Six players scored in double-figures, and Day Day Thomas collected a career-high seven steals (third-most in program history) as the Cincinnati men's basketball team routed DePaul, 83-61, on Tuesday night to begin the College Basketball Crown.

The Bearcats will play the winner of Oregon State and UCF at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Dillon Mitchell led the Bearcats with 15 points and seven rebounds to go with three steals. Thomas and Jizzle James followed with 13 points, Dan Skillings had 12 and Simas Lukosius and Aziz Bandaogo each posted 11.

The first half featured a few wrinkles in the rotation, as Halvine Dzellat checked in at 12:56. He entered with 16 minutes on the season and played 15 on the day, including his first-career field goal.

James' 3-pointer in transition opened a 26-17 lead at 4:08, prompting a Blue Demons timeout. Mitchell had a couple of big tip-ins over his DePaul defender on the boards that also contributed to the run, finishing the half with 10 points and six rebounds.

Skillings' interception at half court led to a transition, alley-oop and-one opportunity for Bandaogo, and after he missed the free-throw, Skillings got the offensive rebound and easy bucket underneath.

Even after three-straight DePaul treys, the Bearcats still led 56-42 with 11:08 left, which included a driving Skillings slam along the baseline. Back-to-back alley-oops, followed by 3-pointers by James and Josh Reed, turned it into a 68-45 game at 7:25.

Cincinnati held DePaul to six assists while forcing 19 turnovers. Offensively, it shot 49.3 percent, including 57.1 in the second half as it went downhill.