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Crosstown Classic 2012: Cincinnati Bearcats have numbers in their favor

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NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 16: Head coach Mick Cronin of the Cincinnati Bearcats reacts to his players from the bench against the Texas Longhorns during the second round of the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March…

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Posted: 12/19/2012

By: Casey Weldon

CINCINNATI - It may have been rebranded with a new name and moved to a new location this year, but the annual get-together on the court between the men’s college basketball programs from the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University is shaping up to be as much of a “Crosstown Classic” as any in recent memory.

Here's a look at the favorited Bearcats to get you prepared for the 80th all-time meeting between UC and Xavier, which will be played Wednesday night at U.S. Bank Arena in downtown Cincinnati. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

UC is coming off a 72-56 road win over Marshall on Saturday in Charleston, W.Va. Cashmere Wright led the Bearcats with 14 points and four 3-pointers. Sean Kilpatrick added 13 points and six rebounds. Justin Jackson had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting with three steals and three assists.

Ranked Among The Best

The No. 11 Bearcats come into the Classic ranked 10-0 to start a season for the second time in the past three years and the 10th time in school history. UC also entered the week as one of only eight undefeated teams in the nation. Syracuse (10-0) is the only other undefeated team in the Big East.

The Bearcats are one of five teams in the Big East currently ranked in the top 25. Joining UC are No. 3 Syracuse, No. 4 Louisville (9-1; previously ranked No. 1), No. 21 Georgetown (9-1) and No. 22 Notre Dame (10-1).

Connecticut (8-2), which is currently unranked, has knocked off No. 14 Michigan State and lost by four points to No. 25 NC State.

Home For The Holidays

There have been a lot of home-cooked meals before games this season for the Bearcats, who’ve only played away from home three times. Cincinnati is 7-0 in the Queen City this year, which includes wins over Tennessee-Martin, Mississippi Valley State, North Carolina A&T, Campbell, Alabama, Arkansas-Little Rock and Maryland Eastern Shore. UC has won every home game by at least 19 points, with the exception of its 58-56 victory over the Crimson Tide on Dec. 11 that was decided by a last second shot.

Cincinnati did pull out a pair of noteworthy neutral court wins on back-to-back nights during the Global Sports Invitational in Las Vegas in late November. The Bearcats knocked off Iowa State (78-70) on Nov. 23 and Oregon (77-66; championship game) on Nov. 24 en route to the tournament title.

The Bearcats have only played one traditional road game this season, which was its last contest against Marshall in Charleston, W.Va. (Dec. 15). UC cruised to a 72-56 win over the Thundering Herd.

There have not been many marquee names on UC’s schedule thus far this season but the Bearcats have defeated three teams from power conferences (Iowa State (Big 12), Oregon (Pac 12) and Alabama (SEC)).

The Mick Cronin-led squad has not played a team currently ranked in either the AP or USA Today polls so far but two teams on the schedule have been flirting with the polls all season. Oregon (9-1) has knocked off a top-25 team in UNLV and is currently receiving votes in both polls. Alabama (6-3) received votes earlier this season after starting the year 6-0, which included wins over Oregon State and Villanova, before dropping three straight games.

Iowa State is currently 8-3, with its only losses coming to UNLV and UC at the Global Sports Invitational, and Iowa. The Cyclones are also ranked in the top 10 in points (seventh) and rebounds (fourth) in the country.

Stats Don’t (Usually) Lie

The Bearcats come into the contest with Xavier as the top rebounding team in the country, pulling down 46.1 rebounds a night.

UC has also been among the top scoring teams in the country all season. Cincinnati ranks seventh nationally at 83.0 points per contest, which can be attributed to the team’s ability to move the ball around (16.5 assists per game; 27th nationally) and set up and convert quality shot attempts (46.6 percent; 47th nationally).

While they have had their worst offensive output against the top competition on their schedule, including a season-low 58 points against Alabama, the Bearcats did score 78 points against Iowa State and 77 points against Oregon.

UC is coming off a relatively uninspired 72-point road performance against Marshall on Saturday, however.

The UC Backcourt Doesn’t Take A Backseat To Anyone

The Bearcats feature one of the most dynamic and explosive collections of do-it-all guards in the country.

