Basketball Plays of the Day for February 17: Free NCAAB Picks (Archive)
The Cincinnati Bearcats are currently 6-6 in league play and will be looking to get back over .500 against the Wichita State Shockers. After defeating the Shockers earlier this season, do the Bearcats still have an edge? Let’s break down the NCAAB odds for this matchup!
Wichita State Shockers vs. Cincinnati Bearcats
Thursday, February 17, 2022 – 7:00 PM EST at Fifth Third Arena
The Cincinnati Bearcats have lost two straight games but are looking to get back on track against the Wichita State Shockers, at home. The Shockers are 4-6 in conference play and already have a loss to Cincinnati. Meanwhile, the Bearcats are 6-6 in conference play and would be over .500 with a win tonight.
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This season, it’s been all about the defense for Cincinnati. The Bearcats are holding opponents to a 43.9 percent effective field goal percentage, limiting teams to 30.7 percent from deep and 42.9 percent from inside the arc.
The Bearcats don’t earn a whole lot of turnovers and aren’t stellar on the defensive glass, however, the Shockers turn the ball over 19.1 percent of the time. The ball will roll Cincinnati’s way on the defensive end.
Wichita State is currently knocking down just 32.6 percent from three and 45.5 percent from inside the arc. The Shockers love to shoot the three-point ball and they’ll have to try and shoot more of them because inside, it’s going to be extremely hard to score against the Bearcats.
On the other hand, the Bearcats are just slightly the better offense here. Cincinnati is shooting 31.7 percent from deep while knocking down 47.3% inside the arc. The Bearcats also earn 31.1 percent offensive rebounds and limit turnovers to just 15.6 percent.
Wichita State’s defense relies on forcing turnovers, but Cincinnati won’t fall into that trap. The Shockers are earning 21.1 percent of turnovers, but again, Cincinnati is only allowing 15.6 percent of turnovers per game this season.
Prediction
In the first meeting between these two teams, Cincinnati only had seven turnovers, which was just 11.7 percent of possessions. The Bearcats ended up winning a hard-fought defensive battle, 61-57, by pulling through in the final 10 minutes.
On top of that, Cincinnati defended the three so well that Wichita State only took 10 threes in that game and made three of them. If Wichita State continues to try to score inside against Cincinnati, scoring is going to be extremely difficult.
The Shockers only scored 38.8 percent of shots inside the arc against the Bearcats in that game too. Meanwhile, the Bearcats weren’t afraid to shoot, and hit 10-of-26 from downtown, averaging 38.5 percent.
Now Cincinnati will be the home team. It’s called home-court advantage for a reason. The comfortability of the home team is crucial. Lately, the Bearcats have struggled from three, but this is a solid matchup for them to get back on track, especially at home. For our NCAAB picks, so let’s take Cincinnati on the moneyline at -130.
NCAAB Pick: Cincinnati -130 with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.