BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Cincinnati @ Connecticut
January 9, 2006
An exciting way to kick off another season of ESPN's Big Monday as the Connecticut Huskies will host Andy Kennedy and the red host Cincinnati Bearcats. Here are the links from around the internet we have found:
Hicks Up for Tilt with UConn (Record-Journal)
Tightened Defense Helps UConn Break Malaise (Norwich Bulletin)
Armstrong Can't Be Ignored (Hartford Courant)
Taking on the New Cats (Hartford Courant)
Cincinnati Next Big East Foe for UConn (Danbury News Times Live)
Cincinnati Thrives With Kennedy in Office (New Britain Herald)
Big East for Real Tonight (Cincy Post)
Limping Hicks: I'll Play Tonight (Cincy Post)
Hicks Says Ankle is Fine (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Physical Challenge Ahead for UConn with Bearcats (Waterbury Republican American)
Calhoun, Disappointed, Keeps Boos in Perspective (Connecticut Post)
As with any Connecticut game, plenty of excellent coverage available. For our preview and prediction, read on below after we recap the weekend that was in the Big East...
READ MORE...CLICK "Read Rest of Article" BELOW
RE-capping the Weekend's Predictions:
On Saturday, we had four conference games to follow. First up was an old Conference USA rivalry and it lived up the the pregame hype. Marquette jetted out to a 10-pt half time lead before Cincinnati mounted their comeback to pull out a 70-66 lead. The NBE Blogger predicted that the 4.5-pt favorite Bearcats would get the road win by 3 (75-72) so it was a win outright and with the points for NBE Blogger. The NBE Blogger went with the home team next as DePaul was a 1-pt underdog against Notre Dame on their home floor. Notre Dame seemed to still have their minds in Pittsburgh as DePaul raced to a 23-6 lead, only to see ND tie it midway through the first half. DePaul re-grouped and won 73-67 and the NBE Blogger, who picked DePaul to win by 2 (67-65) had another win and cover. The battle of New Jersey also took place on Saturday afternoon and it was not the anticipated defensive struggle the NBE Blogger figured it to be with his prediction of Rutgers winning by 13 (68-55). Rutgers won, but only by 4, 82-78 (as 7-pt favorites) so, the NBE Blogger had a win, but no cover. Capping off Saturday was Rick Pitino's return to Providence and the 4-pt favorite Cards we the pick of NBE Blogger (77-66). It was closer than expected as UL scored the last 6 pts to pull out a 72-67 win, but it was enough to get the NBE Blogger the win and cover for a 4-0 day outright and 3-1 against the spread.
On Sunday, computer issues prevented us previewing and making prediction on WVU's thrilling 91-87 win over Villanova and Syracuse's 63-57 win over USF, which might have been a good thing ;). We did get a chance to provide a prediction on the Georgetown/SJU game and we went with the 3-pt favorite Hoyas to win by 9 (62-53). We did not expect the offensive showing each team would put forth, but the Hoyas 74-65 win was good for the win and cover making it a 5-0 weekend with outright winners and 4-1 against the spread and making the first week record: 11-1 outright picking winners and 8-4 against the spread.
Cincinnati @ Connecticut:
This game is a perfect example of what the college basketball fan must love about the New Big East. It is one of those games that you can sit back and watch and learn a lot about two teams, coaches and programs at the elite level of college basketball. It should be a tremendous battle of two of the highest scoring teams in the league, but two teams that take such pride in defense, intensity and rebounding as well.
As we all know, this is also a game featuring two teams that were in the news quite often in the off season for matters that were taking place off the court. Of course, Bob Huggins will not be roaming the sideline for the Cincinnati Bearcats, it will be interim head coach Andy Kennedy. The Bearcats have surpassed all expectations thus far with a 10-game winning streak and a 13-2 recird, which includes a pair of conference wins over other Conference USA alums Marquette and DePaul. They are not a very deep team, especially upfront and an ankle injury suffered by Eric Hicks in their last game against Marquette is something of a concern. Hicks was in obvious pain on the Bradley Center floor after turning his ankle, but returned to finish the game. It is a short turnaround and no doubt, the ankle will be tender, so this is a development to watch tonight as the Bearcats only have Hicks, 6'7 JUCO JR Cedric McGowan and 6'10 NAIA JR transfer Ronald Allen available to battle the UConn front line that can shuttle players in and out.
Freshmen Devan Downey handles the PG duties for UC and will be under the microscope tonight in trying to keep his team in rhythm against the usual relentless pressure to run put on by Connecticut. He will be flanked on the perimeter by seniors Armien Kirkland and James White, while off the bench comes another pair of seniors Chadd Moore and Jihad Muhammad. White leads the team in scoring at 17.5 PPG and Hicks is second with 15 PPG and a team leading 9 rebounds a contest. Downey adds 14 PPG and a team high 4 assists/game. As a team, the Bearcats shoot an outstanding 79% from the line and 41% from beyond the arc while averaging around 83 PPG and giving up around 69 PPG.
