Cincinnati vs New Mexico Preview

Written by Scott on Thursday, 27 December 2012 19:34.

Tonight at 9 on ESPN2, the 8th ranked Cincinnati Bearcats play host to the dangerous New Mexico Lobos. New Mexico was a top 25 team this time a week ago, but a tough loss on Saturday knocked them out of the top 25. The Lobos haven't been quite up to par with where they were last year. They are 12-1, but they don't have the type of quality performances they showed last season. That's understandable. New Mexico does have a win over Connecticut at a tournament in the Virgin Islands.

This is one of the biggest non-conference home games in ages. It's definitely the best non-Xavier team that has come into the Shoe since the Derrick Rose-led Memphis team in 2008. I wish the game was not 2 days after Christmas and the same night as the Belk Bowl, but hopefully the football Bearcats will have that one well in hand so we can enjoy Cincinnati basketball in peace. I have a feeling 5/3 Arena is going to be rocking. I can't wait.

Record: 12-0

Rank: 8/8

Spread: Cincinnati by 6.5

Minutes

Sean Kilpatrick 31
Cashmere Wright 26.6
JaQuon Parker 25.7
Titus Rubles 19.9
Justin Jackson 19.9

Points

Sean Kilpatrick 19.1
Cashmere Wright 14.1
JaQuon Parker 11.6
Titus Rubles 7.3
Cheikh Mbodj 5.2

Field Goal %

David Nyarsuk 59.5
Cheikh Mbodj 53.5
Sean Kilpatrick 47.1
Justin Jackson 46.6
Cashmere Wright 45.4

Free Throw % (min 10 attempts)

Cashmere Wright 74.1
Sean Kilpatrick 68.5
Titus Rubles 65.6
Cheikh Mbodj 60.7
David Nyarsuk / Shaq Thomas 60

3 Pointers Made (3 point %)

Cashmere Wright 32 (46.4)
Sean Kilpatrick 29 (35.8)
JaQuon Parker 15 (41.7)
Ge'Lawn Guyn 4 (26.7)
Jermaine Sanders 3 (37.5)

Rebounding

Titus Rubles 6.2
Sean Kilpatrick 6.1
Justin Jackson 5.7
Cheikh Mbodj 4.8
JaQuon Parker 4.5

Assists

Cashmere Wright 42
Titus Rubles 28
Sean Kilpatrick 27
Justin Jackson 23
JaQuon Parker 21

Turnovers

Sean Kilpatrick 28
Cashmere Wright 25
Titus Rubles 24
Justin Jackson 24
David Nyarsuk 14

Steals

Cashmere Wright 27
Sean Kilpatrick 22
Titus Rubles 17
Justin Jackson 17
JaQuon Parker 12

Blocks

Cheikh Mbodj 30
David Nyarsuk 18
Justin Jackson 17
Kelvin Gaines 10
Titus Rubles 4

Record: 12-1

Road/Neutral: 5-0

Minutes

Kendall Williams 34.5
Tony Snell 29.1
Hugh Greenwood 27.1
Alex Kirk 26.5
Chad Adams 22.3

Points

Kendall Williams 14.8
Tony Snell 11.6
Alex Kirk 10.9
Hugh Greenwood 8.4
Cameron Bairstow 8.1

Field Goal %

Chad Adams 53.5
Alex Kirk 49
Cameron Bairstow 44
Hugh Greenwood 42
Kendall Williams 41.3

Free Throw %

Chad Adams 89
Tony Snell 87
Kendall Williams 83
Cameron Bairstow 80.6
Alex Kirk 72.2

3 Pointers Made (3 pt %)

Tony Snell 20 (35.7)
Kendall Williams 16 (32.7)
Hugh Greenwood 15 (33.3)
Demetrius Walker 14 (40)
Chad Adams 10 (55.6)

Rebounding

Alex Kirk 7.4
Hugh Greenwood 5.3
Cameron Bairstow 5
Chad Adams 4.1
Kendall Williams 3.7

Assists

Kendall Williams 65
Tony Snell 42
Hugh Greenwood 24
Cleveland Thomas 11
Jamal Fenton 11

Turnovers

Tony Snell 27
Kendall Williams 26
Demetrius Walker 23
Alex Kirk 15
Hugh Greenwood 15

Steals

Kendall Williams 17
Hugh Greenwood 14
Jamal Fenton 12
Cameron Bairstow 9
Tony Snell / Demetrius Walker 8

Blocks

Alex Kirk 16
Hugh Greenwood 11
Cameron Bairstow 8
Tony Snell 7

Paw Points

New Mexico plays a little slower than Cincinnati does. Not to the same slow levels as Xavier and Wright State, don't freak out. UNM plays at 67 possessions compared to nearly 73 for Cincinnati. We should be able to see a lot more up and down action.

New Mexico isn't as efficient on either end as the Bearcats. New Mexico is averaging 1.06 points per possession on offense and give up 0.9 on defense. UC scores 1.1 and gives up 0.79.

The Lobos are not a good shooting team. They are hitting 42% from the field. Cincinnati has the second best field goal percentage defense in the nation.

Where New Mexico shines is at the free throw line. The Lobos score 29.6% of their points at the foul stripe. That's the highest percentage in the country. They are the 20th best team in terms of percentages at 75.8%. You saw how their top 5 free throw guys shoot. Keeping New Mexico off the line is huge. Cincinnati has a major problem with the big men staying on the court. They have to be sharp. We can't expect another team to completely self combust at the line like Xavier did.

One thing to watch are the 3 pointers. The Lobos give up over 20 attempts a game. That's part of what bit them in the ass against South Dakota State. SDSU hit 9 of 25 from deep. Cincinnati definitely has that ability to put down a large number of 3s. The 3 point shots are going to fly from Cincinnati's end.

One thing that needs to happen, is that the Bearcats need to penetrate to open things up. When Sean Kilpatrick has gone to the rim this season, he's been damn near impossible to guard. He could be in for a big night if he did that. Same with JaQuon Parker. We just saw JaQuon take a game over on Saturday. New Mexico has a solid defense, but UC has played one just about the same in Alabama.

The Lobos won't hurt you on the offensive glass. They are pulling down 31.9% of the offensive rebounds. They are one of the better teams in the nation on the defensive glass. They get over 73% of the available defensive rebounds.

Kendall Williams gets everyone involved and they don't turn the ball over much. New Mexico assists on 65% of their made field goals, 13th highest percentage in the nation. UC averages more assists per game, but they assist on just 52% of their made field goals.

Show up. Be loud. Enjoy Cincinnati night on the ESPN family of networks.

Cincinnati 72 New Mexico 68