BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Georgetown @ Cincinnati

February 21, 2007


Last season in the Big East, the upset of the year was a season-ending win by South Florida over Georgetown, costing the Hoyas a bye in the Big East Conference Tournament. This year the Hoyas will look to avoid a similar fate when they travel to meet last-place Cincinnati and keep on track for a conference title showdown this Saturday with Pittsburgh.

For the Bearcats, it has been a long season. A lack of depth, experience and talent have made winning a near impossible chore for Mick Cronin's squad. Even when they look poised to pull out a victory, they find a different way to let it slip away.

Here are some pregame stories and previews around the internet on tonight's game:


UC Meets Hoyas Again (Cincinnati Enquirer)
Hibbert Looms Large for Hoyas (Cincinnati Post)
Streaking Hoyas Are Aware of Trap (Washington Post)


It would be perfectly natural for the Georgetown Hoyas to be peeking ahead just a little bit. Afterall, as winners of nine straight games, Georgetown has put themselves in position to play for the conference title this coming Saturday when Pittsburgh visits the Verizon Center for a nationally televised match-up. Pitt was also the last team to beat the Hoyas this year.

Standing in their way, however, is a trip to Cincinnati to meet the struggling Bearcats, losers of seven straight contests. At times, Cincinnati can look pretty good. They have an impressive collection of athletes, but lack depth, size and shooting touch. However, costing them a couple wins has also been a lack of basketball acumen late in games. They will have to be near perfect tonight to get a win, even if Georgetown is looking past them just a bit.

In their previous meeting, Georgetown cruised to an 82-67 win that was kept relatively respectable by the fact that Cincinnati shot 14-24 from 3-pt range. However, Georgetown has too much size inside with Jeff Green (17 pts) and Roy Hibbert (26 pts) combining for 43 points in the first meeting and their ability to bring Patrick Ewing and Vernon Mackling off the bench. No mater how lethargic Georgetown might be, they have such an inside advantage that rebounds and easy hoops inside will be there whenever they want it tonight.

Georgetown is an 11.5-pt road favorite and the only question will be on their focus. After nine straight wins, including an emotional victory at Villanova on Saturday, this game is in a tough spot with Pittsburgh on the horizon, so the Hoyas are due for a flat performance, but that should be good enough for the win.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Georgetown 71 Cincinnati 61


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