NCAA Basketball Odds – UConn vs. Cincinnati

NCAA Basketball Odds
Connecticut Huskies (9-2 SU, 2-7 ATS) at Cincinnati Bearcats (8-3 SU, 3-4 ATS)
Wednesday, December 30 – 7 PM ET

BetOnline NCAA Basketball Odds:  CINCINNATI -1

Here are some of the NCAA basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* CONN has won five of its last six games SU
* CONN has covered one of its last five games
* CONN has played ten of its last 14 games OVER the total
* CONN has won nine of its last ten road games SU
* CIN has won four of its last six games SU
* CIN is 0-4 ATS in its last four lined games
* CIN has played seven of its last eight games UNDER the total
* CONN has won the last four meetings SU
* The last three meetings have gone OVER the total

Cincinnati plays with great balance, with no one averaging more than 12.5 points a game. That leading scorer is Lance Stephenson, who occupies the backcourt with Deonta Vaughn. Yancy Gates brings about 250 pounds to the front line, and he shoots 53% from the field, and Rashad Bishop hits 54%. Cincinnati is not a big three-point shooting team, but they get by with some scrappy defense (allowing 37% shooting) and solid rebounding, which gives them their best chance to beat the NCAA basketball odds.

Kemba Walker is the guy who makes the U-Conn offense go. The sophomore is coming into his own, averaging 6.4 assists a game, and hitting 41% of his infrequent three-point attempts. One of the nice surprises in the Connecticut lineup is the freshman big man, Alex Oriakhi, who is averaging 8.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks, and there has also been a front court explosion out of Gavin Edwards, a senior who is averaging 3.6 blocks a contest.

The Huskies have lost only twice – against Duke in the Preseason NIT Tip-Off and at home against John Calipari’s Kentucky team, quarterbacked by John Wall. This is the first time they actually go into a game as the visitor. Cincinnati has scored a couple of walkover wins in the last two at home, beating Lipscomb and Winthrop. The Bearcats have taken the measure of Vanderbilt and Maryland and lost in the finals of the Maui Invitational to Gonzaga.

This will be a home revenge game for Cincinnati, which lost last year’s meeting 81-72 as the Huskies shot 58% from the field. It is true that in a battle between prize recruits, Walker has one year on Stephenson, but the new Cincinnati star, who was the leading scorer in the history of New York high school basketball, should not be underestimated.

Cincinnati is the type of team where when they play well, they play very well, and when they play badly, they can be an embarrassment. Let’s look for a solid and tenacious effort here as we see if the questions are answered about Connecticut’s performance as a road squad. We’ll lay the point with Cincinnati in the BetOnline NCAA basketball odds.

JAY’S PLAY:   CINCINNATI -1 ***
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)