BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Cincinnati @ Syracuse

February 15, 2006



The Syracuse Orange are feeling a little bit healthier after a relatively easy win on the road on Sunday at St John's. Gerry McNamara rebounded from a string of injury-plagued games with 23 pts and 8 assists and Eric Devendorf had a strong game as well as the Orange evened their conference record at 5-5.

Cincinnati has not found much success on the road of late, losing their last five conference games on the road by an average of 15 pts a game. Their lack of depth is definitely exposed on the road as they tend to wear down as the game goes on and lingering injuries to key players have not made things any easier.

Here are the pregame stories and previews from around the internet:

Stats Show UC's Decline (Cincinnati Post)
SU, Bearcats Share Seat on the Fence (Syracuse Post-Standard)
Cincinnati at a Glance (Post-Standard)
SU/UC Preview (Post-Standard)
Syracuse Spurred UC Spiral (Cincinnati Enquirer)


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Syracuse and Cincinnati met earlier this season, in Cincinnati, and the Orange cruised in the 2nd half to a 77-58 win in the Bearcats' first game without Armien Kirkland. Gerry McNamara scored 29 pts and the Syracuse zone limited Cincinnati to 33% shooting from the floor and the Orange dominated the glass, outrebounding UC 51-27.

It has been a month since their first meeting and neither team has had a good run of success. The Bearcats are 3-5 since, with home wins against Rutgers, South Florida and Louisville, and the Orange have played a brutal schedule and are just 2-5 since with their wins coming against Rutgers and St John's.

Syracuse is 2-2 in the conference on the road, while Cincinnati is 1-5, and have lost 5 straight on the road after oepning up their road schedule with a comeback win at Marquette. Their average loss on the road has been 15.2 pts a game.

Cincinnati is a team that plays right into Syracuse's hands against the SU 2-3 zone defense. James White, the leading scorer for UC, has not made a 3-pter in 6 games and starting PG, 5'9 Devan Downey, shoots less than 29% from 3-pt range. 5'11 Jihad Muhammad has been shooting well of late, but he alone would probably not force the Orange to come out of their zone and their length and athleticism along the backline of their zone will make it hard for Eric Hicks and Cedric McGowan to find space inside to go to work.

Playing on the road is where your depth is tested and Cincinnati has no depth whatsoever. Syracuse is not a deep team themselves, but they can afford to give their starters rest and keep them fresher for crunch time. Cincinnati does have some very good athletes, but it is tough to take advantage of those strengths when you have to pace yourself throughout the game.

This game will probably look very similar to their first meeting. Syracuse will sit in their 2-3 zone and force the Bearcats to settle for the perimeter jumpers, which is not their specialty. I expect it to be close for 25-30 minutes, but never feeling Syracuse will be really threatened.

Syracuse is a 5.5-pt home favorite.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Syracuse 75 Cincinnati 65