BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: CINCINNATI @ PITTSBURGH

February 27, 2008



Pittsburgh has lost three straight games and looks to right the ship tonight when the Cincinnati Bearcats come to the Peterson Events Center. The Bearcats beat Pitt early this season in Cincinnati, 62-59, and hold a one-game lead on the Panthers in the standings.

Here are the local media previews and game stories for tonight's contest:


Bearcats Playing for Position (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Slumping Panthers Look to Rebound (Post-Gazette)
Defense, Rebounding Costing Pitt (Beaver County Times)
Prolonged Shooting Slump Perplexes Pitt (Tribune-Review)

Following losses at Marquette, at Notre Dame and to Louisville on Sunday the Panthers look to bounce back and avenge an early loss tonight when they host Cincinnati in Pittsburgh. Earlier this season, the Bearcats used a physical defense, aggressive rebounding and a timely 13-0 run to break a second half tie to hold on for a 62-59 win over Pittsburgh.

Against Louisville, Levance Fields started for the first time since breaking a bone in his foot on December 29th and played 37 turnover-free minutes. Fields also added 7 assists. It is clear that the junior point guard is not yet close to 100%, especially defensively or with his shot, but he is getting healthier and is the player that definitely makes the Panther offense go. In their loss to Louiville, it was not their offense, but their defense that struggled. Facing Cincinnati, who is struggling scoring points, could be a nice tonic for what ails the Panthers.

However, it will not be easy as the Bearcats will keep the pace down and have a dynamic scorer in Deonta Vaughn to lean on. The emergence of forward John Williamson as a reliable second option offensively has also been a big key in taking some pressure off of Vaughn. Defensively, UC will likely show a lot of zone looks trying to force Pitt to beat them from the outside and settle for perimeter jump shots. This is a good gamble against the Panthers who are very streaky from the outside.

Sam Young and DeJuan Blair each scored 20 points against Louisville with Fields delivering the ball to them in position to score. Young continues to score inside and out and he was the one Panther UC could not stop in the first meeting. Blair found himself in foul trouble earlier this year against Cincinnati and Pitt must have him on the floor as much as possible for them to be at their best.

The oddsmakers have made Pitt an 11.5-pt favorite. I do think Pitt wins, but in what I expect to be a low-scoring game, I think Cincinnati stays within that large spread.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Pittsburgh 69 Cincinnati 61

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: SOUTH FLORIDA @ CINCINNATI

February 20, 2008


The surprising Cincinnati Bearcats look for their 8th win in the Big East while the South Florida Bulls are still in search of their first ever Big East road victory when the two teams meet tonight in Cincinnati.

Here are the local media game previews and stories:

USF Center lacks Hype, Not Stats (Cincinnati Enquirer)
USF Hoops to Appear on ESPNU (Bradenton Herald)
Vaughn Hopes to Shake Slump (Enquirer)


The Cincinnati Bearcats are 7-5 in the Big East and are in the thick of the conference race coming off consecutive wins over Rutgers and St. John's. UC will welcome South Florida in to town tonight prior to road games with Georgetown and Pittsburgh next on their schedule.

Mick Cronin has gotten his team to buy into the mindset that defense wins basketball games. In their last outing, the Bearcats held St. John's to 43 points in a 60-43 win. The 43 points was not even their best defensive effort in a Big East game this season, UC limited West Virginia to 39 earlier this year.

Offensively the main man all season has been Deonta Vaughn. However, the sophomore guard has struggled a bit in the last two games but senior forward John Williamson has picked up the slack giving UC another scoring threat. Williamson has ecplipsed the 20-pt mark in each of the last two games.

The Bulls game within 0:00.2 of sweeping a two-game homestand with Syracuse and Connecticut. After whipping the Orange 89-78, the Bulls led for much of th egame against UConn on Saturday before falling in overtime on a last second off-balance runner by Craig Austrie.

Now, the Bulls will look to do something they have never done while in the Big East, win on the road. The Bearcats have made 5th and Third Arena a tough place to play once again, so it will not be easy for USF. The Bulls will look inside to their horse, Kentreall Gransberry for points and outside to freshman Dominique Jones. Those two often carry the offensive burden for USF, but their recent improved play has been the result from added contributions from wing Jesus Verdejo. Still, the Bulls lack depth at the forward spot and John Williamson is likely to take advantage of that weakness.

I do think the Bulls will show well in this game. The Bearcats are 7.5-pt favorites and they should win, although I see it being a little closer than anticipated.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Cincinnati 63 South Florida 60

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: ST. JOHN'S @ CINCINNATI

February 13, 2008


The theme continues tonight with Cincinnati looking to avenge an early defeat on the road to St. John's. The Redstorm beat Mick Cronin's Bearcats 70-58 earlier this season in Queens and now UC will look to even the season series at home.

Here are the local media pregame previews and stories on tonight's match-up:

Cronin Finds Kindrid Spirit (Cincinnati Enquirer)


Don't look now, but Norm Roberts and St. John's blow into Cincinnati riding a three game winning streak. Two of those wins have come on the road (South Florida and Rutgers) and their last two, including a thrilling win over Providence on Saturday, have come with leading scorer Anthony Mason out with an ankle injury.

While Mason has been out, the Redstorm have seem the re-emergence of shooting guard Larry Wright. The sophomore scored 16 in the win over PC and is averaging over 14 in the three-game winning streak.

Prior to the three-game rally, St. John's only had one conference victory, and that came over the Bearcats early in January. Since that game, the Redstorm has been a team languishing near the bottom of the standing fighting for a bid to the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden while the Bearcats have stayed around the upper half of the standings. Sitting at 6-5 with home games against St. John's and South Florida in their next two games, the Bearcats can solidify their position with a win tonight.

