Cincinnati and Mississippi State – two teams with clear NCAA Tournament aspirations – meet in one of the stealthy games of the week.
TV Schedule: Tuesday, Dec. 12, 7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Arena: BB&T Arena, Highland Heights, Kentucky
Until a week and a half ago, it seemed the Cincinnati Bearcats would be heavy favorites for their game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
How times have changed.
The Bearcats have taken a hit to their ego, saddled with back-to-back losses (albeit to ranked foes in Xavier and Florida). Cincinnati has yet to record a quality win this campaign.
The team has been coasting on prestige alone, but have yet to see someone fill the gap left by Troy Caupain’s graduation. No player on the Bearcats is averaging more than 13.2 points per game.
Mississippi State, on the other hand, appears to be trending in the opposite direction. Through eight games, they’ve yet to drop a contest. They’ve only come close to losing a game once.
But looks can be deceiving: the Bulldogs’ schedule has been extremely lackluster to this point. According to ESPN’s RPI metric, Mississippi State has the No. 221 strength of schedule in college basketball.
Outside of a two-point win against Dayton, all of the Bulldogs’ victories have been against teams that typically only send their conference champion to the NCAA Tournament.
A key factor in Tuesday’s game will be the battle on the boards. Cincinnati sports a true rebounding percentage of 57%, one of the best in the country. Senior Gary Clark averages 8.6 rebounds per game.
This is the first leg in a home-and-home series between the two schools. The game is being contested at Northern Kentucky’s arena, however, due to construction.
Being at a (somewhat) neutral site could put Cincinnati at a disadvantage. But Mississippi State’s lack of elite competition to this point in the season will leave them exposed.
Prediction: Cincinnati 79, Mississippi State 68