For Connecticut, this might be the night we see Marcus Williams return to the starting line-up. Of course it was Williams that kept UConn on the front pages this summer for his role in a scheme to pawn stolen campus laptops. Williams has played the last two games for the Huskies after his one semester suspension and seems poised to take back his expected amount of time from freshmen Craig Austrie at the point guard spot. He is also recovering from being ill in the past week, too. Denham Brown has been slowed by a sore knee of late and the Huskies will likely round out their starting line-up with Rudy Gay (16 PPG), Josh Boone (10 PPG, 6.5 rebounds) and Hilton Armstrong (9 PPG). Rashad Anderson is their second leading scorer and comes off the bench, averaging 15.5 PPG and shoots 49% from 3-pt land. The Huskies love to run and average nearly 85 PPG and give up around 65 PPG, although, they have not played the type of schedule Cincinnati has tested themselves with.
Both teams have played LSU as a non-conference opponent with Connecticut rallying for a 67-66 win at home on Saturday and the Bearcats rallied for a neutral floor vicotry on Las Vegas last month, 75-72. They each played at Marquette in the last week and Connecticut got caught in the Steve Noval storm for a 94-79 loss and the Bearcats rode Erick Hicks triple double and strong defense limiting the Golden Eagles to just 20 second half points in a 70-66 win.
It will be interesting to see tonight how UConn handles the physical presence of Cincinnati, something they have had trouble with in the past is a player like Hicks (Chevon Troutman last year). However, Hick's ankle could limit some of the explosiveness he needs to battle the taller, deeper UConn front line.
UConn also seems a bit of of sync offensively with all the players being run in and out of the line-up. This is not unusual for Jim Calhoun and he seems to be willing his team to come up with the extra effort, especially on defense. This does lead to some performances that are a little less than special early in conference play.
Tonight is Big Monday and I do look for Connecticut to look a little more in-sync and play more consistently. I do think James White and a healthy Eric Hicks pose an interesting test and will put pressure on UConn in the areas they might be susceptible. However, on the road, Cincinnati might just not have enough depth tonight playing on such a short turn-around. It will be an interesting game to see if Rudy Gay can outplay James White, if he does, UConn could win easily, if not, it could come down to the wire. I think they play to a draw and UConn overall is just a bit too much.
NBE Blogger Prediction:
Connecticut 77 Cincinnati 69 (UConn is listed as 7.5-pt favorite)
Please leave YOUR predictions in the comments section!
An exciting way to kick off another season of ESPN's Big Monday as the Connecticut Huskies will host Andy Kennedy and the red host Cincinnati Bearcats. Here are the links from around the internet we have found:
Hicks Up for Tilt with UConn (Record-Journal)
Tightened Defense Helps UConn Break Malaise (Norwich Bulletin)
Armstrong Can't Be Ignored (Hartford Courant)
Taking on the New Cats (Hartford Courant)
Cincinnati Next Big East Foe for UConn (Danbury News Times Live)
Cincinnati Thrives With Kennedy in Office (New Britain Herald)
Big East for Real Tonight (Cincy Post)
Limping Hicks: I'll Play Tonight (Cincy Post)
Hicks Says Ankle is Fine (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Physical Challenge Ahead for UConn with Bearcats (Waterbury Republican American)
Calhoun, Disappointed, Keeps Boos in Perspective (Connecticut Post)
As with any Connecticut game, plenty of excellent coverage available. For our preview and prediction, read on below after we recap the weekend that was in the Big East...
READ MORE...CLICK "Read Rest of Article" BELOW
RE-capping the Weekend's Predictions:
On Saturday, we had four conference games to follow. First up was an old Conference USA rivalry and it lived up the the pregame hype. Marquette jetted out to a 10-pt half time lead before Cincinnati mounted their comeback to pull out a 70-66 lead. The NBE Blogger predicted that the 4.5-pt favorite Bearcats would get the road win by 3 (75-72) so it was a win outright and with the points for NBE Blogger. The NBE Blogger went with the home team next as DePaul was a 1-pt underdog against Notre Dame on their home floor. Notre Dame seemed to still have their minds in Pittsburgh as DePaul raced to a 23-6 lead, only to see ND tie it midway through the first half. DePaul re-grouped and won 73-67 and the NBE Blogger, who picked DePaul to win by 2 (67-65) had another win and cover. The battle of New Jersey also took place on Saturday afternoon and it was not the anticipated defensive struggle the NBE Blogger figured it to be with his prediction of Rutgers winning by 13 (68-55). Rutgers won, but only by 4, 82-78 (as 7-pt favorites) so, the NBE Blogger had a win, but no cover. Capping off Saturday was Rick Pitino's return to Providence and the 4-pt favorite Cards we the pick of NBE Blogger (77-66). It was closer than expected as UL scored the last 6 pts to pull out a 72-67 win, but it was enough to get the NBE Blogger the win and cover for a 4-0 day outright and 3-1 against the spread.
