Two former Big East teams armed with two of the best point guards in the country look to book a ticket to the inaugural AAC tournament final as the Connecticut Huskies meet the top seeded Cincinnati Bearcats in the conference semifinals.
Connecticut Huskies vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (9:00 PM EST)
Line: Connecticut (+1) vs. Cincinnati (-1); Total: 121.0
Betting on the Connecticut Huskies
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]Connecticut bounced back from the 33-point drubbing at Louisville by pounding the Memphis Tigers 72-53 to reach the semifinals of the AAC tourney. Sharpshooter Niels Giffey was the surprise hero with a career-high 24 points on 9-11 shooting, including 6-8 from three-point range.
It was a complete performance by the Huskies, who shot a sizzling 53% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc, while holding the Tigers to a horrible 26% shooting.
Shabazz Napier added 11 points and seven rebounds for UConn. Napier shot miserably against the Bearcats this year, going just 9-32 (28%) from the field and 3-17 from downtown. UConn is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games vs. Cincinnati, dating back to their Big East days.
Betting on the Cincinnati Bearcats
Top-seeded Cincinnati didn’t stroll past UCF in their quarterfinal match-up last night. The Bearcats needed a clutch three-pointer from Kevin Johnson and key free throws from Sean Kilpatrick to seal their 61-58 victory. Cincinnati is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games, but is just 3-7 ATS after failing to cover against the Knights.
Kilpatrick continued his excellent play with 21 points and nine rebounds. The senior guard has scored over 20 points in eight of his last nine games, the one exception being Cincinnati’s loss to Connecticut on March 1.Which isn’t to say Kilpatrick can’t get it done against UConn: he put up 26 points, a season-high 12 rebounds and six assists to lead the Bearcats to a 63-58 win against the Huskies in February.
Prediction
The 5th-ranked Cincinnati defense will once again smother UConn’s star Napier into another bad game as the Bearcats head to the AAC final.
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