N.C. State Wolfpack (10-3) vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (8-3) – 4pm @ PNC Arena; TV: EspnU
Cincinnati team page ; GoPack game preview with links to game notes and stats
N.C. State was able to enjoy a nice Christmas break after rallying for an important win against Louisiana Tech last Tuesday. The Wolfpack will look to ring in the New Year in a similar manner, as they face the Cincinnati Bearcats today in the last non-conference game of the regular season. The Pack has an opportunity to close out their OOC schedule with a respectable 11-3 mark and a very workable RPI number (it sits at 56 entering today’s contest). From the N.C. State perspective, it’s a chance to add another Top 100 win (Cincy is currently at #70 and has a good chance to end up in the Top 100 RPI) and bolster its potential at-large resume.
Cincinnati enters today’s contest with a very good win over San Diego St. in tow and respectable losses to Ole Miss (neutral court), at Nebraska in double overtime, and versus VCU. Of course, the majority of Cincinnati’s 8-3 mark was built with head coach Mick Cronin on the sidelines. Unfortunately, the college basketball world was dealt a large dose of perspective with the recent news of Coach Cronin being diagnosed with an unruptured brain aneurysm. Cronin missed the home loss to VCU and home win over Wagner, and will not be able to coach in today’s game versus the Wolfpack. We of course wish the best for Mick Cronin in his treatment and hopeful recovery. Larry Davis, former head coach at Furman, is filling in during Cronin’s absence.
The Bearcats entered this season off of four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, but lost quite a bit from last season’s squad. Given the roster turnover and unfortunate circumstances surrounding their head coach, this season’s squad is very much in flux. In true Cincinnati style though, they have been competitive by utilizing their trademark very physical defense to create turnovers and scoring opportunities. The Bearcat offense has not been great, but the majority of their games have been relatively low scoring, ‘slug it out’ affairs (ugly for the win) with a focus on generating offense from the paint. It could be a very interesting contrast of styles in today’s game. Hopefully, the Wolfpack can take care of the ball and put pressure on Cincinnati by scoring in transition off of rebounds/turnovers – as opposed to playing Cincy’s game of ‘we will out-grind and turn you over in the halfcourt’. Hitting (good) open shots helps as well … just sayin’ 🙂
As always, please share your thoughts on today’s contest, enjoy the game, and Go Pack!
(I really like the subtle use of the instrumental ‘Get Lucky’ in the background of this video)
