Cincinnati Basketball: Bearcats’ keys to a victory over Georgia State

Get to the stripe

The Bearcats do an excellent job of drawing fouls as they attempt 21 free throws per game. In addition to the opportunity to earn easy points, their ability to get to the line has other benefits.

First, the parade of free throw attempts slows the pace and disrupts the rhythm of the game. The Bearcats can use their aptitude for drawing fouls as another tool to dictate the tempo. Second, if the fouls continue to accumulate, it will force Georgia State to play its bench players more minutes than it would like.

Cincinnati will try to get Georgia State into early foul trouble and take advantage of the Panthers’ mismatched reserves. Getting into the bonus early doesn’t necessarily make for a fun viewing experience, but I don’t think the Bearcats are overly concerned with winning popularity contests. Cincinnati is comfortable with its identity, which leads me to my final key for this game.

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“Be Ourselves!”

If I were Coach Cronin, this would be my primary message to my team. The Bearcats have been one of the nation’s best teams throughout the season. They have only lost four games, with each loss coming against a 6-seed or better (Xavier, Florida, Houston, Wichita State).

As Gary Parrish has mentioned on CBS Sports’ Eye on College Basketball podcast, Cincinnati does not lose to inferior opponents. While Georgia State won the Sun Belt and packs some scoring punch, they are an inferior opponent relative to Cincinnati. The Bearcats should be able to play at their preferred tempo, win the rebounding battle, and get to the free throw line.

The cliche is that defense travels well. Therefore, the Bearcats should be fine as they travel down to Nashville. Watch them take on Georgia State on Friday at 2:00pm ET on TBS.