Cinderella Madness Simulated College Basketball Tournament: Bradley vs. UNLV

Cinderella Madness

WhatIfSports.com and CollegeHoops.net have partnered up to bring you Cinderella Madness 2012.

This college basketball simulation tournament features 16 of the most memorable Cinderella stories from the past eight seasons. We invited teams outside the Big Six conferences, seeded seventh or lower that advanced to the Sweet 16 or beyond in their bracket to participate.

Utilizing our award-winning college basketball simulation engine, we "played" each matchup 501 times

View the 16-team Cinderella Madness bracket

The darling of Cinderella Madness after upsetting top-seeded Butler in the first round, Bradley earned a date with the UNLV Runnin' Rebels. Unfortunately for Bradley supporters, the Cinderella story came to an end for the school out of Peoria, Illinois.

UNLV overcame a diminutive starting five that included just one player over 6'6"—the 6'8" Gaston Essengue—to force Bradley seven-footer Patrick O'Bryant into just two points on 1-for-5 shooting. Credit reserve Joel Anthony for slowing down O'Bryant, as Anthony managed four blocks and seven rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.

The hot shooting of UNLV guard Michael Umeh helped the Rebels erase a five-point halftime deficit. His efforts included a go-ahead three-pointer with 33 seconds remaining in the game to give UNLV a 70-68 advantage as they went on to record the 72-68 victory. Umeh finished with 18 points, including 3-for-4 from downtown. As a team, the Runnin' Rebels shot 45 percent (9-for-20) from three-point range.

Bradley was paced by Marcellus Sommerville's 18 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Player of the game: Michael Umeh (18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists)

Winning Percentage of 501 Simulations: '07 UNLV 53.1% - '06 Bradley 46.9%