Cincinnati takes the court again after their dominating win over Tulsa on Friday night. This will be the third time they met this year, both resulting in a blowout win for the 'Cats. UC enters as 9.5 point favorites in which is virtually a road game in Hartford, Connecticut.
The Huskies got here by beating #11 South Florida in the first round and then knocking off #3 Houston in the quarterfinals. To be honest, the Huskies looked terrible against USF. They eventually won by 11, but it was close the entire game against the Bulls who won just 1 game in the AAC this year. Last night was a different story. Jalen Adams scored 23 points and UConn 47% from the three point line and that's how they beat Houston 74-65. The most impressive state is UConn turned it over 14 times compared to Houston 5 and they never trailed in the 2nd half.
On Sunday UC beat UConn by 20 in a game the Huskies shot just 16 percent compared to last nights 47%. Also, the Bearcat crushed them on the boards getting a lot of 2nd chance points. Gary Clark had a double-double in the first half.
The two best players on Connecticut are Rodney Purvish and Jalen Adams. Adams has been playing hurt, but he is still capable of going off. They combined for 41 points last night in the win. Adams and Purvish both average over 13 points. Big man Amida Brimah is also solid, but he hasn't broken through like I had expected this year. Christian Vital is also a threat from the three point line as he leads the Huskies at 36%.
But as us Bearcats fans know to well of the History of UConn in American Tournament and basically all of March. In all three years of the AAC Tournament UConn has knocked out Cincinnati every single year. Last year, it was the 4OT game which UC got screwed at the end of triple OT on a shot that should not have counted. two years ago Ryan Boatright hit a three at the buzzer to send home Cincinnati in the quarterfinals and three years ago UConn won by one because Sean Kilpatrick missed a layup, but replay clearly showed it was goaltending....so some Bearcat fans may be sweating this one out despite two blowouts earlier in the year.
For Cincinnati, Gary Clark has owned Kevin Ollie and the UConn Huskies this season. Clark has combined for 37 points and 25 rebounds in the two meeting this year.
The thing that worries me most about this game is that it is a road game. And Cincinnati has struggled the 2nd part of the year on the road. Luckily they played great in Storrs on Sunday so that gives me a little confidence. Also, in both meeting Cincinnati has won the turnover margin. If UConn is -9 in turnovers like they were last night they won't win.
If the guards are making shots then this one is over. UConn cannot control the duo of Clark/Washington and if you throw in Johnson/Caupain/Evans making shots, then this one will be a double digit win. Something is just telling me Evans is going to have a good game tonight and I'll roll with it. 84-68 Bearcats get the W.
The winner of this game gets the winner of SMU/UCF. Bearcats lost to both of these teams on the road. Another note, for some reason the AAC has this game tipping off at 5:00, but it won't start until 5:40. SMU/UCF starts at 3:00, but UC/UConn is allowed 30 minutes to warm up......
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