The Cincinnati Bearcats are one of the hottest teams in college basketball and are making a big for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They have to keep winning to keep their name in that conversation and will hit the road for their next game against the SMU Mustangs.
Houston is undefeated American Conference and can take another step toward securing the regular season title with a victory in this one. SMU is trying to get in the March Madness conversation and an upset win over Cincinnati would be a huge boost to those chances.
Even though the Bearcats are on the road, they should be favored to win this contest.
At 4 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Sunday, February 11, 2018, at the Moody Coliseum.
We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Sunday schedule.
Odds Analysis
Cincinnati is 22-2 straight up and 14-9 against the spread. The Bearcats have covered in four of their seven attempts on the road this season. Cincinnati has been favored in all but one game this season and has done 14-8 against the spread in those contests.
SMU is 15-8 straight up and 7-10-1 against the spread. The Mustangs are 5-3-1 attempting to cover at home this season. They have covered in half of their four games when pitted as the underdog this season.
Key Stat
62.6. That’s the number of points per game SMU allows this season, which is among the best in the conference. The Mustangs held three different teams under 40 points in the non-conference, although the tougher competition in conference play has made it tougher to dominate.
While SMU is good on defense, Cincinnati is great. The Bearcats are only giving up 56.1 points per contest, and they flexed their muscle by only allowing 40 points last time out to Central Florida.
The Bearcats have won all 11 of their conference matchups on the season and have relied on their defense in doing so. With a pair of teams so dominant at that end of the floor, any double-digit lead could be much harder to overcome than a standard game which features more scoring. Watch closely to see if either team can take advantage in the first half.
Player to Watch
Gary Clark — The Cincinnati senior forward has been one of the best players in the conference this season. Clark is averaging 12.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.4 steals per game as he is able to affect the game in a variety of ways.
He is shooting 51.7 percent from the field and and 40.0 percent from three-point range. Clark has been a key contributor for Cincinnati for the past four seasons, and that experience can be invaluable in big games.
Clark had 12 points and five rebounds in an easy win over Central Florida last time out. He has two double-doubles in his past five games and SMU has to make sure he doesn’t dominate on both sides of the floor.
Free NCAA Men’s Basketball ATS Picks
Cincinnati cruised to a 20-point win over SMU when these two teams met earlier in the regular season. The Bearcats’ defense was tough like it is customarily but the Mustangs were not able to do the same thing when they were trying to slow down Cincinnati.
This game should be closer since SMU is at home, but take Cincinnati to win this game. Watch the spread to see which team makes more sense to choose for the cover. Expect the scoring total to be quite low because of the way both of these teams slow down the tempo.
NCAA Men’s Basketball Odds: Cincinnati 67, SMU 60
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