Cincinnati Bearcats at DePaul Blue Demons, Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL
Tuesday, February 8, 2011, 7:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN2
Opening Line: Cincinnati -10
Current Line: Cincinnati -9.5
Opening Total: 131
Current Total: 131
Money Line: Cincinnati -525 / DePaul +425
The DePaul Blue Demons (6-16, 0-10 Big East) will try to end their 22-game conference losing streak on Tuesday when they host the Cincinnati Bearcats (18-5, 5-5). The Blue Demons are 3-3 in the last six meetings with the Bearcats (-9.5) and are coming off a tough road loss at #16 Louisville on Saturday.
In addition to the miserable skid in Big East play, DePaul has also dropped 26 straight games against ranked opponents and 28 road games in a row. The Blue Demons nearly put an end to all three of those streaks against the Cardinals, hanging tough in a 61-57 defeat. They were tied 34-34 at halftime after jumping out to a 32-23 lead behind 52 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes. Brandon Young led the team with 15 points while Cleveland Melvin added 12.
DePaul might have also found a way to break a 10-game losing streak overall by getting to the free-throw line more against Louisville. The Blue Demons made just four trips to the charity stripe and scored three points there compared to 12 of 18 for the Cardinals, who held a 32-24 edge on the boards as well.
Cincinnati has lost two in a row and dropped a 71-59 decision at #4 Pittsburgh on Saturday despite outrebounding the Panthers by a 38-34 margin. The Bearcats have suffered all five of their losses this season against league foes and face ranked opponents in three of their next five games after visiting DePaul. They outscored Pitt 36-31 in the second half, but it did not matter since they trailed by 17 points at halftime due to extremely poor shooting.
Cincy made just 21 of 63 shots from the field (33.3 percent) against the Panthers, including 2 of 13 from 3-point range. Larry Davis (13 points on 6 of 17 shooting) and Anthony McClain (10 points on 3 of 4 shooting) were the only two players to score in double figures for the Bearcats, who fell to 2-6 against the spread in their last eight games overall.
The Blue Demons failed to cover six straight games before beating the 18.5-point line at Louisville. They have also covered the last three meetings with Cincinnati – including the last two that were double digits – along with five of the past six. The UNDER is 6-1 in the last seven games between the teams and 3-1 in DePaul’s past four games overall.
Now that you have read this Big East college basketball betting preview featuring DePaul & Cincinnati, check out the NCAA basketball odds on this and all the games to compare the best lines at multiple sportsbooks.
