CINCINNATI COLLAPSE COMPLETE, LOSSES TO DEPAUL

March 10, 2009


The first 16-seed to ever play in the Big East Tournament became the first one ever to win a game in the conference tournament as DePaul turns back Cincinnati, 67-57, in Madison Square Garden.

After an 0-18 Big East regular season, DePaul Finally Wins a Game (NY Times) against Big East competition at the expense of the Bearcats. Will Walker continued his hot scoring streak over the last 10 games by scoring 17, which shared team-high honors with Dar Tucker who made the necessary free-throws to keep the thought of a comeback out of the minds of the UC players. Mac Koshwal and Jeremiak Kelly both scored 12 points a piece.

The madness of March has officially begun as DePaul Upsets Cincinnati (Cincinnati Enquirer), handing the Bearcats their sixth loss in their last seven contests. The last three at the hands of South Florida, Seton Hall and now DePaul. Not exactly what Mick Cronin had in mind for his team when they could have pushed for a 2009 NCAA Tournament bid if not for their collapse of the last week.

Deonta Vaughn was the only Bearcat in double figures, finishing with 15 points.

BET GAME PREVIEW: DEPAUL VS. CINCINNATI

March 10, 2009


The biggest Big East Tournament ever tips off today at noon in Madison Square Garden with Cincinnati, the conference's 9th seed, battling DePaul.

The expansion of the conference tournament to include all 16 teams gives the Blue Demons a chance to compete in the Garden Party despite their 0-18 conference record. Jerry Wainwright and his crew have been bad in every aspect of the game this season. They completed their 0-18 conference on Saturday evening with a 48-40 loss at Georgetown. Guard Will Walker led the way for the Blue Demons with 20 points on 9-23 shooting. In 39 minutes, Walker also added 6 steals, but zero assists. Leading scorer Dar Tucker was 3-18 from the floor and added one assist. As a team, DePaul registered three assists and big man Mac Koshwal was 1-2 from the field in 32 minutes. He did have a game-high 12 rebounds, but with Walker and Tucker gunning away from the perimeter, Koshwal goes ignored in the paint.

One month ago Cincinnati was 17-8 overall and 7-5 in the Big East. With a few solid non-conference win, the Bearcats were appearing on the right side of several 2009 NCAA Tournament bubble projections. However, losses in five of their last six, including NCAA crushing defeats to South Florida and Seton Hall last week has left the Bearcats once again limping into the post-season. Last season, UC was 8-5 in the Big East before losing their last five conference contests and closed the season on a seven-game losing streak.


Here are some pregame stories and previews on today's game:

DePaul vs Cincinnati Match-up (Chicago Tribune)
Opportunity at Hand (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Will DePaul Cure UC? (Cincinnati Enquirer)
A Victory in the Big East Would Make DePaul's Season (Chicago Tribune)

These two former Conference USA rivals met in mid-January with Cincinnati escaping with a 59-55 win at Allstate Arena. DePaul lost 16 of their 18 Big East contests by 8 points or more, so the earlier match-up with UC was one of their better chances to win.

Dar Tucker led DePaul with over 18 points a game, but Will Walker has been hot of late, scoring 51 of the Blue Demons'103 total points in the last two games. Over the course of his last 10 games, Walker is averaging 18.8 a game while connecting on 37 three's in that span.

But, after Tucker and Walker, nobody else seems to get many scoring opportunities. Six-foot-10 Mac Koshwal is seldom used in the paint, despite averaging 12.6 points and 10 rebounds a game while shooting 53% from the field.

Cincinnati comes limping into New York City as they continue to look for their first win in the conference tournament since joining the Big East. Their lone win in their last six games came against West Virginia in the emotional return of Bob Huggins to Cincinnati. However, they were unable to gain any momentum from that win as they turned around to be blown out at Syracuse just a few days later and then lost to USF and SHU to close the regular season.

Junior Deonta Vaughn is the UC leading scorer at 15 points a game and doubles as their point guard. That double duty seems to be taking a great toll on him as his scoring has dipped to just 10.5 points a game in their six-game slump.

UC did get a little healthier for the SHU game as Mike Williams returned to the line-up and added 11 points while playing 39 minutes after missing two weeks of action with a knee injury.

college basketball betting odds have UC as an 8 1/2-point favorite in the opening game. I would be surprised if there is a lot of energy in the building as neither team is likely to draw much of a crowd, so look for DePaul to stick around and put up a good fight.


NBE Blogger Prediction:

Cincinnati 61
DePaul 56

CINCINNATI LOOKS TO EVEN BIG EAST RECORD IN FINALE

March 7 , 2009


Cincinnati will host Seton Hall in the Big East regular season finale for both teams on Saturday afternoon. The Bearcats will look to finish the regular season at .500 (9-9) in the Big East and hold out hope that a few wins next week in the 2009 Big East Tournament will get them back into the NCAA Tournament discussion.

For Seton Hall, hopes of at least an NIT bid seem to be fading and a loss in this contest will certainly put those dreams to rest. The Pirates are 6-11 in the Big East, losers of five of their last six, and 15-14 overall.

Here are some pregame stories and previews found on the internet:

Unusual Senior Day for UC (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Bearcats Plan Includes more Fans (Cincinnati Enquirer)

This game will bring a contrast of style as Seton Hall will look to push the pace and outscore their opponent while Cincinnati will work for good shots and create opportunities with their defense.

One area Seton Hall can exploit Cincinnati is with their fullcourt press. The Bearcats are a little short on ballhandlers as Deonta Vaughn is forced to double as the point guard and top scoring threat, leaving him surrounded by young backcourt mates that could get in a hurry as Seton Hall pushes the pace towards frantic levels.

