Big East Tourney – Cardinals vs Bearcats CBB Handicapping Prediction
The Big East tournament final is a shocker between a couple of unranked teams in Cincinnati and Louisville.
Venue/ Stadium: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Time/Date: 9 PM EST Saturday, March 10, 2012
NCAA Odds From: Bovada
Moneyline: OFF
Spread (ATS): OFF
Over/Under: OFF
Louisville Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Bearcats Preview
Both teams beat 2 ranked teams in their road to the final and Cincy handed Syracuse only their 2nd loss of the season in the semis. Each team will make the Big Dance, but the winner of this final can improve their seed. In the only match up between these 2 teams this season the Bearcats beat the Cardinals 60-56 in Cincinnati.
In the big East semis Cincy beat Syracuse 71-68 and Louisville beat Notre Dame 64-50.
This season Cincy is 15-12 ATS with an O/U record of 13-14 and Louisville is 17-13-1 ATS with an O/U record of 14-17.
Louisville shots lights out in the win over Notre Dame and they played stellar defense holding the Irish to 35.8% shooting from the floor. They will have to play good D tonight facing a Bearcats’ team that has scored over 70 ppg in each of their Big East tournament games.
G/F Kyle Kuric and C Gorgui Dieng combined for 28 points in the win over Notre Dame and Dieng was perfect going 8/8 from the field. One big match up in this game will be down low with Dieng and Cincy F Yancy Gates, who is averaging over 9 rebounds per game this season and in the big upset win over Syracuse went for 18 points and grabbed 7 boards. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
4 of 5 starters for Cincy scored in double figures in the win over Syracuse and they have 4 guards that can light it up. It is key that Louisville plays good perimeter D and not allow the Bearcats to get open looks from deep. In the Syracuse game Cincy hit on 10 of 22 of their 3-point bombs.
While Cincy forced Syracuse into 15 turnovers they committed 14 turnovers and they need to be careful with the rock tonight.
Louisville did shoot great in the win over Notre Dame, but they only got to the free throw line 4 times and they may need to attack the rim more in this game and get some easy points from the charity stripe.
In some betting trends for the Big East finals Louisville is 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games following a S.U. win, and they have an Under record of 6-1 in their last 7 games.
Cincy is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games overall, 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, and they have an Under record of 4-0 in their last 4 vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.
Jason’s Pick: I have to go with Cincy in this game, as they have beaten 3 ranked teams in their last 4 games and their offense is clicking. Take the Bearcats to win this game and cover the spread.
