NCAA basketball on Thursday Night and it is the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament. In this matchup we will see the Central Florida Knights take on the Cincinnati Bearcarts at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. The game has a start time of 7:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN U. Vegas odds have the Bearcats listed as 12 point favorites, while the total sits at 130.
Stat Pack: The Cincinnati Bearcats went 26-5 on the regular season, including 15-3 in the AAC. They got the top seed in the conference tourney thanks to winning a coin flip vs Louisville. The Bearcats are a below average offensive team as they come in ranked 226th in scoring (69.4 ppg), 258th in FG% overall (42.8%) and 224th in 3 point shooting (33.4%). They do hit 71.6% from the charity stripe, which is 117th. Sean Kilpatrick paces the team with 20.9 ppg, while Justin Jackson leads the team in rebound and is second in scoring (11.0 ppg). Not a very deep team as just 6 players average 5.6 ppg or more. On defense the Bearcats are very stout, ranking 4th in the nation in points allowed (58.4 ppg), 18th in defensive FG% (39.4%), and 59th in 3 point defense (31.7%). The Bearcats are also 58th in turnovers (11.1 per game) and they are 79th in rebounding (36.4 rpg).
The Central Florida Knights took out the Temple Owls in double OT to get this meeting with the Bearcats. The win now has the Knights at 13-17 on the year. Central Florida comes in averaging 73.2 ppg (110th) on 44.% shooting (187th) overall and just 33.8% shooting from long range (209th). This is also one of the worst FT shooting teams in the nation as they hit just 61.8% from the foul line, which is 348th in the nation. The Offense is led by Isaiah Sykes, who averages 17 ppg, while also leading them in rebounding (7.2 ppg) and assists (103). Tristan Spurlock (11.3 ppg) and Calvin Newell (10.1 ppg) also average in double figures for the Knights. The defense has just not been there for this team as they come in allowing 74 ppg (281st) on 45.9% shooting (285th).
Pick: Going with the under here. Central Florida just played a high scoring game vs Temple, but this Cincinnati defense is a whole different animal all together. They will not let the Knights run up and down the court, while Cincinnati will not run as well. The Bearcats allow just 58.4 ppg on the year and that defense will control the pace of this game, keeping it Under the total.
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