Cincinnati Bearcats Stun Georgetown in Double Overtime

       The Cincinnati Bearcats were down 49-38 with just under eight and a half minutes left in the game. Goergetown, the number fourteen team in the country, had been leading for the majority of the game, led by senior center Henry Sims. Sims scored twenty-two points and grabbed a career-high fifteen rebounds, along with assisting Otto Porter for the game-tying basket at the end of regulation and scoring a game-tying layup at the end of the first overtime. However, UC finished the game with a miraculous 16-5 run that sent the game into overtime. Yancy Gates, Cincinnati's center who is infamously known for throwing a punch in the Crosstown Shootout Brawl, scored 10 of his 23 points during this stretch. He even had a fadeaway three-pointer at the end of regulation which looked destined for the basket but went a foot past the rim. In a game where Henry Sims' draft prospects increased exponentially, the Bearcats needed Gates' 23 and 8 to match the Hoyas' big man step for step.

Courtesy of http://slapthesign.com/2012/03/08/cincinnati-72-georgetown-70-in-double-overtime/

       In the first overtime, with the score tied 54 to 54, four different Cincinnati players scored while it was Sims and Porter who led Georgetown. Both teams exchanged baskets and it was Sims who made a layup with one second remaining to send the game to a second overtime. In the second OT, there were five lead changes and it was Cashmere Wright's jumper with nine seconds left that gave 72-70 lead. In Georgetown's final possession, the Hoyas showed no urgency getting down the court and Henry Sims ended up with the ball at the top of the key. He had a good look, but a 6'10" center with no three point attempts in the past two years is not the player to take the final shot from that distance. His shot clanked against the back of the rim and UC had clinched the victory.
       While Cincinnati had the lower seed in terms of the Big East Tournament, Georgetown has been ranked in the top fifteen for most of the season and UC was not ranked entering the matchup. The Bearcats move on to play Syracuse tonight and look to get revenge for their seven-point home loss to the Orange in January. If the Bearcats beat Syracuse or manage to win the Big East Tourney, they may end up being selected as high as a five seed in the NCAA Tournament. If Cincinnati loses to the #2 team in the country, they will likely be a seven, eight, or nine seed for the tournament. Georgetown is almost guaranteed to be a three or four seed.

Team Profile: Syracuse Orange

          Sitting at #2 in the polls, the Syracuse Orange have Final Four written all over them. The Orange are 23-1, with their only loss coming on the road at Notre Dame without starting center Fab Melo. They have beaten both of their ranked opponents--Florida and Marquette--and have a l.5 game lead in the Big East. Syracuse still has to prove itself in the remainder of its conference schedule, with two matchups against #23 Louisville and Connecticut, as well as tonight's game against #11 Georgetown. I doubt Syracuse will have more than three losses going into the Big East tournament and the Orange should end up with a #1 seed in March. Syracuse has a handful of NBA prospects on its roster and a great combination of upper and lower classmen. With only four senios on the team, the Orange should have continued success in the future, assuming its star players don't leave school early for the draft.

Starting Lineup:
PG: Brandon Triche (Jr.) 6'4" 205 lbs. 10.0 PPG 2.4 PPG 3.0 APG
SG: Scoop Jardine (Sr.) 6'2" 195 lbs. 8.5 PPG 2.2 RPG 4.8 APG
SF: Kris Joseph (Sr.) 6'7" 215 lbs. 13.7 PPG 4.9 RPG 1.9 APG
PF: Rakeem Christmas (Fr.) 6'9" 228 lbs. 3.3 PPG 3.3 RPG 0.2 APG
C: Fab Melo (So.) 7'0" 225 lbs. 7.5 PPG 5.5 RPG 0.6 APG

Key Bench Players:
C.J. Fair (So.) 6'8" 212 lbs. 8.5 PPG 5.0 RPG 1.0 APG
Dion Waiters (So.) 6'4" 215 lbs. 12.3 PPG 1.9 RPG 2.6 APG
James Southerland (Jr.) 6'8" 215 lbs. 7.6 PPG 3.3 RPG 0.5 APG

          Syracuse has everything the composition to make a run at the national championship. They are very long and they more importantly, they play as a team. The Orange don't rely on a single player to carry them on offense or defense. They have seven players who average at least seven points and their rebounding is divided amongst many players. Syracuse's transition offense is one of the best in the country, as they score nearly twenty points per game in that field. The Orange play a 2-3 zone defense and their top two defenders do an excellent job at covering opposing shooters and shifting the zone based on the location of the ball. One question about Syracuse is giving up offensive rebounds. They are one of the worst teams in the country in that statistic, as they find themselves watching the ball instead of boxing out their opponents. Another factor to consider is that they are a different team when missing one of their star players. Their only loss occurred when Fab Melo was out indefinitely due to academic issues. With all of their players healthy and available to play, I see the Syracuse Orange as a Final Four caliber team who can make a deep run in the tournament.