March 11, 2010 –
by Brendon
NEW YORK — There are many ways to skin a cat, an unnecessarily gory person once noted. Similarly, there’s more than one way to score points in a basketball game. The Bearcats showed that an offense can be effective without making many shots, because they utterly destroyed Louisville on the glass, re-gaining more than half of their misses to stun the Cardinals, 69-66, on Wednesday night.
“So the last two nights, we have had 69 shot attempts and 72 tonight,” said Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin, whose team attempted 17 more field goals and eight more free throws than Louisville. “We can rebound the ball when we get shots off.”
In the first half alone, UC had 18 offensive rebounds. Shot after shot deflected off the hands of Louisville players and either out of bounds or into the waiting arms of Bearcats. In the first 20 minutes, though, it didn’t appear that Cincy’s backboard dominance would matter a bit, since it shot an abysmal 31.3 eFG and committed seven turnovers. Meanwhile, Louisville hit 6-of-9 3-pointers to take a 41-32 lead into intermission.
In the second half, though, Louisville went cold, and the Cards eventually succumbed to Cincinnati’s irrepressible offensive rebounding.
| Team |
Poss |
PPP |
eFG |
Turn |
Reb |
FTR |
| Cincinnati |
66 |
1.05 |
0.375 |
0.183 |
0.538 |
0.208 |
| Louisville |
66 |
1.01 |
0.527 |
0.183 |
0.257 |
0.145 |
After taking a 46-34 lead on a long jumper from Edgar Sosa with 18:38 left in the second half, UofL scored just seven points in the next 12 game minutes, a total of 19 possessions. Read More »
November 25, 2009 –
by Brendon
For the fourth time in five years, a Big East team will play in the final of one of the best early-season tournaments, the Maui Invitational. While the tournament isn’t officially seeded, the Cincinnati came in as the presumptive No. 5 seed and has since defeated nationally-ranked Vanderbilt and Maryland in impressive fashion.
In the final for the Maui Invitational, the Bearcats will take on Gonzaga, who squeaked by Colorado and then took down Wisconsin in the semis. Disparities in free-throw shooting and rebounding could determine the outcome. Here’s a preview of what could be the Big East’s third major tournament victory of the young season.
Cincinnati is off to a 4-0 start because of its interior. The Bearcats have dominated both glasses, especially the offensive one, in the early going. Yancy Gates (15.2 percent offensive-rebounding rate), Steve Toyloy (12.9) and, surprisingly, 6-foot-3 Dion Dixon (10.1) have been terrific in getting the Bearcats second chances, and it’s a good thing, because UC is shooting at just a 48.7 percent eFG. They’ve needed the extra possessions that offensive rebounding brings. Read More »
Posted in Big East, Mid-Majors, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged A.J. Ogilvy, Adam Morrison, Big East, Cashmere Wright, Cincinnati, Colorado, Demetri Goodson, Deonta Vaughn, Dion Dixon, Elias Harris, G.J. Vilarino, Gonzaga, Jeffrey Taylor, Lance Stephenson, Larry Davis, Mark Few, Maryland, Matt Bouldin, Maui Invitational, Mick Cronin, Rashad Bishop, Robert Sacre, Steve Gray, Steve Toyloy, Vanderbilt, West Coast Conference, Wisconsin, Yancy Gates
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November 17, 2009 –
by Brendon
We waited a long time for Lance Stephenson’s debut, and we’ll need to wait a bit longer to witness Stephenson’s first good performance. The prep standout shot just 2-for-10, grabbed four rebounds and didn’t contribute maybe tangible peripherals (steals, assists, blocks) in 22 minutes of Cincinnati’s 69-62 win over Prairie View A&M on Monday night.
