Had lollipop and sugar plum fairy dreams last night. Go Cats!!

Great comments by KW. Said this is the 3rd NCAA for Gary and him, 4th for Troy and KJ. This is a business trip for them. That's why you didn't see much celebrating after last nights win. They didn't come here to win just one game. These kids are ready!

UCLA -3.5

Superb game last night; hats off to the coaches and players for great scouting, preparation and a true team victory. I thought it was by far their most consistent performance from start to finish. KSU mini-runs were quickly thwarted to preserve a comfortable margin.

Maybe UCLA was sleepwalking against Kent State but I was not overly impressed. They clearly have some fine players but I've never thought Alford to be a great game day coach. Wasn't KSU an also ran in the MAC that upset Akron to make the tourney? I'm out on a limb with that comment as I really don't follow the MAC at all. But great basketball teams rarely emerge from that league so the fact that they even stayed in the game offers me some encouragement.

Go 'Cats!

The double OT battle in 2002 was 15 years ago yesterday. Fitting second round opponent and it's time we stole one from them.

(03-18-2017 09:52 AM)OKIcat Wrote:  Superb game last night; hats off to the coaches and players for great scouting, preparation and a true team victory. I thought it was by far their most consistent performance from start to finish. KSU mini-runs were quickly thwarted to preserve a comfortable margin.

Maybe UCLA was sleepwalking against Kent State but I was not overly impressed. They clearly have some fine players but I've never thought Alford to be a great game day coach. Wasn't KSU an also ran in the MAC that upset Akron to make the tourney? I'm out on a limb with that comment as I really don't follow the MAC at all. But great basketball teams rarely emerge from that league so the fact that they even stayed in the game offers me some encouragement.

Go 'Cats!

Finished 6th in the MAC in the regular season.

(03-18-2017 09:46 AM)CincyBro Wrote:  UCLA -3.5

Since it will be close to a home game for UCLA in CA. That's a betting pick em.

Non UCLA crowd will pull for the Bearcats.

(03-18-2017 09:54 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  The double OT battle in 2002 was 15 years ago yesterday. Fitting second round opponent and it's time we stole one from them.

Leonard Stokes (and his valiant 35 point effort in defeat) agrees.

UC is currently 19th in kenpom after last night. 33rd offense and 11th defense. UCLA is 18th. 2nd offense and 83rd defense.

They had an interior player out with injury last night, who's considered probable for tomorrow. He's a freshman though, not sure how much of a difference he'll make.
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketb...e-anigbogu
Kind of curious, he's got what I assume is an African sir name... So, is he "ick-ey" or is it just pronounced "Ike"? If it's the second one, that's actually pretty cool XD

(03-18-2017 10:03 AM)BcatMatt13 Wrote:  UC is currently 19th in kenpom after last night. 33rd offense and 11th defense. UCLA is 18th. 2nd offense and 83rd defense.

DRINK!!

(03-18-2017 10:18 AM)Cat-Man Wrote:  

(03-18-2017 10:03 AM)BcatMatt13 Wrote:  UC is currently 19th in kenpom after last night. 33rd offense and 11th defense. UCLA is 18th. 2nd offense and 83rd defense.

DRINK!!

Gladly.

Big teams which Ucla can put on the floor have been an issue, but with a caveat that they are not very good defensively so it will be interesting. I think they need to invert the offense more and pull the big guys away from the bucket. Give some room to work in the open floor and get to the hoop. Kent St. had success doing this.

(03-18-2017 10:15 AM)Recluse1 Wrote:  They had an interior player out with injury last night, who's considered probable for tomorrow. He's a freshman though, not sure how much of a difference he'll make.
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketb...e-anigbogu
Kind of curious, he's got what I assume is an African sir name... So, is he "ick-ey" or is it just pronounced "Ike"? If it's the second one, that's actually pretty cool XD

Ike is a beast. He is being projected as a 1st round pick in next years draft. He is probably their toughest player and best rebounder.

Really nice article by WCPO on the valiant effort of the 2002 Bearcats that lost to UCLA...
and the chance for these Bearcats to exact a little revenge.

http://www.wcpo.com/sports/college-sport...ent-ouster

Screw Campus Insiders. According to them, we're no better than Kent State (with all due respect to the Golden Flashes). I hope we use this underdog state to our advantage mentally. Again, that physical, tough AAC tourney game against UConn and the UConn friendly home crowd may have been just what we needed for the NCAA's.

