Taking Cincinnati lightly is a mistake, especially when the Bearcats are backed into a corner, thinking they have to beat Louisville to get off the NCAA bubble.
Can’t afford either to miss three open shots in the first 80 seconds. Won’t be many open ones thereafter. Goodbye confidence, farewell three-point shooting advantage, say hello to a confident and inspired Cincinnati defense.
Nothing doing down the lane, foreign territory for anyone except Peyton Siva. This game Peyton having to rely almost entirely on those unorthodox moves for shots, looking desperate, coming up empty.
No offense to Terrence Jennings. He’s trying, actually getting better. But when he’s the most effective offensive threat, the odds of a happy ending are never good. Give Jennings full credit, however, for denying Yancy Gates any opportunity of redeeming himself offensively for his recent attitude shortcomings.
Cincinnati making a case for being one of the best defensive teams in the Big East. Just ask Preston Knowles, Kyle Kuric, Chris Smith and Siva, especially when the Bearcats are playing on their home court. None of them coming close to resembling themselves.
Kuric, out of character, missing layups, giving up the ball. Knowles disappearing at times. Smith a non-factor.
The almost legendary bandwagon fans in Cincinnati going ballistic, pretending to be a loyal fan base. Needing a lot of help from Louisville fans to get a decent crowd. But still leaving almost 1,600 seats empty in the 13,100-seat arena.
UC Coach Mick Cronin needing this one, taking full advantage of his familiarity with Rick Pitino’s system to use it against his former mentor, keeping his critics at bay, buying more time, silencing the doubters for a while.
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