Gopher Basketball
| Game Info | |
| Opponent: | Cincinnati Bearcats |
| When: | 8 pm, March 21st, 2006 |
| Where: | Fifth Third Arena ““ Cincinnati, OH |
| Television: | ESPN |
One game down and two to go before the Gophers can book their trip to New York City for the NIT semifinals. After Wednesday’s comfortable home win over Wake Forest, things have gotten a lot tougher. Winning on the road against a talented and feisty Cincinnati team won’t be easy, but it’s doable.
The Bearcats finished an even 8-8 in the very tough Big East and our one of the teams with a legitimate gripe for having been left out of the NCAA Tournament. They’ve been solid and consistent all season, but the one real weak spot on their resume was not being able to knock off many top teams. They did manage to beat West Virginia at home in early March, but they went winless in their other 9 games against ranked opponents. That, of course, is a sharp contrast to Minnesota, which routinely beat good teams and lost to bad teams on any given day.
Cincinnati features a solid six-man rotation which is led by seniors James White and Eric Hicks. The 6’7″ White can do damage both inside and out, hitting 37% of his three-point attempts while also getting to the free throw line five times per game and averaging 16 points and 5 boards. The 6’6″, 245-pound Hicks is a force inside and averages 15 points and 10 boards per game.
Talented freshman point guard Devan Downey contributes 12 points and 4 assists per game and is quick off the dribble. Senior guard Jihad Muhammad is a threat from outside and averages 11 points. 6’6″ junior Cedric McGowan puts up 8 points and 7 boards, and senior guard Chadd Moore plays a quiet but solid 20 minutes per game.
Here are my Gopher Keys of the Game:
1. Work it Inside. Hicks and McGowan have bulk, but the Bearcats have very little height. That’s something a guy like Spencer Tollackson should be able to take advantage of inside, and it’s something that Vincent Grier or Moe Hargrow might be able to exploit when a shorter man is guarding them. The Gophers will probably have to shoot well to win this game, but they should look to do it from inside-out.
2. Big Ten Tempo. The Bearcats are capable of putting a lot of points up on the board, and they have the quickness to hurt Minnesota in transition. The Gophers need to take their time and play their game, and they have to make Cincinnati earn its points.
3. Have a Purpose. In the NIT, the better team doesn’t always win. Often, the winner is simply the team who wanted it more. The Bearcats obviously wanted to play in the Big Dance, but I’m sure their 4 seniors still want to extend their careers as long as possible. That’s the attitude the Gophers need to have as well, and they showed it in the second half against Wake Forest.
Winning at Cincinnati is never easy, but at least the crowd should be smaller than in a regular season game (they only had 6,800 fans Friday night). And I’m hopeful that the Gophers have the right frame of mind to still play hard despite this “œjust” being the NIT. And of course I never like to forecast a season-ending loss. My prediction: Minnesota 68 Cincinnati 66.
Talk about the game on our Gopher Basketball message board.