Evansville 12/29 7:00 ESPN+

[swilsonsp4]

The Purple Aces play in the Missouri Valley Conference. To-date, they have played a very weak schedule (#353 SOS per KenPom). They have turned that into a 10-2 record, but two of those wins came against D2 competition. Their sole power opponent, BYU, decimated UE in Provo, 96-55.

That said, Evansville are rated a bit above average by KenPom (#160) and quite a bit higher by the NCAA NET (#95). This will be a Q3 game.

Other than two players, the Aces are mediocre shooters from outside. However, the top two scorers (Ben Humrichous and Chuck Bailey) are deadly beyond the arc (.484 & .444, respectively. UE are not nearly the free throw shooters that Stetson are (73.1%). Humrichous is a 6'9" senior wing, while Bailey is a 6'5" frosh guard.

KenPom has the Cats as about 20-point home favorites.

[CatCane]

The Purple Aces play in the Missouri Valley Conference. To-date, they have played a very weak schedule (#353 SOS per KenPom). They have turned that into a 10-2 record, but two of those wins came against D2 competition. Their sole power opponent, BYU, decimated UE in Provo, 96-55.

That said, Evansville are rated a bit above average by KenPom (#160) and quite a bit higher by the NCAA NET (#95). This will be a Q3 game.

Other than two players, the Aces are mediocre shooters from outside. However, the top two scorers (Ben Humrichous and Chuck Bailey) are deadly beyond the arc (.484 & .444, respectively. UE are not nearly the free throw shooters that Stetson are (73.1%). Humrichous is a 6'9" senior wing, while Bailey is a 6'5" frosh guard.

KenPom has the Cats as about 20-point home favorites.

I'm guessing that UE will probably make about 90% of their FT's against us.

[Bearcat93]

And one guard will drop 35 on us.

[GoBearcats31]

UC preview https://gobearcats.com/news/2023/12/...le-friday.aspx

[Rufus]

And one guard will drop 35 on us.

No it will be some obscure player who comes off the bench and just torches us because were focused on the two others who lead the team normally.

[Bearcat93]

The drum beat around Wes Miller’s performance seems to be picking up.

[swilsonsp4]

The drum beat around Wes Miller’s performance seems to be picking up.

No different than during the first few years of Mick's tenure.

[Pharmfam]

No different than during the first few years of Mick's tenure.

This is true. Patience is a virtue.

[GoBearcats31]

Keegan Nicokson presumably tweeting from the radio show:

Wes Miller tells @Dan_Hoard and @tnel33 that Simas Lukošius has been full go in practice the past few days.

Aziz Bandaogo hasn’t touched the practice floor lately with his back issue.

CJ Fredrick may have re-aggravated his hamstring issue against Stetson. #Bearcats

[Bearcat93]

A quick glance at Cronin’s first 2 full seasons shows 6 Q1 victories-there may be more, but I stopped counting.

[bearcatbret]

A quick glance at Cronin’s first 2 full seasons shows 6 Q1 victories-there may be more, but I stopped counting.

Cronin stepped into the Big East and had problems. However, he still had Huggin's recruits. Be careful of apples and oranges.

[Bearcat93]

No matter where the players came from, they are
coached, right? The 2006 roster had Connor Barwin and a transfer from Xavier (New Orleans) along with no portal. By all accounts,, Wes has more talent. What Cronin had was a defensive philosophy that worked. I think we all can agree that Wes is still looking for one.

[Rufus]

I hope for CJ and Aziz that their injuries do not continue to linger throughout the season, however I can't help but think we could potentially be a more consistent team without having two more players to "force" into the rotation. That may not be the most popular point of view but we haven't seen any type of synchronicity from Millers normal rotation and we are just one game away from conference play.

[GoBearcats31]

I hope for CJ and Aziz that their injuries do not continue to linger throughout the season, however I can't help but think we could potentially be a more consistent team without having two more players to "force" into the rotation. That may not be the most popular point of view but we haven't seen any type of synchronicity from Millers normal rotation and we are just one game away from conference play.

I do wonder how the frontcourt shakes out. I think both Reynolds and Bandaogo on top of Lakhin and Oguama could get crowded. So if Bandaogo is out a bit longer, Reynolds can shine.

[leo from jersey]

Right now this team needs the court leadership of CJ. I believe his hamstring has bothered his shooting, but he does the team things which wins games. In other words, CJ is a basketball player and not just a shooter. he has been well coached in the fundamentals both at Iowa and UK.