Staff and Wire Reports
 Cincinnati (15-9, 6-6 Big East) at South Florida (15-9, 5-7 Big East), 7:00 PM ET, February 16, 2010 USF Sun Dome, Tampa, FL |
The Cincinnati Bearcats (15-9, 6-6 BIG EAST) conclude a five-day, two-game road swing on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. when it travels to Tampa, Fla., to take on the USF Bulls. UC downed Connecticut, 60-48, on Saturday, Feb. 13, to kick off the road trip, holding UConn to its lowest scoring output since 2002. The win also was Cincinnati’s first in Hartford. USF (15-9; 5-7 BIG EAST) has lost back-to-back road contests after stringing together four straight conference triumphs over Providence, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, and Georgetown.
Two Big East teams sitting on the NCAA Tournament bubble meet as the South Florida Bulls host the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Cincinnati would probably be on the outside looking in if the tournament would start tomorrow. The Bearcats are coming off of a huge win where they stuffed UConn and Head Coach Jim Calhoun in his return to courtside. The win ended a two game losing streak for UC who sit at 6-6 and eighth place in the Big East. The Bearcats are averaging 70.1 points per game and shoot 44.3 percent from the floor and pound the offensive boards to the tune of 40 rebounds per game. Cincinnati allows 64.9 points per game as teams shoot 40.1 percent from the floor. The Bearcats are just 2-6 on the road this season.
South Florida is 7-1 against the spread in their last eight games against teams with a winning record and 3-1-1 against the spread i their last five home games. Cincinnati is 4-9 against the spread in their last 13 road games and 3-13 against the spread in their last 16 Big East games. The underdog is 5-1 against the spread in the last six in this series.
These are two middle of the road teams that under the right set of circumstances deserve to be in the big dance but more than likely at most only one could go and that may even be a reach. This is a must win for both teams and I think we have to give the Bulls the edge at home in a pretty even match up.
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