On the other hand, SHU does not have much depth inside and Yancy Gates is a strong freshman in the paint that could have a very big game. Even with the absence of Mike Williams, UC has size and depth in the paint.

The Pirates will have Jeremy Hazell bombing away from the outside with Eugene Harvey breaking down the defense and Robert Mitchell scoring in a variety of ways. This is a game with the amount of offensive talent SHU has, they can compete and even win if they were to dedicate themselves on defense and finding one more player to help on the boards inside.

However, in the season finale, expect the home team to be able to play the game on their terms and this will lead to a win for UC.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Cincinnati 73
Seton Hall 67

POP GOES THE NCAA'S FOR CINCINNATI

March 4, 2009

This one is going to hurt Mick Cronin and his Cincinnati squad as the Bubble Bursts for the Bearcats (Cincinnati Enquirer) in an inexcuseable 70-59 loss at South Florida Tuesday night.

USF rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to outscore UC 46-30 in the second half. This offensive explosion came from a Bulls squad that looked gassed in Sunday's home loss to West Virginia. In that game South Florida managed just 50 points in the full game, only four points more than their second half output in a game the Bearcats HAD to have.

Dominique Jones led the Bulls with 30 points as USF used a 17-2 run over seven minutes to turn a 50-46 deficit into a 63-52 lead with just 1:08 left in the game. Jones also added a team-high 8 rebounds and dished out 5 assists in a dominating performance. Augustus Gilchrist added 13 and point guard Chris Howard was credited with 10 assists without committing a single turnover in the game.


The loss was a devastating blow to the Bearcats who now could be faced with having to win the 2009 Big East Tournament next week in Madison Square Garden for any chance at making the NCAA Tournament. Their blowout loss at Syracuse on Sunday and the loss to USF puts them at 8-9 in the Big East with Seton Hall coming to Fifth Third Arena to close out the regular season this weekend.

UC was without starting forward Mike Williams again. They did manage to eat West Virginia with their 6'7 forward, who is out with a sprained knee. However, USF has plenty of their own injury issues (no Jesus Verdejo), and the Bearcats simply failed to get it done.

Yancy Gates had a team-high 14 points. Like the Syracuse loss, UC struggled shooting the ball, connecting on just 37% of their shots from the field and were 7-32 from beyond the three-point arc as they look to have shot away the chance at the NCAA Tournament.

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: CINCINNATI @ SOUTH FLORIDA

March 3, 2009



Here it is for Cincinnati. The Bearcats are 8-8 in the Big East and 18-11 overall. They have a pair of 'winnable' games to close out the Big East regular season before heading to NYC next week for the 2009 Big East Tournament with a road game against South Florida and a home date with Seton Hall on Saturday. Is 10-8 and 20-11 good enough? Well, probably not. However, UC could benefit by playing the #9-#16 game in the Big East Tournament and then get a shot at fellow bubble mate Providence in an 8-9 contest.

The Bearcats could have helped themselves a great deal on Saturday, but they failed to even complete against Syracuse in the Dome. Coming off an important win over West Virginia on Thursday, UC was run out of the Dome from the start against Syracuse as Mick Cronin's squad did not come ready to play. The Bearcats are Running out of Excuses (Cincinnati Enquirer) because their next loss could very well be fatal to their slim NCAA Tournament chances, especially if that loss comes anytime prior to next Wednesday in NYC.

Tonight UC takes on a USF team that might barely have enough gas in the tank to suit up tonight in the Sun Dome. The Beleaguered Bulls Limp into the Big East Tournament (Tampa Tribune) and the final week of the regular season as a team ready to shut things down. Injuries and preseason acadmic casualties and a mass exodus of players from last year has left this team taped at the sides to stay together. The end is near and, while USF has shown grit in competing, there is simply not enough bullets left in the gun to snag a win down the stretch.

With all to play for, Cincinnati looks to be the team that will be ready to go and as a 3 1/2-point road favorite according to the college basketball lines today, they should be able to keep their name in the NCAA Tournament mix.


NBE Blogger Prediction:

Cincinnati 68
South Florida 59

BEARCATS LOSE GROUND ON NCAA BID

March 2, 2009

Coming off the emotion and tense win over West Virginia and former coach Bob Huggins on Thursday night, Cincinnati looked to have little left in the tank on Sunday afternoon when they visited Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.

After the win against WVU gave the Bearcats their eighth win in their last 12 games, they were hoping to show some hunger in a push to make the Big Dance. However, UC Loses Appetite for Tourney (Cincinnati Enquirer) and pushed their backs against in a quest for a bid as SU Bears Down (Syracuse Post-Standard) expecting UC's best shot. Instead, the Bearcats misfired early and often as the Orange cruise to an 87-63 win.

It was not even that close. The Bearcats Were Knocked to the Canvas Early and Often (Post-Standard) as SU raced to a 19-4 lead in the opening minutes, stretched it to 40-17 at the half and 54-21 in the opening minutes of the second half.

Jonny Flynn led five Orange players in double figures with 17 and Paul Harris (16), Rick Jackson (13), Eric Devendorf (13) and Arinze Onuaku also reached double figures.

The Bearcats did themselves no favor with the embarrasing loss on Sunday. They were playing without starting power forward Mike Williams and their depth took another hit as an Alvin Mitchell Hard Foul on Paul Harris Leads to an Ejection (Post-Standard).

UC leading scorer Deonta Vaughn scored all 11 of his points in the final six minutes of the game when the outcome was already well decided. Freshman Dion Dixon led UC with 18 points.

Cincinnati is now 8-8 in the Big East and closed with a pair of winnable games this week, at South Florida and home against Seton Hall, ahead of the 2009 Big East Tournament next week. Right now, their two losses to Providence may be very hard to overcome on selection Sunday without putting some distance between themselves and PC while in NYC next week.