BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: CINCINNATI @ RUTGERS

February 9, 2008


It is always interesting to see how a team gets themselves back off the mat. Well, that is the challenge for Rutgers after they were embarrased at home by a short-handed St. John's squad, scoring just 14 points in the first half, during a 52-45 loss on Wednesday night.

Cincinnati has been off a week since losing at home, 75-60, to Marquette. Coach Mick Cronin publicly criticized his team for their poor practices leading up to the game as they were getting too cocky and their play in practice carried over to the game. Now, they are rested and I am sure coach Cronin has reeled them in a bit following their loss last time out.

Rutgers remains a bit of a mystery. Sure, on paper, they definitely look to be a bottom-quarter team in the Big East. However, I have felt they should be competing better than they are. Following a 37-point loss at Louisville with their horrid display on their home floor against Rutgers has me questioning their dedication of several of their players. Their junior trip of Anthony Farmer, Jaron Griffin and JR Inman should, at least, be solid Big East contributers and mixing with promising youngsters Corey Chandler and Mike Coburn, be enough to steal some wins at home and compete much better on the road. Yes, they are not deep and more than not, that will cost them games in the Big East, but the lack of effort in several games has been startling and has to be driving Fred Hill crazy.

For the most part, Cincinnati has been the opposit this season. They have played hard and have played tough. Several players have put aside their dreams of being big time scorers and have bought into the defense and team-first mantra that coach Cronin is selling to them. They have a dynamic scorer, Deonta Vaughn, who is capable of putting up big scoring nights. The rest of the team might not be that talented offensively, and Cronin could shuttle in and out 11 players looking to eek as much offense out of the group as possible to win, but they all will work hard on defense and hit the boards.

The trouble for Cincinnati is finding someone else to score besides Vaughn. He will certainly be the target to stop for Rutgers and if they are wise, they would play a box and one on him and try to see if anyone else is capable of scoring.

The good news for UC, they do have someone capable of scoring while we are not sure if Rutgers does. I know several players have the potential to score and score in this conference, we just are not seeing it.

I really think Rutgers can buckle down and get a win here at the RAC. But, until they show that they want to get their hands dirty and step up and make shots, I am going to say Deonta Vaughn makes just enough to pull out a tough one.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Cincinnati 58 Rutgers 57