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The Bearcats get Syracuse up next. But thats not for another 12 hours or so. In the meantime lets talk about Georgetown

Georgetown Round Up

Yancy Gates gets Cincinnati to semis - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN

There were two horses in this game, Gates and Sims, two big men playing an anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better game for 50 minutes. Gates finished with 23 points and eight rebounds, his yeoman’s efforts helping the Bearcats erase an 11-point deficit with nine minutes to play.

Heartbreak At The Garden: Cincinnati Outlasts Georgetown 72-70 In Double Overtime Classic At Big East Tournament - Casual Hoya

Today's game, through regulation, felt exactly like the loss we had to Cincinnati in early January. We outshot the Bearcats in the game in January, and outshot them again today. But once again, Mick Cronin and his cronies out-toughed Georgetown. Somehow, Gates and four guards grabbed 14 offensive rebounds today. In a game that came down to one possession, that kind of defensive rebounding wasn't going to get it done.

Cincinnati Recap - Hoya Hoops

From that point however, the Hoyas stopped doing the things that earned them the large lead. Cincinnati went on a 6-0 run in less than 50 seconds, creating turnovers and turning them into fast break opportunities. The easy baskets gave Cincinnati confidence, and their half-court execution improved. The lead got smaller and smaller for the Hoyas, as a result of additional turnovers and poor free-throw shooting. On two separate occasions down the stretch, Markel Starks, one of the Hoyas more reliable free throw shooters, missed the front end of one and one situations which would have kept the Hoyas in front.

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It took four years but Bearcats everywhere finally got the monster of our dreams what a game for Yancy Gates. The big man was unstoppable on the glass and on the block all night now. He and the Hoya's Henry Sims waged the an old school battle down the stretch. For the last 20 minutes of game time I became convinced that I had entered into a time warp to 1975 where every thing was sloppy, nothing looked flashy and the big men ruled the day. Gates did it all for the Bearcats today and he played his biggest at the biggest moments.

But some words also need to be directed to Cashmere Wright who's running off balance runner in the lane that banked home exercised some runner demons of the Bearcats own. I think you know the shot of which I speak. No rest for the weary though as the Orange are up next. That's all I got for right now Bearcats. Go enjoy the win.

Hoyas vs Bearcats coverage | Hoyas vs Bearcats boxscore | Casual Hoya

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In something like an hour the Bearcats will take the floor in the Garden for the Big East Tournament for the 8th time. But it will be the first time that the Bearcats have entered the fray off the double bye. Opinions are mixed about the overall virtue of the double bye for this Bearcat team. I personally think its a good time. Cashmere Wright and Justin Jackson were both banged up down the stretch and the rest hopefully did them good.

The Hoya's are an interesting match up because while the two teams have different philosophies the games seem to play out in the same way. It's never pretty, usually brutal and always interesting. UC has won 5 of the last 6 against Georgetown. Time to make it 6.

23-7 (13-6)		22-9 (12-6)
Tip Time		2PM
TV/Radio		ESPN/700 WLW
Starters		Starters
Henry Sims	F	Yancy Gates
Nate Lubick	F/G	JaQuon Parker
Otto Porter	F/G	Sean Kilpatrick
Hollis Thompson	G	Dion Dixon
Jason Clark	G	Cashmere Wright

Charts and gamethread after The Jump

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The Bearcats and the Hoya's have matched up before this season. Way back on January 15th. It was a very, very weird game. One where there Bearcats won on the road despite allowing 60 per cent shooting from the floor and three point line while shooting just 40 per cent from the floor and 30 per cent from three. If the Bearcats are to repeat the result and move on to face Syracuse (probably) three things should be at the top of the white board.

Win The Turnover Margin

The single biggest reason the Bearcats won the game in January is because they forced 17 Hoya turnovers while committing just 9. In the months since the trends that were on display in that game haven't changed. UC still tends to dominate the turnover margin and commit relatively few mistakes with the basketball.

Georgetown meanwhile still struggles with ball control. One reason for that is that the bigs tend to be play makers for the Hoyas because of the offensive style. That is all well and good but there is always a risk with the approach. Namely that a big guy with quick hands can cause havoc. Believe it or not that is Yancy Gates. Yancy averages less than a steal per gram but his active hands have caused issues for opponents all year.

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Today we turn to the good folks over at Casual Hoya to learn just what has been going on with the Hoya's

Care to rant about Otto Porter and the All Rookie Team?

Otto Porter not being named to the Big East All-Rookie Team is lewd, lascivious, salacious, outrageous! Porter is clearly one of the top freshmen in the league, and probably one of the top four. This isn't a homer thing either, as Jason King of ESPN felt that Porter was not only one of the better freshmen, but was the Big East freshman OF THE YEAR. Having said all that, if the snub means Otto is now playing with a chip on his shoulder, and judging by his career high against Pitt he just might be, then it is the best possible thing that could have happened. At the end of the day no one will remember Porter not being named to the All Rookie Team as a freshman, especially when he's Big East Player of the Year as a sophomore. Aw shit, I just went there.

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The past few weeks have been great to Bearcat fans. The Cats have won five out of their last six games and have all but clinched an NCAA Tournament berth. Their recent hot streak has helped put them in prime position to contend for a Big East Tournament Championship.

In previous posts I've talked about how the Bearcats are on their way to becoming nationally relevant again. Besides making a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, nothing could help a program like UC more then to win the Big East Tournament Crown.

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Now at least we know who the Bearcats next opponent will be. The Georgetown Hoya's are up next as the Bearcats enter the fray in the 2012 Big East Tournament. The Hoya's just beat Pittsburgh 64-52. Getting dominate performances from their bigs. Otto Porter had 20 and 6. Henry Sims saw Porter and raised him with a 20-13-5(!) line. Sims also had a block for good measure. The Hoyas deftly picked apart the Pittsburgh zone in the second half turning the game into a bit of a laugher.

So the it will be the Bearcats and the Hoya's for the right to play Syracuse (probably) in the semi finals of the Tournament. Georgetown was only the 4th Big East game of the season. Way back on the 9th of January. If you recall the Bearcats won that game 68-64 in a game that included some really strange statistical things. But more on that later, either today or tomorrow. For now I open up the floor to you. How do you feel about this match up? Would you have preferred Pitt? Leave your comments below.

To Be Announced vs Bearcats coverage | The Casual Hoya

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This has been talked about for what seems like weeks, but in reality is probably a week or so at the most. Regardless, it's official now. The relevant bits from the press release.

The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team has been selected by adidas as one of three programs in the nation to wear the new, ultra-lightweight adizero basketball uniforms throughout its postseason run in the BIG EAST Championship and NCAA tournament, the footwear and apparel company announced jointly with UC today.

Louisville and Baylor are the other programs chosen by Adidas for this. From a branding perspective this is a positive thing. As the old saying goes there is no such thing as bad publicity. This is just another example of how the Adidas contract* is good for the athletic department as a whole.

For the most part Adidas caters to the old guard in college sports. UCLA, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Michigan etc. All of whom have established looks. Changing the look for most Adidas would cause a minor revolt among those fan bases. Adidas needs a school to experiment with. Increasingly it's been UC. And on balance that's a very good thing.

You know what's not a good thing? The design for a start.

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