Quote:UCLA vs. Cincinnati prediction and game preview, as the No. 3-seeded Bruins and No. 6-seeded Bearcats face off in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Despite suffering a bruised right hip, star freshman Lonzo Ball played in the Bruins’ first-round matchup against Kent State, and they had absolutely no problem. No. 3-seeded UCLA came up just shy of the century mark when it took down the Golden Flashes, 97-80.

Now, the Bruins will move on and will be tasked with going up against No. 6-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats. In their first-round matchup, the Bearcats went toe-to-toe with No. 11 Kansas State and also took home a double-digit victory. Cincinnati sent the Wildcats home with a 75-61 loss.

UCLA vs. Cincinnati

Date: Sunday, March 19
Venue: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, Calif.
Region: South

UCLA wins if …

If Lonzo Ball is on the floor and healthy. He didn’t shoot much against Kent State, but he was highly effective. Ball drained 6-of-7 from the field (15 points), including 2-of-3 from behind the arc. As long as he’s running up and down the hardwood, he’ll help get the rest of the Bruins open looks at the bucket. And if T.J. Leaf gets more open looks, that will be a tremendous help, as he hit 8-of-12 from the floor to rack up a team-high 23 points.

If the Bruins continue to share the basketball and play unselfishly, the Bearcats will be in trouble. UCLA totaled 25 assists against the Golden Flashes and shot 62.7 percent from the floor. Find the open man. Trade a good look for a great look.

Cincinnati wins if …

If it continues to crash the glass and own the paint. The Bearcats outrebounded Kansas State, 31-23, in their first-round win. But they have to do a better job of playing the passing lanes and having active hands on the defensive end of the court. The Wildcats won the turnover battle, turning over the ball seven times compared to Cincinnati’s 11. The Bearcats have to turn defense into offense and get some easy buckets in transition.

Along with that, they need to keep feeding Troy Caupain. The senior guard went off for 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting, but he was 2-of-4 from beyond the three-point line, and he hit all seven of his free throws. If he gets going early, the Bearcats can ride his hot shooting — or whoever else develops a hot hand.

UCLA vs. Cincinnati Prediction

The Bearcats won’t be able to slow down the Bruins offense, and they won’t be able to stop Ball. The freshman star will rest up and will drop 20-plus points on Cincinnati, but he’ll also tack on five assists to go along with it. UCLA will play with great ball movement, excellent spacing, and rhythm, and it will take down the Bearcats by double digits to move on in the tournament.

UCLA vs. Cincinnati Score Prediction: UCLA 95, Cincinnati 77

Campus Insiders Game Preview

(03-18-2017 11:04 AM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Screw Campus Insiders. According to them, we're no better than Kent State (with all due respect to the Golden Flashes). I hope we use this underdog state to our advantage mentally. Again, that physical, tough AAC tourney game against UConn and the UConn friendly home crowd may have been just what we needed for the NCAA's.

Quote:UCLA vs. Cincinnati prediction and game preview, as the No. 3-seeded Bruins and No. 6-seeded Bearcats face off in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Despite suffering a bruised right hip, star freshman Lonzo Ball played in the Bruins’ first-round matchup against Kent State, and they had absolutely no problem. No. 3-seeded UCLA came up just shy of the century mark when it took down the Golden Flashes, 97-80.

Now, the Bruins will move on and will be tasked with going up against No. 6-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats. In their first-round matchup, the Bearcats went toe-to-toe with No. 11 Kansas State and also took home a double-digit victory. Cincinnati sent the Wildcats home with a 75-61 loss.

UCLA vs. Cincinnati

Date: Sunday, March 19
Venue: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, Calif.
Region: South

UCLA wins if …

If Lonzo Ball is on the floor and healthy. He didn’t shoot much against Kent State, but he was highly effective. Ball drained 6-of-7 from the field (15 points), including 2-of-3 from behind the arc. As long as he’s running up and down the hardwood, he’ll help get the rest of the Bruins open looks at the bucket. And if T.J. Leaf gets more open looks, that will be a tremendous help, as he hit 8-of-12 from the floor to rack up a team-high 23 points.

If the Bruins continue to share the basketball and play unselfishly, the Bearcats will be in trouble. UCLA totaled 25 assists against the Golden Flashes and shot 62.7 percent from the floor. Find the open man. Trade a good look for a great look.

