NFL Tickets
The No. 8 seeded Cincinnati Bearcats floundered out of the American Athletic Tournament thanks to a loss to the Connecticut Huskies, but they performed well enough in the regular season to earn a trip to the 2015 NCAA Tournament. They will face the No. 9 seeded Purdue Boilermakers in the second-round of the Midwest Region, who surprisingly made it to the tournament by pulling off a number of upsets throughout this season.
What to Watch For
Purdue wins games by getting the ball to their monster forward inside, A.J. Hammons. Cincinnati boasts one of the best defenses in college basketball, so they will have to clamp down on Hammons’ ability to finish at the rim. Watch the battle between Hammons, Octavius Ellis and Gary Clark, because that’s where this game will be won and lost.
Prediction
Cincinnati struggled all season long when it came to rebounding, and it showed in most of their losses. Purdue rebounds the ball extremely well, which leads to multiple second-chance opportunities. Cincinnati’s defense forces opponents to play their style of basketball, but the Bearcats’ offense goes through periods where they couldn’t put the ball in the basket if they were unguarded.
This will be a slow-paced, defensive game where the winner is whoever can reach 60 points first, something both teams struggled to do at times this season. Expect Purdue to pull off the upset over the Bearcats and advance to the third round behind a fantastic performance by the NBA-bound Hammons and a lackluster performance by the Bearcats’ offense.
Taylor Sturm is a Featured Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
Share 