Stephenson’s poor shooting helped contribute to a first-half deficit that stood at 38-30. Cincinnati had just a 37.1 percent eFG in the first half thanks primarily to 15 misses on 3-point shots in the opening 20 minutes. Mick Cronin’s team clamped down on defense in the second half, holding Prairie View to just 24 points thanks to Cincy’s superior size and talent. Yancy Gates and Steve Toyloy combined for 19 rebounds, including eight of teammates’ misses. Cincinnati has to be happy to have the victory, but it wasn’t a fortuitous start for Stephenson or for his coach, both of whom enter crucial seasons in their careers. Read More »
Posted in Big East
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Tagged Big East, Cincinnati, Deonta Vaughn, DePaul, Georgetown, James White, Lance Stephenson, Mick Cronin, Mike Williams, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Prairie View A&M, Seton Hall, Steve Toyloy, Syracuse, UAB, UNLV, USF, West Virginia, Yancy Gates
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March 4, 2009 –
by Brendon
In a league that has been criticized all season for having a soft underbelly, two Big East bubble teams went into the belly of the beast and didn’t live to tell about it. Cincinnati and Georgetown both blew second-half leads to lose to bottom-four Big East teams on Tuesday, and both now stare at very long roads to an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Red Storm overcomes drought, stuns Hoyas: Georgetown may have escaped Villanova with a win on Saturday, but no one who watched that game would have accused the Hoyas of playing well. Still, a win is a win, and with St. John’s and DePaul upcoming, the Hoyas didn’t figure to need their best performances to get to 8-10 in conference. But St. John’s had been playing better ball of late, and the Red Storm would have nothing to lose, and SJU didn’t lose, defeating Georgetown, 59-56 in overtime. Read More »
Posted in Big East, National Perspective, Reviews/Previews
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Tagged ACC, Alex Rivas, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Chris Wright, Cincinnati, D.J. Kennedy, DaJuan Summers, Dominique Jones, Don Criqui, Evan Turner, Georgetown, Greg Monroe, Gus Gilchrist, Iowa, Jason Clark, Jermain Davis, Justin Burrell, Justin Leemow, Kansas State, Malik Boothe, Maryland, Mick Cronin, Mountain West, New Mexico, Norm Roberts, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Paris Horne, Rob Morris, South Florida, St. John's, Stan Heath, Steve Alford, Tony Danridge, Travis Ford, Utah, Wake Forest
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February 2, 2009 –
by Brendon
Bracketing challenges: The distribution of seeds for the Big East continues to be a major hurdle for creating a balanced bracket. Here are the true seeds for the eight Big East teams in the field — 1, 2, 2, 2, 6, 6, 10, 11. That means that seven of the eight Big East teams should rightfully be placed in the bottom half of the four regions. But with only four spots, that means three teams have to move. This time, I moved two up — Villanova and Syracuse — and one down — Georgetown — at the expense of Minnesota and Dayton and to the benefit of Siena. If the Big East were to earn a ninth bid, then the job of bracketing the teams would actually become easier, because a ninth team would give me the flexibility to place one team in the same half of a region as another team from the league. Until then, though, no two teams from the same conference can be in the same group of eight.
The Bubble: There was a lot of movement on either side of the bubble but very little crossover. Georgetown, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State all stayed just in the field despite losses. All three teams were 0-2 last week and will have a tough time justifying a continuance with another loss. The schedule shifts in the favor of each team, so the three must take advantage. The Hoyas host Rutgers and the look for revenge against Cincinnati on Saturday. VaTech has the mid-week off before hosting Georgia Tech next Sunday. OSU hosts Texas Tech for what should be a brief respite before traveling to Kansas on the weekend. Read More »
Posted in Bracket Junkie, National Perspective
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Tagged A.J. Abrams, ACC, Baylor, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Billy Donovan, Bo Ryan, Butler, BYU, California, Calvin Booth, Chicago State, Cincinnati, Clemson, Connecticut, Connor Atchley, Dayton, Denis Clemente, DePaul, Dino Gaudio, Duke, East Tennessee State, Ed DeChellis, Florida, Frank Haith, Gary Johnson, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, Horizon, Illinois, Iman Shumpert, Indiana, Iowa, Jacksonville, Joe Crispin, John Beilein, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Lon Kruger, Louisville, Luke Harangody, Mark Turgeon, Marquette, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mick Cronin, Mid-Majors, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Mountain West, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Oliver Purnell, Oregon State, Pac-10, Penn State, Providence, Rick Barnes, Rutgers, San Diego, San Diego State, SEC, Siena, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Stephen F. Austin, Steve Fisher, Syracuse, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas Tech, Titus Ivory, UCLA, UNLV, USC, Villanova, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington, Wisconsin, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Wright State
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January 28, 2009 –
by Brendon
Wednesday night is typically when we hit the critical mass of games during the college basketball workweek, and this Wednesday’s slate gives the college basketball fan several chances to evaluate teams vying for the last handful of NCAA at-large bids. Here are the games that mean the most to the teams closest to being in or out of the field.
(Note: We’re using our Beta version of what we’re calling the Baseline Tournament Index (BTI) to determine where a team stands. We’re really excited about its accuracy in modeling recent brackets, but we do have some adjustments to make before it’s ready for public dissemination. So, this is a first peak.) Read More »
Posted in National Perspective
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Tagged Andy Rautins, Arinze Onuaku, Baseline Tournament Index, BTI, Cincinnati, Georgetown, John Beilein, Kansas, LSU, Michigan, Mick Cronin, Mookie Jones, Nebraska, Ohio State, Providence, Syracuse, Tennessee, Thad Matta
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