bearcats season-opening win including CJ Fredrick, Jizzle James and DaVeon Thomas!
Fredrick came out firing by connecting on his first two 3-pointers en route to finishing with 11 points on 3/6 shooting from beyond the arc in the victory.
James made his first appearance of the game with just over 15 minutes left to play in the first half and he scored his first collegiate basket minutes later.
Thomas led the Bearcats in points during his debut, compiling 15 points and three assists as he was the main focal point of the offense on Monday night.
DaVeon Thomas continues his dominant debut with a steal and slam as the #Bearcats hold a second half lead!pic.twitter.com/7jGIMKRqOb
— Cincy on the Prowl (@CincyOnTheProwl) November 7, 2023
Cincinnati Basketball: Newcomers make a statement in Bearcats season-opening win
Cincinnati held a single digit lead for most of the first half until a 9-0 run created separation, capped off by an impressive fastbreak layup by Daniel Skillings Jr.
During an offseason interview with Bearcat Journal, Thomas broke down his recent decision to transfer to Cincinnati and expectations for this season.
Thomas was the 4th ranked junior college prospect in the country and is expected to have two years of eligibility remaining with the program going forward.
Jizzle James slips past the defense and finishes at the rim as the #Bearcats try to pull away from Illinois-Chicago!
— Cincy on the Prowl (@CincyOnTheProwl) November 7, 2023
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Cincinnati Basketball: Bearcats open the regular season with 69-58 win
Coming up next for the Bearcats is a game against the Detroit Mercy Titans on Friday night. The Titans lost to the Toledo Rockets 94-60 in their opener.
Following the game Bearcats head coach Wes Miller offered his thoughts on the win and the newcomers making their team debuts via Cincinnati Athletics.
"“I liked seeing those guys get their first game under their belt. Day Day was amazing and is going to make a lot of plays. He is really good and I think that’s clear. He’s got to learn quickly because playing point guard at this level is very difficult. Jizzle looked like a freshman at times defensively tonight. I believe he is going to be able to learn a lot from this tape because a lot of his mistakes resulted in baskets. I think it’s good for him to get those minutes. He’s going to have a great freshman year. It will take time to get used to this level of basketball. The good thing is both of them will learn a lot from this film. They just have to grow quickly for us.”"