Cincinnati on a Slide

Both Cincinnati and Notre Dame made nine 3-pointers, but the Irish did it by taking five less.  Notre Dame got off to a slow start, only scoring 11 points in the first 13 minutes of the game, but they closed the first half hot – scoring 21 in the final seven minutes.  They did this by cycling the ball beautifully, and converting six consecutive wide-open 3s.  All while Cincinnati had yet another dismal first half trying to get the ball to go through the net.  This was their seventh straight game that they failed to eclipse 30 points before the break.

Once Notre Dame got the Bearcats to spread-out and discontinue their help defense after hitting that barrage of 3s,   they attacked them with pick n rolls and slashes for the entirety of the second half.

Cincinnati went down by as much as 11 in the early going of the second half, but they quickly went on a run to take a two point, 47-45 lead with over 12 minutes remaining in the game.  

The Bearcats actually out-rebounded the Irish by eight (27 to 19), but obviously that didn’t make a difference in the game.  The difference in this game, as it has been for a few games now for Cincy, is that they lack scorers on the floor.  The ESPN crew pointed this out during the game – Cincinnati does not have more than three players on the court at a given time that are legitimate scoring threats.  The Irish were then able to focus on those three players, force them to take tough contested shots, or watch the other players chuck bricks off the rim.  While on the other end of the court Notre Dame had five scoring threats on the floor at all times, allowing them to work the ball (and burn clock) and find good looks all night. 

Cincinnati started the season 12-0, but they were barely tested.  New Mexico came to their place and squeaked out a close one, but the Bearcats bounced back nicely by winning their Big East opener on the road at Pittsburgh (never an easy place to play).  However, they have since dropped back-to-back games at home, and three of their last four.  They now go on the road to Rutgers and DePaul before getting Marquette at home, then back on the road to Syracuse.  Winning on the road in the Big East is never an easy task and five of their next seven are away from home. Also, their schedule is back-loaded, meaning every single game they 'should' win, now needs to be must wins.  This was a team that was coasting along through late December, now they can ill-afford to drop too many more, if any, if they want to compete for the conference title.  

Twitter:  @shane_t_mac