Wednesday night in CBB we will see the 7th ranked Marquette Golden Eagles travel to Ohio to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 pm tipoff and will be televised live on ESPN2. Currently Cincinnati is favored by 1.5 points with the total being set at 139 for the game. The seventh-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles travel to Fifth Third Arena tonight to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats as the Big East Conference season progresses toward its end.
Free Analysis: Although Cincy holds a 25-19 lead over Marquette in the all-time series, that margin was narrowed on Feb. 11th earlier this month when the Golden Eagles downed the Bearcats, 95-78, in Milwaukee. The 95 points scored by Marquette was the most in Big East action this season for the squad. The Bearcats have been waiting for the chance to avenge their worst loss of the season, and they can end the Golden Eagles’ five-game winning streak in the process. Marquette scored 25 points off of 14 turnovers in a 95-78 rout of Cincinnati nearly three weeks ago. Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder, who’s in contention for Big East Player of the Year, each scored 23 points. The Golden Eagles have won four of the last five meetings. Friday night Marquette picked up a 61-60 victory over West Virginia in Morgantown. As if playing the Mountaineers on the road was not hard enough, Marquette still managed to win despite having three starters suspended for the first half and its sixth man suspended for the final 20 minutes. The Golden Eagles will clinch a second place finish in the Big East tonight with a victory, as their 13-3 league mark is bettered only by Syracuse's unbeaten record. Marquette's impressive 24-5 overall record comes courtesy of its scoring offense, which leads the Big East with an average of 76.4 ppg. The Golden Eagles have a pair of Big East Player of the Year candidates in Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder. Johnson-Odom is leading the team with 18.4 ppg on 45.3 percent shooting while Crowder carries averages of 17.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.4 steals per game. Vander Blue, Todd Mayo, Jamil Wilson, and Junior Cadougan all have played vital roles in Marquette's success. Cadougan leads the team with 5.5 assists per game. Crowder is the Golden Eagles’ tallest active player at 6-foot-7. Marquette has been without 6-foot-11 center Chris Otule (torn ACL) since Dec. 6 and will play an eighth straight game without forward Davante Gardner (knee), but they are 6-1 in his absence. Following a huge win over Louisville last week, Mick Cronin saw his squad suffer a 46-45 setback to South Florida on Sunday in an low-scoring bout which dropped the Bearcats' overall record to 20-9 and gave them a 10-6 mark in league play. Cincinnati's was held to 26.9 percent shooting in the first half and its scoring output of 45 points in the contest versus USF set a new season-low. Despite going 3-of-15 from three-point range in the loss to USF, the Bearcats still lead the Big East with 7.5 makes from beyond the arc per game. Cincinnati is one of the better teams in the Big East at stopping its opponents, as it has held foes to a fourth best average of 60.8 ppg and tyhey have held 3 straight opponents to under 415 shooting. Sean Kilpatrick paces the Bearcats' with 14.8 points per contest on 42.9 percent shooting. Dion Dixon is second on the squad with 13.2 ppg while Yancy Gates averages 11.9 points and 9.3 boards per game. Cashmere Wright is a solid point guard as he dishes out 4.5 assists and swipes 1.8 steals per game.Dixon and Gates will both be playing their final home games as members of the UC program. Gates is one pace to become the first Bearcat in school history to lead the team in rebounding in four consecutive seasons.
Free Pick: Really hate to go against Marquette, as this team is just playing too well right, but this is a good situational spot for the Bearcats to pick up a win. Cincinnati has major revenge on their minds after losing by 23 points in their last meeting, plus a win here by them would pretty much cash their ticket to the Big Dance. For Marquette they are off a huge come from behind win at West Virginia, in which they trailed by 15 in the second half, plus they have a big revenge game vs Georgetown on deck. I con not see them being fully focused or sharp for this game. Cincinnati I feel also has a solid edge at the defensive end and they will really want to show it after allowing 95 points to Marquette last time out. Cincy has allowed less than 415 shooting in their last 3 games and at home this year they have allowed just 58.4 ppg on 39% shooting, while te Golden Eagles have allowed 69.3 ppg on 44.1% shooting on the road this year. One last note we have here is that Cincy has won 7 of their last 11 vs ranked foes. Should be a good game, but the Bearcats will pull away late.
Free Picks: Marquette at Cincinnati Betting
http://PregameVideos.com - Revenge game for Cincinnati and Marquette in possible look ahead spot to Georgetown game plus other factors college basketball bettors need to know about Marquette at Cincinnati (Wednesday, February 29, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Stephen Nover and analysis from host Marco D'Angelo.