UConn (9-2) @ Cincinnati (8-3) 7PM ET – ESPN2, ESPN360
The Huskies tip-off Big East play with a huge test in Cincinnati. The Bearcats came flying out the gate, posting two wins over ranked opponents (Vandy, Maryland) on consecutive nights at the Maui invitational. In the championship, playing for the third consecutive night, Cincy fell in overtime 61-59 to Gonzaga. They ascended to #24, and following wins over Texas Southern and Miami (OH), they were ranked as high as #19.
On December 13th the Bearcats lost a double-overtime thriller to in-state rival Xavier, 83-79. Three days later, apparently still smarting from the loss, they laid an egg on the road at UAB…getting outscored 34-19 in the first half en route to a 64-47 drubbing.
They’ve rebounded to win their next two over Lipscomb and Winthrop, and find themselves 8-3 as Big East play commences. The Bearcats are 6-0 at home.
Cincinnati is getting it done at the defensive end, allowing just 61.6 per game…opponents are shooting just .374 against them.
They are also rebounding well, posting a league best +8.9 per game margin.
What they aren’t doing well is shooting. Their team .438 ranks them 13th in the Big East, and their .279 three point shooting percentage is dead last…by a good margin. They aren’t shooting well from the stripe, either…61%, only Depaul is shooting worse.
The Bearcats leading scorer is 6’5″ freshman and former McDonald All-American, Lance Stephenson. Stephenson hails from Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, NY (Stephon Marbury, Sebastian Telfair, Jesus Shuttlesworth). He’s averaging 12.5 points and 5 rebounds, while shooting .471 from the field. He is, however, shooting just .207 from deep, and .600 from the free throw line. The kid is off to a good start though…impressive for a freshman to be leading a very good Cincy team in scoring.
6’9″ Sophomore Yancy Gates, who had a very good freshman season, is again playing well. Gates is averaging 11.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 1.4 blocks. All three of those numbers up slightly from a year ago (10.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.0 bpg). Gates scored 12 points and grabbed 9 boards in last season’s 81-72 loss to the Huskies.
The Beacats’ 3rd leading scorer is someone the Huskies are very familiar with…Deonta Vaughn. Vaughn’s scoring is down in his senior season, he is averaging 9.8 points thus far. In his first three seasons he averaged 14.5, 17.5 and 15.3, respectively. His rebounds (4.4) and assists (4.0), are right about where they were a year ago. Vaughn is averaging 20.7 ppg game in three career games vs the Huskies.
This one should be a battle…in the immortal words of Apollo Creed…Ding, Ding.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Down 10 with 15:18 left. Dogs not looking good. Dig deep boys! Lets get a run going.
Kemba’s first 30 minutes have been brutal…time to turn it on…
Kemba tries to do too much sometimes. Taking it to the hoop too much. You are the point this year my man. Run the team.
What’s up with Dyson missing free throws this year?
The Big East has begun…. Impressed with the way the Huskies stuck with it. It’s still December and I know this team is going to get better as the season progresses so I am not all that upset with a loss on the road against a borderline top 25 team. Was actually glad to see we had a couple of go-to-guys down the stretch in our seniors Dyson and Robinson.
Having said that If we play this way in three weeks I will be upset. We also need to find a shooting guard who can hit some threes off the bench. Combs-McD, I’m pulling for you brother.
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