The Cincinnati Bearcats probably did enough to punch their bid to the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday when they beat the Providence Friars. Now, they have to take on one of the big kahunas in the Big East Tournament on Thursday when they take on the Georgetown Hoyas.

Cincinnati struggled at the end of the regular season, but the win against Providence was almost certainly enough to get into the field of 68. The Bearcats used their remarkable defense to shut down the Friars, holding them to just 44 points in the game. UC now ranks 22nd in the nation in total defense at 58.7 points per game, and squads just don’t knock down shots against this team. In fact, ‘total’ bettors should know that this is one of the best ‘under’ teams in the league, going 21-4 this year. Here’s the problem: The Bearcats starters played a ton of minutes against the Friars on Wednesday, and the bench only came up with a grand total of 13 points in the game. G Sean Kilpatrick and F JaQuon Parker had nice games against Providence, but G Cashmere Wright only had six points, and that won’t cut it in this game against the Hoyas.

The Hoyas are one of the best teams in the country, and many think that they are going to be a No. 1 seed if they can win the Big East Tournament. Of course, they end up bowing out early, the No. 2 or the No. 3 line isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Georgetown has had a remarkable season, knowing that it actually played better in the final 16 games of the regular season when it didn’t have F Greg Whittington than it did before Whittington was declared ineligible. The man that has really stepped up for the rest of the season was F Otto Porter, who arguably has been one of the best players in the country. Porter averages 16.4 points and 7.5 boards per game, and he is clearly one of the most dominating players when he gets going. G Markel Starks averaged 12.4 points per game this year as well, and he has become a solid distributor.

Prediction:

This isn’t a great spot for the Bearcats, but we think that they can keep this one close. This will be a low scoring game, and we wouldn’t be all that shocked if neither team gets to 50 in this one. Roll with Cincinnati and the points on Thursday, though we think that this could be a game that goes either way by a bucket or so. Georgetown 49 – Cincinnati 47

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Adam Markowitz

is a staff writer living in the Orlando area. He has covered NFL, MLB, college football, CFL, AFL, NBA, college basketball, NASCAR, golf, tennis, and the NHL for a number of various outlets in his career, and he has been published by a number of different media outlets, including the Orlando Sentinel and the Wall Street Journal.

Latest posts by Adam Markowitz (see all)

• Kings vs. Sharks Game 4 Picks - May 21, 2013
• Nationals vs. Giants Picks 5/21/13 - May 21, 2013
• Yankees vs. Orioles Pick 5/20/13 - May 20, 2013
• Blackhawks vs. Red Wings Game 3 Pick - May 20, 2013
• Memphis Grizzlies vs. San Antonio Spurs Game 1 Pick - May 19, 2013

Related posts:

1. Georgetown Hoyas vs. Cincinnati Bearcats Free Pick
2. Providence vs. Cincinnati Pick
3. Georgetown vs. Villanova Pick
4. Syracuse vs. Georgetown Pick
5. NC State vs. Georgetown NCAA Tournament Free Pick