Cincinnati Basketball Recap and Preview

Tonight, the Bearcats host Florida A&M. I'm pretty sure it's not on TV, at least it's not where I live. Tell your mom to get a dish already. I'm probably not going to be able to see the game, so I'll have a generic recap up tomorrow. UC played on Saturday, as I'm sure most of you know. So before we look ahead to tonight's action, let's rewind and look back at what went down against IPFWTF. 

The Bearcats rushed out to a 9-2 lead behind Ibrahima Thomas. IPFW tightened it with a couple of 3s. The Bearcats went up 9 at the 8 minute mark, after a Cash Wright steal and lay up. The lead got to 10 after a couple of Yancy Gates free throws. The lead went down to 7,but Dion Dixon, my best friend, ripped off 6 points off free throws, a lay up and a jump shot. Yancy Gates added a free throw and a bucket inside to make it 45-29. IPFW got a free throw, and a put back after the second free throw was missed to make it 45-32 at the half. 

IPFW started the second half hot, getting 8 points around a Thomas lay up. A free throw and a jumper cut the lead to 4, but Dixon got a lay up to push it back to 6 at 15:35. The offense of both teams died at this point. IPFW got 2 at 14, Kilpatrick at 13, IPFW at 11:52, and Kilpatrick a steal and a lay up at 9:44. That's 8 points in nearly 5 minutes. Kilpatrick got the team fired up though.

UC responded by not getting a field goal until 6:34, but they made 2 free throws. The D forced IPFW over 4 minutes between buckets. With the lead at 8 and 5:44 to go, IPFW got a pair of free throws, but Kilpatrick came back with a 3, the only 3 UC would make in 12 attempts the second half. IPFW got lay ups at the 4 minute, and 2 minute marks, but the lead was still 5. Rashard Bishop hit a pair of freebies at 47 seconds, IPFW a pair at 35, and Bishop again at 20. IPFW got a jumper with 10 seconds left, and Cash scored the final point on a free throw to get us to the final of 65-59. 

Yancy Gates had 13-7-3 assists, Sean Kilpatrick 13-4-2 steals, Rashard Bishop 11, Dion Dixon 10, Ibrahima Thomas 9-9, and Cash Wright 8-4 assists-4 steals. 

UC ended up settling for 3s the second half. When this team settles for jump shots, the offense is going to fail. Sean Kilpatrick is 5-11 from deep, the rest of the team is 3-21. Dixon, and Wright are 0-8. They are going to have to find new ways of breaking down the zone defense. Something that tonight's opponent might throw at them. Speaking of that, let's preview the game. 

Record 2-0

Points

1. Sean Kilpatrick 17
2. Yancy Gates 14
3. Rashard Bishop 9.5
4. Ibrahima Thomas 9
5. Dion Dixon 6.5

Rebounds

1. Yancy Gates 8.5
2. Ibrahima Thomas 5.5
3. Sean Kilpatrick 3.5
4. Rashard Bishop 3
5. Dion Dixon 3

Assists

1. Cashmere Wright 4.5
2. Yancy Gates 2.5

Steals

1. Cashmere Wright 3.5
2. Sean Kilpatrick 2
3. Justin Jackson 1.5
4. Rashard Bishop 1
5. Dion Dixon 1

Turnovers

1. Cashmere Wright 3.5
2. Sean Kilpatrick 2.5
3. Yancy Gates 2.5
4. Dion Dixon 2.5
5. Rashard Bishop 2

I added turnovers because UC is averaging 16 a game. That's pretty awful. The Bearcats have to tighten up ball security. 

Record: 2-1

Scoring

1. Amin Stevens 16
2. Larry Jackson 8
3. Christopher Walker 8

Rebounding

1. Yannick Crowder 6.7
2. Larry Jackson 6
3. Amin Stevens 6
4. Christopher Walker 5

Assists

1. Rasheem Jenkins 2.7

Steals

1. Amin Stevens 2
2. Isaac Brown 2
3. Avery Moore 1.7

Straight up, Florida A&M is no good. They scored 37 points against Alabama. They beat a team that doesn't even have a link on Ken Pom, and Savannah State. So that's not a whole lot. The Bearcats should dominate. I think UC will throw out the subs for a lot of the time. They should get minutes for everyone. I'm not very worried about this. You shouldn't be either. Ken Pom thinks UC will win by 22. I think UC wins by 28, because that's how old I'll be tomorrow. Yeah, it's my birthday tomorrow. I expect gifts people. Cincinnati 80-58.