Firmly on the wrong side of the bubble heading into the AAC tournament, the Connecticut Huskies knew it was either win the whole darn thing to get into the Big Dance or settle for a likely bid to the NIT. While it passed its first two tests with flying colors, the challenge is going to get a whole lot tougher against the No. 2 seed Cincinnati Bearcats who boat raced them in the team’s pair of meetings in the regular season.
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Losers of four straight and managing just one cover heading into the conference tournament, the Huskies found themselves installed heavy underdogs to go through the proceeding unscathed. They have however put a couple feathers in their cap after disposing of USF in the first round and then scoring the exhilarating come-from-behind dominant win over Houston. The outright win as 4.5 point underdogs moved them to 8-6 straight up and 3-8 against the spread when playing in the Connecticut area.
Just like the rival SMU Mustangs, the Cincinnati Bearcats have had a fun time of it beating up on AAC opposition all season. They won 16 of 18 games within the conference, and added another on Friday when they steamrolled Tulsa 80-61 to cover the 15.5 point closing spread. The win and cover was the team’s third straight, and it moved them to 2-1 straight up and against the spread on neutral courts for the season.
Last Meeting
It was an ugly state of affairs for the Huskies in their home finale on Senior Day. Unfortunately, the team had the Bearcats on the schedule and Cincy made itself at home in a big way thumping UConn 67-47 as 6 point Gampel Pavilion favorites. Though Cincy shot just 36.4 percent from the field, it only committed four turnovers to the Huskies 11 and won the rebounding battle 38-29 to cruise to the road win and cover. Cincinnati has now won and covered four of the last five meetings and won both of this season’s skirmishes by an average of 17 points per game.
Player to Watch
Gary Clark – One of the reasons Cincy was so successful against the Huskies this season was because of the team’s junior big man. He put forth two of his biggest games of the year against Connecticut’s interior defense. Clark went for 20 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks when the Bearcats hosted UConn back on February 4, and then followed it up with 17 points and 14 rebounds in the team’s season finale. In all, Cincy outrebounded the Huskies 71-56 in the two meetings, and Clark was one of the main reasons why. If he once again has his way against Amida Brimah and company, UConn will be extremely hard pressed to keep its tourney run alive.
Free College Basketball ATS Pick
The runaway train otherwise known as the Cincinnati Bearcats looks to be primed and ready for a solid seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament. Regardless of what occurs the remainder of the AAC tournament that will likely remain the case. While Mick Cronin’s kids will no doubt crave a third go round with SMU should the Mustangs pet past UCF, the Huskies aren’t going to just roll over and die in this third meeting.
The Huskies possess some pretty decent talent on their roster, but it’s yet to come together as a team. Weird things occur this time of year, and after avenging a pair of defeats to a Houston club that also handed them an ugly loss earlier in the year, their confidence is sure to be at an all-time high. With a pro UConn crowd backing them, look for the home team to put forth its best effort of the season against the Bearcats. In the end, it won’t be enough to win, but it’ll be enough to cover.
College Basketball Odds: Cincinnati 63, Connecticut 60
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