Cincinnati (-3) at UAB - 5:30pm Pacific

The Bearcats have dominated this series winning 7 straight.  They are coming off a hard fought 6 point loss at Wake Forest in which they probably would have won if not for giving up a 20-3 run at the end of the first half.  Only a handful of teams in the country play defense as well as UC.  I really believe they match up well with UAB.

 

I was high on the Blazers early in the season but they really have not done much of late to merit the respect they are getting.  UAB is 8-2 in C-USA games but have only beaten one team with a winning conference record (Charlotte).  The Blazers are 0-3 vs ranked teams this season and aside from Charlotte have only beaten one other team with an RPI better than 60 and that was a less than 100% Richmond team way back in November in Birmingham.  The Blazers are undersized, are not a good rebounding team, and often lack discipline on the offensive end. 

 

Cinci is a respectable 5-3 in road games and all three losses (at Xavier, at Lousiville, at Wake Forest) came at very tough places to play.  UAB enters the game with a -4.7 rebounding margin per game average.  The Bearcats are a strong offensive rebounding team and are 10-1 when outrebounding their opponent this season.  UC is 2-1 off a straight up loss and 2-0 in second game of two straight road games this season.  Two Bearcat players hail from Alabama, including starting center Kareem Johnson.  Give the small number.

 

Cincinnati  1 UNIT