Cincinnati wins if …

If it continues to crash the glass and own the paint. The Bearcats outrebounded Kansas State, 31-23, in their first-round win. But they have to do a better job of playing the passing lanes and having active hands on the defensive end of the court. The Wildcats won the turnover battle, turning over the ball seven times compared to Cincinnati’s 11. The Bearcats have to turn defense into offense and get some easy buckets in transition.

Along with that, they need to keep feeding Troy Caupain. The senior guard went off for 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting, but he was 2-of-4 from beyond the three-point line, and he hit all seven of his free throws. If he gets going early, the Bearcats can ride his hot shooting — or whoever else develops a hot hand.

UCLA vs. Cincinnati Prediction

The Bearcats won’t be able to slow down the Bruins offense, and they won’t be able to stop Ball. The freshman star will rest up and will drop 20-plus points on Cincinnati, but he’ll also tack on five assists to go along with it. UCLA will play with great ball movement, excellent spacing, and rhythm, and it will take down the Bearcats by double digits to move on in the tournament.

UCLA vs. Cincinnati Score Prediction: UCLA 95, Cincinnati 77

Campus Insiders Game Preview

Don't mind the Campus Insiders.
Screw the experts, pundits and insiders.
They all may be right. They all may be crazy.
That's why we actually play the game...not decide it on paper.
Anything can happen.

No "experts" thought Trump would win either.

Dickie V video part of the ESPN preview article link below...

Quote:UCLA coach Steve Alford had not begun to prepare for Cincinnati in the moments after the Bruins beat Kent State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night, but he plannrf to get started right away.

"That will happen late into the night tonight and then all day tomorrow," he said.

The third-seeded Bruins (30-4) will face the sixth-seeded Bearcats (30-5) in a second-round South Regional game Sunday night at the Golden 1 Center. Alford believes his team will be tested by the Bearcats, who have won an average of 25 games in the past seven seasons under longtime coach Mick Cronin.

"I have a lot of respect for Mick," Alford said. "He does a tremendous job and they've been really consistent like we have. You've got two teams that have been used to winning all year long, so obviously something's got to give on Sunday. It's got all the makings of a great game, fighting to see who can get to the Sweet 16."

The Bruins are vying for their third Sweet 16 bid in the past four years. The Bearcats haven't been to the Sweet 16 since 2012.

UCLA advanced to the second round with a 97-80 victory over 14th-seeded Kent State. The Golden Flashes overcame a 20-point deficit to get within four early in the second half, but the Bruins staged a 16-2 run to pull away.

TJ Leaf had 23 points and six rebounds for UCLA. Thomas Welsh had 16 points and eight rebounds. Lonzo Ball had 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting with four rebounds and three assists, and Aaron Holiday came off the bench to post 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bruins received a scar when Ball crashed to the floor after trying to catch a lob late in the first half. He had to be helped to his feet and was clearly hobbled in the final minute of the half but appeared to move more freely in the second half.

"I'm fine," Ball said. "Finished the game. Got up. I'm good."

Alford said he was concerned when Ball went down.

"I didn't know if he was going to finish the game," Alford said. "I just wanted him to get up."

Cincinnati moved on to the second round with a 75-61 victory over 11th-seeded Kansas State. Troy Caupain had 23 points and seven rebounds for the Bearcats. Kyle Washington scored 16 points. Gary Clark had 15 points and seven rebounds.

"I thought Troy played his best game of the year," Cronin said.

Some suspected Cincinnati was unhappy after it was seeded sixth and shipped to the West Coast for the third time in four years, but Caupain shrugged off such speculation.

"I was thankful to have the opportunity to be playing in March," he said. "Seeding didn't matter. I knew we were going to have to be ready to play basketball regardless. ... We prepare for any challenger, even if he got a higher seed. (I am) thankful and happy to play on Sunday."

ESPN Preview

(03-18-2017 09:57 AM)mptnstr@44 Wrote:  

(03-18-2017 09:54 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  The double OT battle in 2002 was 15 years ago yesterday. Fitting second round opponent and it's time we stole one from them.

Leonard Stokes (and his valiant 35 point effort in defeat) agrees.

i can't believe that was 15 years ago. and i think he had 39

keep em under 75 and we have a chance