Robert Dillingham dazzles with 29 points in Overtime Elite semis

The Robert Dillingham experience was on full display Tuesday night.

During game one of the Overtime Elite semifinals, Dillingham put on a show to the tune of a game-high 29 points on 9-20 overall shooting, including a 3-8 mark from long range and a perfect 8-8 clip from the free-throw line. The class of 2023 Kentucky signee also added six assists, two rebounds, and one steal in 33 minutes played, although he did turn the ball over four times in the process. Dillingham was particularly special in the first half, dropping 18 points and five assists while putting his entire bag of skills on display.

Unfortunately, Dillingham’s Cold Hearts team fell 104-97 to the City Reapers in the first outing of a three-game series. The City Reapers are led by twin brothers Ausar and Amen Thompson, who are both projected as NBA lottery picks this summer. Those two combined for 35 points, 15 assists, and 18 rebounds in the game one win.

Game two is scheduled for Friday at 9:00 p.m. EST with a potential game three set for Saturday at 8:00 p.m. EST. All games will be available to watch live on Amazon Prime.

Rob Dillingham dropped 18 points & 5 assists all in the FIRST HALF 😳 Cold Hearts with a 42-41 lead 🥶 @PrimeVideo pic.twitter.com/HpUuSQdJtm

— Overtime Elite (@OvertimeElite) February 22, 2023

In the previous round, Dillingham and Cold Hearts swept the Hillcrest Bruins 2-0 as the future Wildcat went for 12 points, five rebounds, and five assists in game one before dropping 22 points, seven assists, and four steals in game two. Throughout the 2022-23 regular season, Dillingham has averaged 14.7 points, 4.9 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per outing across 14 contests.

But Dillingham isn’t the only prospect the Big Blue Nation should be watching during the rest of the OTE playoffs. One of his Cold Hearts teammates, Somto Cyril, is a 6-foot-10, 250-pound class of 2024 center who continues to hear from Kentucky and was recently tabbed as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.

“We are in touch,” Cyril recently told KSR about his contact with UK. “They talked to me on the first day (of the direct contact period with 2024 recruits back in June), they show up here sometimes for practice, workouts, everything. We still have a good relationship, everything is fine. It’s going well.”

Cyril finished with eight points, six rebounds, and three blocks on Tuesday night alongside Dillingham in the loss. During the season, the No. 15 ranked junior according to On3 put up averages of 8.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 66.2 percent overall from the field.

You can watch a full replay of game one below.