Junior guard Sean Kilpatrick, and senior guards Cashmere Wright and JaQuon Parker account for 84.6 percent of UC’s 3-pointers (66 of 78); 54.1 percent of its scoring (449 of 830 points); 48.6 percent of its steals (51 of 105) and 47.3 percent of its assists (78 of 165).

Kilpatrick, who leads UC with 19.3 points per game, has scored in double figures in all 10 games this season and has tallied 20 or more points four times. He netted a career-high 32 points against Iowa State (Nov. 23) in the semifinals of the Global Sports Classic in Las Vegas.

Wright is one the country’s most dangerous marksman from beyond the arc. Wright

is ranked third in the Big East in 3-point shooting (47.5 percent) and 15th in scoring (14.9 ppg). Wright is more than a one-dimensional player, however. In addition to his scoring prowess, Wright leads UC with 3.5 assists per game and averages 2.2 steals a night (seventh in the Big East).

Parker could very well be UC’s most important player against Xavier. While he doesn’t lead Cincinnati in one particular category, his name is found all over the stat sheet and he takes some of the offensive pressure of Kilpatrick and Wright. Averaging more than 10 points per game, Parker connects on 41 percent of his shots from deep and averages more than two assists and a steal per game.

While Parker’s better than 2:1 assist to turnover ratio this season is an indication of his solid decision making, the junior will have to work on taking smarter shots if UC hopes to defeat Xavier. Parker is only shooting 41 percent from the floor overall.

Inside Out

The Bearcats’ frontcourt may not consist of big names, but the big bodies it features have proven to be more than enough during the early portion of the season.

The four-headed rebounding monster of Titus Rubles, Chikh Mbodj David Nyarsuk and Justin Jackson controls the paint in a manner that harkens back to UC teams from the early 90s. All four players average more than five points and four rebounds per night and also combine for six blocked shots, five assists and four steals per outing.

The combination of size and skill featured by Rubles and Jackson, who both average nearly six rebounds and more than two assists per night, can prove to be serious matchup problems for other teams. Most forwards aren’t athletic enough to defend them but guards aren’t big enough to match their power inside.

Mbodj and Nyarsuk, more traditional big men, are both shooting better than 55 percent from the field and are considerable shot blockers. Mbodj leads the team with 2.5 blocks per game, while 7-foot-1 Nyarsuk is just behind Jackson with 1.3 blocks per night despite averaging only about 16 minutes per night.

It’s A Team Effort

While Kilpatrick and Wright have garnered most of the attention this season, UC has relied heavily on its entire roster thus far. Cincinnati has seven players who average better than three rebounds per contest, five players who dish out more than two assists per night and five players who have average more than a steal per game.

The Bearcats feature 11 players averaging more than 10 minutes per contest (note: Jeremiah Davis III has played only four games). While the majority of the scoring effort is being picked up by three players, the other eight guys are doing everything else. Those other eight players, who average between 7.5 and 3.4 points per outing, are hitting the glass, playing defense and distributing the basketball.

Hack-A-Everyone

The Bearcats do a lot of things well, particularly on offense. They can pass, take smart shots, score inside, beat you from deep and don’t turn over the ball (that) much (14.0 per game). One thing UC doesn’t do well, though, is shoot free throws.

Cincinnati has converted just 61.7 percent (140 of 227) of its free throw attempts this season, which places them in a tie for 316th out of 347 teams.

The Bearcats top offensive players, Kilpatrick and Wright, shoot 69.4 percent and 77.8 percent respectively, which isn’t bad. However, JaQuon Parker (51.5), Cheikh Mbodi (61.5) and David Nyarsuk (60.0) struggle immensely from the line. In late-game situations, outside Kilpatrick and Wright ( who only goes to the line 1.8 times per game), Cincinnati doesn’t have anyone it can rely on from the charity stripe.

Part of the reason UC struggles at the line has to do with the fact it doesn’t get there all that often. The Bearcats only attempt 22.7 free throws per contest (81st in the country). While the number isn’t amazingly low (Louisville is tied with the Bearcats in attempts per game), outside Kilpatrick (4.9 attempts per game) no one on the team gets to the line with any regularity. Only two players average more than three free-throw attempts per contest (Kilpatrick and Parker).

The question has to be asked: Outside of Kilpatrick, who isn’t exactly a surefire bet at the line, is there anyone on the Bearcats you can count on down the stretch?