Cincinnati travels to SMU tonight for a key conference matchup. SMUs 13-13 is not a good representation on the teams ability. They played the Bearcats tight last meeting, as UC escaped with a 5 point home win. Tonight, expect a game similar to last meeting on February 2nd.
Need to Know
Where: SMU (Dallas, TX)
When: 9:00 PM EST
How to Watch: CBS Sports Network
How to Listen: 700WLW Radio
Line: Cincinnati -4
BPI: Cincinnati 69.1%
Streaks: UC- W3; SMU- L1
Cincinnati
Hitting the back end of their two game road trip, Cincinnati looks to win their 4th straight. The Bearcats defense has been stout all season long, only giving up 70+ points three times. Last meeting between these two squads, SMU failed to reach 70 points. However, SMU’s 68 points is the most Cincinnati has given up all month, which includes a game against 8th ranked Houston.
The offense has not been an 80+ points per game offense, but has been good enough. The defense is playing great, and the offense is scoring enough to win games. In 3 of the 4 losses this season, UC’s offense failed to reach 60. If the offense can polish up, and hit shots, there is no question that this team can make a run.
Note of interest: Cincy is 2-3 vs NET top 50 teams, losing to Ohio State, Houston, and Mississippi State.
SMU
SMUs offense is trying to rebound off a very poor performance on Sunday. The team scored just 48 points. Ethan Chargois lead Mustang scoring with just nine points. UCF would go on to win by FORTY-SEVEN points. SMU has won one game all month, and lost 8 of their last 10 games.
On the defensive side of things, SMU is giving up 70.1 points per game. Again, they played their worst game of the season on Sunday versus UCF. Giving up 95 points to an average offense, they’ve definitely seen better days. Their defense is not amazing, but is average. A lot of SMU is just average, and probably why their record is 13-13. One night the offense is clicking, and the defense can’t get a stop. Other nights, the defense is locking down, but the offense can’t score. Or you just see what happened vs UCF, when nothing is going well…
Predictions
This game will be close. It was last time, and it will be again. However, Cincinnati is playing some of their best basketball, while SMU has hit rock bottom. Last meeting was a five point win for UC, and I expect close to the same type of game. Cincinnati has the ability to blow them out if they play their very best basketball, though. If Coach Cronin has them in tournament mode, they may just blow them out.
PREDICTION: Cincinnati wins 77-64 giving them their 24th win of the season. A win is needed for the Bearcats if they want to continue to keep pace with Houston in the AAC regular season title race.
