Preview: Cincinnati vs Georgetown

UC vs. Georgetown

Date: Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007

Time: 12:00 p.m. EST

Site: Verizon Center (20, 600) Washington, D.C.

Records:

Cincinnati: .................... 10-9 , 1-4 BIG EAST

Georgetown: ............... 14-5 , 4-2 BIG EAST

TV: ESPN Plus (Don Criqui, Bob Wenzel), WXIX-TV 19 in Cincinnati

Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard and Chuck Machock ), also on XM 173

SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati seeks its first BIG EAST Conference road win of the season when the Bearcats visit Georgetown on Saturday, Jan. 27 for a noon contest. Cincinnati, 10-9 overall, is 1-4 in league play , its lone win a 96-83 home overtime victory over West Virginia. UC lost to conference leader, No. 9 Pittsburgh, 67-51, on Wednesday. Georgetown, 14-5, is 4-2 in league play following Wednesday's 66-52 win over DePaul.

STORY LINES:

• The Bearcats will be taking on one of the top defensive teams in the BIG EAST when they meet Georgetown on Saturday. The Hoyas lead the league and are ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense, surrendering 55.6 points per outing. Georgetown has held 11 of its last 12 foes to fewer than 60 points.

• Saturday's game will be only the second meeting between Cincinnati and Georgetown. The two teams played almost exactly one year ago—on Jan. 28—with the Hoyas taking a 76-57 victory.

• Cincinnati and Georgetown will meet twice this season as mirror opponents in the BIG EAST schedule. The two teams will play in Cincinnati on Feb. 21.

• Georgetown is 8-2 this season in the Verizon Center and has a 92-43 record in all games played in the facility.

• The Bearcats and Hoyas have played two common opponents. Georgetown has defeated Rutgers (68-54) and lost to Pittsburgh (74-69) while Cincinnati has lost to both Rutgers (54-42) and Pittsburgh (67-51).

• Marcus Sikes has been UC's chief offensive threat recently. The junior has averaged 14.6 points and shot .550 from 3-point range over the past three games.

WHAT TO WATCH

1. Tough Shots

With the Hoyas, you need to hit a lot of contested shots to win. They are long, athletic and physical on the perimeter and in the post. This allows Roy Hibbert to plant his 7'2" frame around the rim to change shots and grab rebounds. Georgetown uses a 10 man rotation, and the are very stout on and off the ball. Opponents are shooting 39.2% from the floor and 27.7% from deep.

2. 35 Seconds Of Defense

Under John Thompson III the Hoyas run a version of the Princeton offense, and it has them ranked #2 in the nation in field goal percentage at 52.2%. Jeff Green and Jonathan Wallace are threats from anywhere on the floor, and Hibbert is there to clean up any misses. As a team they shoot 38% from three, so UC is going to once again have to pick its poison.

3. Protect The Rock

Georgetown is not a pressure defense, and they don't create a lot of turnovers. If UC can avoid mental mistakes, and do so while speeding up the game they can be in it at the end. On the flip side, UC needs to pressure the less than stellar Georgetown guards all over the court, and try to get quick scores. The Hoyas average 14.5 turnovers a game, but if they break the pressure it can turn in to a lay up line.

Georgetown Hoyas

POINT GUARD

G 2 Jonathan Wallace 6-1 Jr

2006-2007 Season Statistics: 11.3 pts, 2.4 reb, 3.1 ast

The Rundown:

Wallace is a very heady point guard, and runs their complicated offense to perfection. He's a dead eye shooter and most of his looks are catch and shoot from crisp interior passing. He's shooting 51% from the floor and 48% from distance. He's also one of the best free throw shooters in the nation at 90.3%. He doesn't create many turnovers and his assist/turnover ratio is just over 1/1.

SHOOTING GUARD

G 21 Jessie Sapp 6-3 So

2006-2007 Statistics: 8.8 pts, 3.8 reb, 3.2 ast

The Rundown:

Sapp is a lock down defender, and his main role is the erase the best perimeter scorer on the roster. Deonta Vaughn is going to have a tough time getting off good shots, and Sapp will be right with him ever move he makes. He's not much of a scorer, and is only shooting 61% from the charity stripe. He's a crisp passer and does most of his scoring slashing to the rim on back door cuts.

SMALL FORWARD

F 3 DaJuan Summers 6-8 Fr

2006-2007 Statistics: 9.1 pts, 2.9 reb, 0.7 ast

The Rundown:

Summers' game is really starting to blossom, and he has scored in double figures in four of his last five games. His size and athleticism create match up problems for UC, and it will be impossible to go with Vaughn, Gentry and Warren at the same time for long stretches of clock. For a player his size, you would expect a better rebounding presence.

POWER FORWARD

F 32 Jeff Green 6-9 Jr

2006-2007 Statistics: 11.6 pts, 5.9 reb, 3.6 ast

The Rundown:

There isn't much Jeff Green doesn't do. He can post up, hit mid range jumpers, rebound on both ends of the floor, shoot with accuracy from inside 25 feet, get to the foul line and sink free throws. It goes without saying that he's a major concern for Mick Cronin's squad. He does turn it over 3 times a contest, so maybe the UC pressure can expose the one chink in his armour..

CENTER

C 55 Roy Hibbert 7-2 Jr

2006-2007 Season Statistics: 11.8 pts, 5.9 reb, 2.5 blk

The Rundown:

Hibbert has not been as good as expected to this point of his junior season, but that doesn't change the problem he presents for the undersized Bearcats. He has had low rebounding numbers several times, and has only lead the team 7 times in 19 games. He's shooting 70% from the floor, and as you can guess, most of it is from point blank range.