Wichita St 1/5 9:00 ESPN2 or U

[Lobot]

Last go around in the Roundhouse for UC.

WSU is off to an 0-2 start in conference and has a .500 record at 7-7. They just got finished taking an L at home against ECU. That doesn't really bode well for their season or the current HC. They also have a buy game loss to Alcorn St on their resume'.

Very guard centric team from a scoring perspective. I have not seen them play this year but as a team they're only averaging 64.8 ppg. Unless you're playing fantastic defense to go with that, you're not going to win many games.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...tats/_/id/2724

[swilsonsp4]

It appears that this game will be on ESPNU. Both the Colorado and Oregon websites show their 9:00 game on ESPN2.

This could be another game played at a snail's pace, unless the Cats can get a lead. The Shockers' offensive efficiency ranking, per kenpom.com is #213, but their defensive efficiency is a good #50. Per barttorvik.com, WSU do not allow teams to score either inside the arc (#5 nationally) or from beyond (#23). Their inside shooting percentage is above average (#134), but the Shockers are real bricklayers from outside (#332).

The Bearcats have had good success in the Roundhouse but have not played well this season in their only two true road games. This is a must-win, especially with the Cougars invading 5th/3rd on Sunday. They are legitimate Final 4 contenders.

[bearcated]

Currently UC is at 106 in the NET rankings. To date they have 0 (Zero) Quad 1 or even Quad 2 wins. Last year they finished at 99 in the NET and had 1 Quad 1 and 2 Quad 2 wins. And they still did not play at all post-season. So getting some Quad 1 and Quad 2 wins is vital to have any hope whatsoever of post-season action.

Technically this game is a Quad 2 game (Away 76 to 135). Right now Wichita sits at 133. Of course Wichita is a mediocre team at best and if they pile up some losses they will fall into Quad 3.

Bottom line is if UC continues to sleep walk thru games the way they did Sunday, their chances for any post-season play are remote at best.

For some, this may seem obvious already without the data. I almost feel like Jim Mora ('Playoffs! Playoffs? PLAYOFFS?').

[GoBearcats31]

2nd leading scorer is Jaykwon Walton, a juco transfer who started at UGA -- was recruited by UC's current staff. Roster also includes big man Quincy Ballard who once had UC in his top four.

[GoBearcats31]

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/college/university-of-cincinnati/2023/01/04/cincinnati-basketball-in-need-of-a-key-road-win-at-wichita-state/69771308007/

[bearcated]

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/spo...e/69771308007/

Kinda funny. The title of the article starts with 'Can UC Rebound'. I think we know the answer to that.

[bearcated]

Some fun facts from the NCAA Net rankings site.

UC is the 197th ranked defense in D1. No shock there.

On the flip side, UC has the 42nd ranked offense. So I guess happy days are here again.

What's the highest ranked defense this UC offensive juggernaut has faced so far? Believe it or not, NKU, ranked at 51st. Wow, that didn't work out so well, eh?

Oh well. Wichita has the 26th ranked D and Houston ranks #1 in D. So what can possibly go wrong the next few days?

[GoBearcats31]

UC is a slight (2.0) favorite, per ESPN.com

[leeraymond]

Some fun facts from the NCAA Net rankings site.

UC is the 197th ranked defense in D1. No shock there.

On the flip side, UC has the 42nd ranked offense. So I guess happy days are here again.

What's the highest ranked defense this UC offensive juggernaut has faced so far? Believe it or not, NKU, ranked at 51st. Wow, that didn't work out so well, eh?

Oh well. Wichita has the 26th ranked D and Houston ranks #1 in D. So what can possibly go wrong the next few days?

I really do NOT understand what the problem is. If Miller is a defensive coach, why are his UC teams so bad defensively? Does anyone have an answer?

[leo from jersey]

espn so sucks they said the game was on the app. I got your event is about to begin and then I got at 16:35

[leo from jersey]

then there is a minute between the app and the channel - it so bad the app has a delay . you would think a multi million dollar or more station could do better.

[leo from jersey]

going to bed watch in morning.

[longtimefan]

These are the worst officials in the NCAA. Another collapse underway?

[leeraymond]

Cincinnati played this game in the half-court. UC had zero (0) fast-break points. Miller finally made an adjustment: Davenport came off the bench to score 22 or 23 points. Also, UC only gave up 61 points and held Wichita State to 32.8 percent (something like that) shooting. This was more of a Cincinnati-like win. Good move by Miller. Houston is up next. Hope UC can, at least, keep it close and maybe, just maybe, pull the upset. Here is hoping that they can pull the upset. It has been a while since UC has beat Houston.

[bearcatjd]

A solid win & we won the rebounding battle by a lot. Let's keep it going & upset Houston on Sunday.