The University of Cincinnati basketball team comes off two consecutive losses to nationally ranked teams, only to find an unbeaten opponent looming.
The No. 25-ranked Bearcats (7-2) will play unranked Mississippi State (8-0) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Northern Kentucky University's BB&T Arena, UC's temporary home while Fifth Third Arena is being renovated.
The good news is that UC is back home, with the Bearcats carrying the nation's longest active home-court winning streak at 30 games. The other good news is that Mississippi State is not the caliber of UC's two latest opponents. The Bearcats fell 89-76 at then-No. 21 Xavieron Dec. 2, followed by a 66-60 loss to then-No. 5 Florida last Saturday in the Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, N.J.
MSU has not exactly played a robust schedule, with the Bulldogs' most notable win being a 61-59 verdict over Dayton. Tuesday will mark MSU's first road game and the Bulldogs rank 346th among 351 Division I teams in strength of schedule, according to the Kenpom.com ratings. UC is 309th in that category.
UC coach Mick Cronin is aware of such things, but what he sees is an 8-0 opponent playing with confidence. MSU is one of only seven remaining unbeaten Division I teams.
"Obviously they are undefeated and very talented," Cronin said. "They have grown up a lot from last season when they were a very young team."
MSU last season went 16-16 with the second-youngest team in Division I, with nine freshmen on the roster. The Bulldogs are in their third season under 60-year-old coach Ben Howland, who is trying to revive a program that last made the NCAA Tournament in 2009. Howland took UCLA to three consecutive Final Fours from 2006-08.
"Coach Howland is one of the best coaches in our game," Cronin said. "He's building a serious program in Starkville. We will need to play very well to win, for 40 minutes."
Scouting Mississippi State: The Bulldogs were picked to finish 12th in the 14-team Southeastern Conference in the league's preseason poll, per a panel of SEC and national media members.
Junior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, second-team All-SEC last season, averages 13.3 points and leads the Bulldogs with 4.6 assists per game.
Weatherspoon's brother, freshman guard Nick Weatherspoon, averages 10.9 points per game. Nick Weatherspoon was offered by the likes of North Carolina, Kansas and Louisville, but he opted to stay in-state and play with his brother.
Other key Bulldogs include sophomore guard Tyson Carter (team-high 14.0 ppg), 6-foot-10 junior forward Aric Holman (11.0 ppg, 7.3 rebounds) and sophomore guard Lamar Peters (10.2 ppg).
Overall, UC is No. 13 and Mississippi State is No. 66 in the Kenpom.com team efficiency ratings.
The Bearcats rank No. 40 on the Kenpom.com AdjO (adjusted offensive efficiency) chart, scoring 1.12 points per possession. UC is No. 5 in AdjD (adjusted defensive efficiency) at .901 points per possession.
MSU ranks 120th in AdjO (1.06 points per possession) and 35th in AdjD (.955 points per possession.
Bearcats regrouping: The glaring statistic from the loss to Florida was the Bearcats' 21 turnovers. The Gators made 15 turnovers themselves but held a 27-17 edge in points off of turnovers.
"Obviously we've got good players turning the ball over, which is a big, big problem," Cronin said. "It's hard to win when you turn the ball over. Nearly impossible to win."
UC point guard Cane Broome, who led the Bearcats against Florida with 15 points, said his team must not dwell on the missed opportunity against the Gators.
"That's just another team," Broome said. "We wanted to get the win for us. We didn't do that, so we've just got to go back to the drawing board and figure it out. It's two games in a row that we came up short. We need to be tough on turnovers and things like that."
Poll movement: UC fell from No. 17 to No. 25 on Monday in the weekly Associated Press poll. Florida, which had lost three straight games before beating UC, dropped from No. 5 to No. 22.
The No. 25-ranked Bearcats (7-2) will play unranked Mississippi State (8-0) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Northern Kentucky University's BB&T Arena, UC's temporary home while Fifth Third Arena is being renovated.
The good news is that UC is back home, with the Bearcats carrying the nation's longest active home-court winning streak at 30 games. The other good news is that Mississippi State is not the caliber of UC's two latest opponents. The Bearcats fell 89-76 at then-No. 21 Xavieron Dec. 2, followed by a 66-60 loss to then-No. 5 Florida last Saturday in the Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, N.J.
MSU has not exactly played a robust schedule, with the Bulldogs' most notable win being a 61-59 verdict over Dayton. Tuesday will mark MSU's first road game and the Bulldogs rank 346th among 351 Division I teams in strength of schedule, according to the Kenpom.com ratings. UC is 309th in that category.
UC coach Mick Cronin is aware of such things, but what he sees is an 8-0 opponent playing with confidence. MSU is one of only seven remaining unbeaten Division I teams.
"Obviously they are undefeated and very talented," Cronin said. "They have grown up a lot from last season when they were a very young team."
MSU last season went 16-16 with the second-youngest team in Division I, with nine freshmen on the roster. The Bulldogs are in their third season under 60-year-old coach Ben Howland, who is trying to revive a program that last made the NCAA Tournament in 2009. Howland took UCLA to three consecutive Final Fours from 2006-08.
"Coach Howland is one of the best coaches in our game," Cronin said. "He's building a serious program in Starkville. We will need to play very well to win, for 40 minutes."
Scouting Mississippi State: The Bulldogs were picked to finish 12th in the 14-team Southeastern Conference in the league's preseason poll, per a panel of SEC and national media members.
Junior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon, second-team All-SEC last season, averages 13.3 points and leads the Bulldogs with 4.6 assists per game.
Weatherspoon's brother, freshman guard Nick Weatherspoon, averages 10.9 points per game. Nick Weatherspoon was offered by the likes of North Carolina, Kansas and Louisville, but he opted to stay in-state and play with his brother.
Other key Bulldogs include sophomore guard Tyson Carter (team-high 14.0 ppg), 6-foot-10 junior forward Aric Holman (11.0 ppg, 7.3 rebounds) and sophomore guard Lamar Peters (10.2 ppg).
Overall, UC is No. 13 and Mississippi State is No. 66 in the Kenpom.com team efficiency ratings.
The Bearcats rank No. 40 on the Kenpom.com AdjO (adjusted offensive efficiency) chart, scoring 1.12 points per possession. UC is No. 5 in AdjD (adjusted defensive efficiency) at .901 points per possession.
MSU ranks 120th in AdjO (1.06 points per possession) and 35th in AdjD (.955 points per possession.
Bearcats regrouping: The glaring statistic from the loss to Florida was the Bearcats' 21 turnovers. The Gators made 15 turnovers themselves but held a 27-17 edge in points off of turnovers.
"Obviously we've got good players turning the ball over, which is a big, big problem," Cronin said. "It's hard to win when you turn the ball over. Nearly impossible to win."
UC point guard Cane Broome, who led the Bearcats against Florida with 15 points, said his team must not dwell on the missed opportunity against the Gators.
"That's just another team," Broome said. "We wanted to get the win for us. We didn't do that, so we've just got to go back to the drawing board and figure it out. It's two games in a row that we came up short. We need to be tough on turnovers and things like that."
Poll movement: UC fell from No. 17 to No. 25 on Monday in the weekly Associated Press poll. Florida, which had lost three straight games before beating UC, dropped from No. 5 to No. 22.
