Scouting report: 3 keys for Cincinnati Bearcats basketball to grab home win vs. Baylor

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The Baylor Bears will make their first-ever trip to Fifth Third Arena on Tuesday night when they take on the Cincinnati Bearcats in a Big 12 return game.

UC was whipped by 20 in Waco in early January and lost twice to Scott Drew’s squad last season, the final time being in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City last March.

Should Baylor continue to be a top 30 team according to the NCAA.NET rankings, this could represent another Quadrant 1 win opportunity for the Bearcats. As of Sunday, Baylor was No. 30, but that could be in jeopardy after the Bears dropped a road game at Colorado Saturday, 76-74.

Keeping Baylor in the mix is that they played a challenging non-conference schedule in addition to the Big 12 slate. The Bears have played 10 ranked teams, while UC has played just three.

Saturday, the Bearcats kept the NCAA tournament respirator going with a 75-63 win over TCU, a team that had just knocked off 9th-ranked Texas Tech. UC never trailed in the game and began the contest with a 13-0 run.

Cincinnati Bearcats guard Dan Skillings Jr. (0) shoots against TCU Horned Frogs guard Jace Posey (41). UC played with Simas Lukosius for a second straight game Saturday. UC earned the 76-63 win.

Plenty of incentives for UC Bearcats to beat Baylor

In their last meeting, Baylor jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead and cruised to a 20-point victory in Waco, where the Bearcats are 0-2. That was during UC’s first four-game skid between Dec. 30-Jan. 11. They had a second slump of four games from Jan. 21-Feb. 2.

Baylor is minus 6-foot-10 Josh Ojianuwana who had 10 points and seven rebounds in their opening game Jan. 7. Ojianwuna suffered a season-ending knee injury Feb. 8 vs. UCF. Minus the big man and without key reserve Jayden Nunn who was ill, Baylor lost in Boulder Saturday afternoon against last-place Colorado.

UC, Baylor, NCAA tournament talk

The teams have identical records, with Baylor owning two more conference wins than UC. Many prognosticators have Baylor “on the bubble” …

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/scouting-report-3-keys-cincinnati-050048472.html

Author : Cincinnati.com | The Enquirer

Publish date : 2025-02-24 05:00:00

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