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The No. 15 Cincinnati Bearcats are coming off of a game with the Memphis Tigers where they collapsed in the second half, but still held on to victory. After outscoring the Tigers by 19 in the first half, the Bearcats took their foot off the gas pedal and won by 13, letting Memphis get as close as six along the way. For the Bearcats to really finish strong this year, they need to dominate a game for all 40 minutes.
Get To Know The Opponent
The UCF Knights traveled to Fifth Third Arena in early February where they were handed a 60-50 loss at the hands of the ‘Cats, so they will certainly be looking for revenge this Sunday afternoon when the Bearcats come to visit CFE Arena. Tacko Fall, the 7’6” sophomore, led the Knights the last time these teams met up, dropping 14 points and adding 11 rebounds. When Fall gets the ball in the paint is almost an automatic two points. His 14-point effort against UC last time came on 100 percent shooting from the field, so it is ultra important that the Bearcats get a lot of bodies around him when he is in the paint. The other player to keep your eyes on is B.J. Taylor, who leads the Knights in points per game and scored a very quiet 14 points when he came to Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats will need to make certain that Fall and Taylor are kept in check all afternoon.
Spreading the Wealth
This season the Bearcats have been one of the best teams in the country when it comes to getting production from all of the players on it's roster. Teams that have multiple playmakers are extremely hard to gameplan for and UC definitely creates that problem for opponents. Between Troy Caupain, Jacob Evans, Kevon Johnson, Kyle Washington, Gary Clark and UC's bench (namely Jarron Cumberland), its possible for the the top performer to be a different guy every game. Spreading the ball like this proves that UC is one of the most versatile teams in college ball and makes them a scary team to play in March.
Prediction
On Sunday afternoon at CFE Arena in Orlando, expect a Bearcats win over the UCF Knights. UCF is tough on defense, but despite Taylor and Matt Williams’ efforts, they aren’t great offensively, which plays right in UC’s hands. Hopefully, UC will keep its foot on the gas for all 40 minutes this time around, resulting in a big win.