West Region 3/18 CINCY VS ST JOES

West Region 1st Round Free Pick 3/18 Cincinnati vs St Josephs

St Joseph’s-Pennsylvannia Hawks (136.5) vs Cincinnati Bearcats (-1.5)

In the last scheduled game of the first round, #8 seed St Joes takes on #9 seed Cincinnati in Spokane Washington. St Joes was on a 2 game slide going into the A10 tournament before winning 3 straight games and taking the automatic bid. In their last 5 games St Joes went 3-2 straight up and 3-2 against the spread. 4 of their 5 games went OVER the number. Cincinnati went 3-2 straight up in their last 5 games and 2-3 against the spread. The last time we saw them on the court they were losing that 4 overtime thriller to Uconn, a game they had no business losing.

Cincinnati is an average offensive team. They have 4 starters that average between 10 and 13 points a game led by junior Troy Caupain who averages 13 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. They aren’t very good behind the 3 point line and are an average foul shooting team. All in all their’s nothing to get excited about when talking about the Bearcats offense. They do their work on the defensive end, allowing only 62 points a game good for 10th in the country. Before the 4 overtime game they held 8 of their last 9 opponents to under 70 points with 2 scoring in the 50’s. St Joes on the other hand gives up almost 70 points a game but they aren’t offensively challenged. 77 points a game and dropped over 80 in 4 of their last 5 games including all 3 of their conference tournament games. Forwards Isaiah Miles and DeAndre Bembry are the real deal, averaging 18 point 8 rebounds and 17 points 8 rebounds respectively. So with two totally opposite teams who has the advantage? Look for a close game as Cincinnati’s defense and methodical style will force St Joes to slow down. BUT… when the game is on the line with a couple minutes left We’ll take the 2 future NBA players who can score the basketball over the team that will have trouble scoring. Give us St Joseph’s and we’ll take the point and a half.. The Pick: St. Josephs +1.5

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.