On Sunday, computer issues prevented us previewing and making prediction on WVU's thrilling 91-87 win over Villanova and Syracuse's 63-57 win over USF, which might have been a good thing ;). We did get a chance to provide a prediction on the Georgetown/SJU game and we went with the 3-pt favorite Hoyas to win by 9 (62-53). We did not expect the offensive showing each team would put forth, but the Hoyas 74-65 win was good for the win and cover making it a 5-0 weekend with outright winners and 4-1 against the spread and making the first week record: 11-1 outright picking winners and 8-4 against the spread.
Cincinnati @ Connecticut:
This game is a perfect example of what the college basketball fan must love about the New Big East. It is one of those games that you can sit back and watch and learn a lot about two teams, coaches and programs at the elite level of college basketball. It should be a tremendous battle of two of the highest scoring teams in the league, but two teams that take such pride in defense, intensity and rebounding as well.
As we all know, this is also a game featuring two teams that were in the news quite often in the off season for matters that were taking place off the court. Of course, Bob Huggins will not be roaming the sideline for the Cincinnati Bearcats, it will be interim head coach Andy Kennedy. The Bearcats have surpassed all expectations thus far with a 10-game winning streak and a 13-2 recird, which includes a pair of conference wins over other Conference USA alums Marquette and DePaul. They are not a very deep team, especially upfront and an ankle injury suffered by Eric Hicks in their last game against Marquette is something of a concern. Hicks was in obvious pain on the Bradley Center floor after turning his ankle, but returned to finish the game. It is a short turnaround and no doubt, the ankle will be tender, so this is a development to watch tonight as the Bearcats only have Hicks, 6'7 JUCO JR Cedric McGowan and 6'10 NAIA JR transfer Ronald Allen available to battle the UConn front line that can shuttle players in and out.
Freshmen Devan Downey handles the PG duties for UC and will be under the microscope tonight in trying to keep his team in rhythm against the usual relentless pressure to run put on by Connecticut. He will be flanked on the perimeter by seniors Armien Kirkland and James White, while off the bench comes another pair of seniors Chadd Moore and Jihad Muhammad. White leads the team in scoring at 17.5 PPG and Hicks is second with 15 PPG and a team leading 9 rebounds a contest. Downey adds 14 PPG and a team high 4 assists/game. As a team, the Bearcats shoot an outstanding 79% from the line and 41% from beyond the arc while averaging around 83 PPG and giving up around 69 PPG.
For Connecticut, this might be the night we see Marcus Williams return to the starting line-up. Of course it was Williams that kept UConn on the front pages this summer for his role in a scheme to pawn stolen campus laptops. Williams has played the last two games for the Huskies after his one semester suspension and seems poised to take back his expected amount of time from freshmen Craig Austrie at the point guard spot. He is also recovering from being ill in the past week, too. Denham Brown has been slowed by a sore knee of late and the Huskies will likely round out their starting line-up with Rudy Gay (16 PPG), Josh Boone (10 PPG, 6.5 rebounds) and Hilton Armstrong (9 PPG). Rashad Anderson is their second leading scorer and comes off the bench, averaging 15.5 PPG and shoots 49% from 3-pt land. The Huskies love to run and average nearly 85 PPG and give up around 65 PPG, although, they have not played the type of schedule Cincinnati has tested themselves with.
Both teams have played LSU as a non-conference opponent with Connecticut rallying for a 67-66 win at home on Saturday and the Bearcats rallied for a neutral floor vicotry on Las Vegas last month, 75-72. They each played at Marquette in the last week and Connecticut got caught in the Steve Noval storm for a 94-79 loss and the Bearcats rode Erick Hicks triple double and strong defense limiting the Golden Eagles to just 20 second half points in a 70-66 win.
It will be interesting to see tonight how UConn handles the physical presence of Cincinnati, something they have had trouble with in the past is a player like Hicks (Chevon Troutman last year). However, Hick's ankle could limit some of the explosiveness he needs to battle the taller, deeper UConn front line.
UConn also seems a bit of of sync offensively with all the players being run in and out of the line-up. This is not unusual for Jim Calhoun and he seems to be willing his team to come up with the extra effort, especially on defense. This does lead to some performances that are a little less than special early in conference play.
Tonight is Big Monday and I do look for Connecticut to look a little more in-sync and play more consistently. I do think James White and a healthy Eric Hicks pose an interesting test and will put pressure on UConn in the areas they might be susceptible. However, on the road, Cincinnati might just not have enough depth tonight playing on such a short turn-around. It will be an interesting game to see if Rudy Gay can outplay James White, if he does, UConn could win easily, if not, it could come down to the wire. I think they play to a draw and UConn overall is just a bit too much.
NBE Blogger Prediction:
Connecticut 77 Cincinnati 69 (UConn is listed as 7.5-pt favorite)
Please leave YOUR predictions in the comments section!
posted by NBE Blogger @ 2:27 PM
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