What could possibly go wrong Wednesday night for the Bearcats? It’s only a Cincinnati-San Francisco matchup. If you know, you know.
Aside from that, this is a historic matchup and one that’s for fans who appreciate college basketball history. Cincinnati and San Francisco are two of just 15 programs in college basketball that have won multiple national championships. It’s another reason why these NIT games still matter. With that, here are my Players to Watch and Keys to the Game against the San Francisco Dons Wednesday night.
Looking at San Francisco: The Dons had a solid regular-season, going 23-10 overall and 11-5 in the West Coast Conference. Four of the five losses in conference play came to Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s with the Dons losing to Gonzaga 89-77 in the Quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament.
The Dons are a well-balanced team on offense, with six players averaging over seven points per game. They’re also a really efficient shooting team, hitting at 48.9 percent from the field and nine players shooting 40 percent or higher from the floor. San Francisco is also solid defensively, giving up just 66.3 points per game. But their opponents do shoot well from the floor at 42.9 percent from the floor, 33.2 from three-point range and 70.1 from the free throw line.
Players to Watch
1. #10 Jonathan Mogbo, 6’8″, 225 lbs., Jr., F, West Palm Beach, Florida, Missouri State Transfer
14.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 64.6 FG%, 69.2 FT%, 117 ast.-59 TO, 52 stl, 28.8 mpg
Mogbo is a beast, with 15 double doubles on the season. His 10.2 rebounds leads the West Coast Conference and ranks 14th in the country. Some of his performances are incredible: 15 points and 18 rebounds, 23 and 16, and 30 and 18 at Pacific on January 4th. Mogbo is also accurate from the floor, only shooting below 50 percent from the field five times. For a player who makes his presence felt in the frontcourt, Mogbo is also a good ball distributor and the leads the team and West Coast Conference in steals. His 117 assists rank second on the team and sixth in the West Coast Conference. His 64.6 field goal percentage ranks eighth in the country. Very similar to the way Aziz Bandaogo had a big night in the NIT Quarterfinals against the Bearcats last year, Mogbo is definitely a player who could have a similar night Wednesday against the Bearcats.
2. #55 Marcus Williams, 6’2″, 200 lbs., Jr., G, Dickinson, Texas, Texas A&M Transfer
14.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 46.1 FG%, 34.4 3-PT FG%, 68.5 FT%, 127 ast.-70 TO, 30.5 mpg
Another player who ranks in the West Coast Conference’s Top 10 in scoring and the top seven in field goal percentage, Williams has six 20-point games this season. San Francisco is the third school Williams has played for in his collegiate career, with previous stops at Wyoming and Texas A&M. Williams has nine games with five or more assists. His 127 assists rank fourth in the West Coast Conference. Williams also is the only player on San Francisco to average 30 or minutes played per game this season.
3. #1 Malik Thomas, 6’5″, 205 lbs., Jr., G, Fontana, California, USC Transfer
11.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 46.7 FG%, 38.1 3-PT FG%, 85.6 FT%, 22.7 mpg
Of players on the Dons with at least 25 three-point attempts, Thomas is the second-best three-point shooter. He has 10 games with multiple three-point makes, including four in his last five games going into Wednesday night. Thomas has been an ascending player throughout WCC play, at one point scoring in double figures in 13 straight games. Since he became a starter back in late December, Thomas has increased his scoring average from just seven points per game to just under 12 points per game.
