BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Cincinnati @ Syracuse

January 17, 2007



Things are going badly for Cincinnati and now they have to endure a road trip to the Carrier Dome to play the surging Orange in a Big East conference game. Cincinnati is still in search of their first conference win under Mick Cronin and must face the man with the most Big East wins, Jom Boeheim.


Here are the pregame stories and rpeviews from the internet:

Orange's Harris Still Quite Green (Cincinnati Post)
UC Trying to Turn Up It's Offense (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Bearcats Starting from Scratch (Post-Standard)
Bearcats Test Syracuse (AP article)


Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.

READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW


You know your at rock-bottom when you are coming off a home loss to Rutgers and a 15-pt loss at South Florida. In the midst of their first four-game losing streak in 19 years, things do not look to get any brighter with Syracuse (tonight), West Virginia (Saturday) and Pittsburgh and Georgetown next week. The Bearcats are struggling to score in Big East games, averaging just 52 pts in their three conference games. Playing against the Syracuse 2-3 zone will pose another new challenge for the Bearcats.

At Syracuse, things are looking up. After a conference opening loss at the hands of Pittsburgh, the Orange have won three in a row, including impressive double-digit wins over Marquette and Villanova. Demetris Nichols looked like the player that was leading the Big East in scoring in the pre-conference season, pouring in 23 pts against the Wildcats and Terrence Roberts had his best game of the season with 17 pts and 14 rebounds.

Neither team has much depth, but Syracuse is clearly the better team and they have the size to make it very difficult for the Bearcats to score and the zone will force many long shots from a team that does not shoot it very well. Coming off their bottom, I expect Cincinnati to put forth a strong effort, but winning at the Dome at this point in their rebuilding stage could be the longest of longshots for the 16-pt underdogs.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Syracuse 75 Cincinnati 60