The Redstorm have picked it up on the defensive end of the court and they have the ability to be a tough defensive team. Sometimes it takes time for a young group to learn to maintain that intensity on defense, but over the last three games they seem to be coming around.

Cincinnati is also winning games in a similar fashion. They are not going to score a lot of points on most nights and rely on Deonta Vaughn a great deal for their offense. John Williamson is a tough forward as well. This promises to be a low-scoring affair and could come down to the wire.

The Bearcats are 6.5-pt favorites and should be able to pull it out in the end, but a confident SJU squad is likely to give them a tough battle as St. John's looks to sweep the season series.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Cincinnati 64 St. John's 59

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: CINCINNATI @ RUTGERS

February 9, 2008


It is always interesting to see how a team gets themselves back off the mat. Well, that is the challenge for Rutgers after they were embarrased at home by a short-handed St. John's squad, scoring just 14 points in the first half, during a 52-45 loss on Wednesday night.

Cincinnati has been off a week since losing at home, 75-60, to Marquette. Coach Mick Cronin publicly criticized his team for their poor practices leading up to the game as they were getting too cocky and their play in practice carried over to the game. Now, they are rested and I am sure coach Cronin has reeled them in a bit following their loss last time out.

Rutgers remains a bit of a mystery. Sure, on paper, they definitely look to be a bottom-quarter team in the Big East. However, I have felt they should be competing better than they are. Following a 37-point loss at Louisville with their horrid display on their home floor against Rutgers has me questioning their dedication of several of their players. Their junior trip of Anthony Farmer, Jaron Griffin and JR Inman should, at least, be solid Big East contributers and mixing with promising youngsters Corey Chandler and Mike Coburn, be enough to steal some wins at home and compete much better on the road. Yes, they are not deep and more than not, that will cost them games in the Big East, but the lack of effort in several games has been startling and has to be driving Fred Hill crazy.

For the most part, Cincinnati has been the opposit this season. They have played hard and have played tough. Several players have put aside their dreams of being big time scorers and have bought into the defense and team-first mantra that coach Cronin is selling to them. They have a dynamic scorer, Deonta Vaughn, who is capable of putting up big scoring nights. The rest of the team might not be that talented offensively, and Cronin could shuttle in and out 11 players looking to eek as much offense out of the group as possible to win, but they all will work hard on defense and hit the boards.

The trouble for Cincinnati is finding someone else to score besides Vaughn. He will certainly be the target to stop for Rutgers and if they are wise, they would play a box and one on him and try to see if anyone else is capable of scoring.

The good news for UC, they do have someone capable of scoring while we are not sure if Rutgers does. I know several players have the potential to score and score in this conference, we just are not seeing it.

I really think Rutgers can buckle down and get a win here at the RAC. But, until they show that they want to get their hands dirty and step up and make shots, I am going to say Deonta Vaughn makes just enough to pull out a tough one.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Cincinnati 58 Rutgers 57

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: MARQUETTE @ CINCINNATI

February 2, 2008


Saturday's action with an extremely interesting game to dissect. Marquette hits the road to meet the Bearcats of Cincinnati in a Big East battle that was a heated C-USA rivalry previously. Marquette is coming off an uninspiring 62-54 win over South Florida. Marquette has not been shooting the ball well lately and they have virtually given up any hope of an inside game.

Cincinnati is coming off a stunning 62-39 win at West Virginia. The victory was definitely a surprise, but the complete offensive meltdown by the Mountaineers was historical in nature. Cincinnati limited WVU to 10-50 shooting from the field and 1-20 from the 3-pt arc.

Marquette has yet to win on the road in Big East play. They have lost at West Virginia, Louisville and Connecticut and none of the games have been really close. The loss at WVU was close throughout until a late run by WVU made it look worse than it was, but by the same token, the 16-pt loss to UConn was not nearly that close.

What has made Cincinnati so tough is that they have embraced the defensive-first mentality that Mick Cronin has gotten them to use to win games. This is not an extremely talented group offensively, but they are athletic and strong at most positions. They have some experience and a lot of youth, but they have found a style that works to win games and have used it well.

Their big threat offensively is Deonta Vaughn who can put up some relly big scoring numbers. He will be matched against the tough Marquette backcourt and this could slow him down. When Vaughn is struggling to score points, Cincinnati also struggles. The Bearcats have continued to win, however, because they have brought forth the effort defensively and on the boards more consistently than last season.

Rebounding is a big area of concern for Tom Crean when it comes to his club. In fact, it looks like he has just given up, for the most part, in trying to find a big man that will defend the post and rebound and is now using a line-up of his three stud guards and a couple wing forwards, Lazar Hayward and Dan Fitzgerald, in the frontcourt to fill most of the minutes. The backcourt is deep with Maurice Acker and David Cubillan behind Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Mathews and they will look to hound Vaughn on the perimeter and make life difficult for Jamual Warren handling the ball. UC will try and make this group beat them from shooting outside and will likely to go zone to stop the dribble penetration of the MU guards. The Golden Eagles will have to prove to teams they can make the shots to defeat a zone.

I see this game being played right into the hands of Cincinnait. Low pace, low scoring with the Bearcats and Golden Eagles in a race to get to 60. Cincinnati won at Louisville playing this style and beat Pittsburgh at home in this manner.

Marquette is going to come motivated for a road win. Being 0-3 on the road in the Big East has many questioning the quality of the team. I think they will produce enough offense from their defense to pull the game out, but it will be the proverbial Big East 'rock fight', I am sure.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Marquette 61 Cincinnati 58