NCAA Basketball Betting – Cardinals vs Bearcats
Two teams battling it out for 5th spot in the Big East standings will square off as No. 17 Louisville look to continue its roll at a resurgent Cincinnati on Thursday night.
Date/Time: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, February 23, 2012
Venue: Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Broadcast: ESPN/ESPN2
Spread: Cardinals -1.5
Over/Under: 131
Louisville has won seven of its last eight including a thrilling 90-82 overtime victory at DePaul on Saturday.
This one was close at halftime, with Louisville down 42-32, but the Cardinals rallied in the second half, and behind another strong performance from leading scorer Kyle Kuric who registered 25 points, including 15 points in threes, escaped to send DePaul to its sixth straight loss.
Russ Smith stepped it up in overtime, finishing with 18 points to go with five assists and six steals for the Cardinals (21-6, 9-5), who kept their hopes of a top-four finish in the conference and a double-bye in the Big East Tournament alive.
It appears the Cards have it all going right now, except maybe their defense which has looked a little suspect at times, like it did against DePaul, but this is still a team that is allowing just 62.6 points per. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Meanwhile, the Bearcats (19-8, 9-5) posted back to back win with their latest being a 62-57 victory over Seton Hall over the weekend.
The win gave Cincinnati nine conference wins for only the second time since joining the Big East.
Senior guard Dion Dixon scored 20 points and added five rebounds while making eight of 10 from the free throw line, including one with 28 seconds left that turned back a frantic Seton Hall comeback.
However, despite being able to outplay the Pirates in three pointers and defensive rebounding, the Bearcats allowed Seton Hall to penetrate the interior all game long, putting up a whopping 34 points in the paint.
It has been a frustrating year for Cincy, which still have plenty of talent, as Sean Kilpatrick, Dion Dixon, and Yancy Gates are all great scorers with a loads of potential.
Louisville is playing well, but the Bearcats are 13-4 at Fifth Third Arena, and should be able to expose the Cards one true weakness in this one.
Free Pick: UC
