So, after sleeping on the crushing loss in double overtime to UCF at home, I’ve had some time to think about the remaining four games (not counting the AAC Tournament). First off, Cincinnati sits 17-9 and 10-4 in the conference, which is currently good for second place in the conference. Is the sky falling?
With losses to Bowling Green, Colgate, Tulane and now UCF, Cincinnati with recent play had been in on many NCAA mock boards, but with the most recent loss it has done damage to the teams resume. Having losses to Colgate and UCF at home are very bad those of these are quadrant three losses which range in the 76-160 ranking at home. Tulane was on the road and Bowling Green was at a neutral site. They do have quality wins against Houston at home and Wichita State on the road, but this loss to UCF could be a the start of their NCAA tournament grave.
While the previous five games they went 4-1, they’ve been playing with fire and last night they got burned. Against ECU on the road they shot under 50% from the line, committed 22 turnovers and still worked out to be a Cincinnati win. Against Houston they were out physical(ed) early in the game, down big in the second half and came back to win. Memphis they were down big in the second half and came back to win. Wichita State they played great offensively all game, but wasn’t as stout on defense, but yes they won the game. They got burnt on the road against UConn in overtime in a winnable game, but even after that loss nobody was in pure panic mode until last night.
So many times this team has been able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat they came into the UCF game playing with house money, you beat them the pressure isn’t as bad the last four games of the season. That is was a game you can’t lose, one of the worst teams in the conference on your home floor. Now they have four games left in the AAC Tournament.
Questions I’ll raise you is can they cut the turnovers down, play better defense as a whole, consistently shoot well from the line, take better shots and get consistent help from their bench? It’s a lot of questions, but at times they get a lot of these components, they now need to be consistent at times at all phases if they want to dance.
Note: I’m not digging into the last four games because Zach is working on that piece.
