Big East Tournament 2012 Schedule: Keys to a Cincinnati Upset over Syracuse

Syracuse nearly got UConned (yes, it's a verb) on Thursday, but the Orange managed to hold the line to avoid the upset. The Orange are headed to the semifinals of the Big East tournament, as many expected they would be.

Also, on Thursday, Cincinnati had a whale of a time putting Georgetown away. The Hoyas got a late bucket for Otto Porter to force overtime, and they got a bucket from Henry Sims to force a second overtime.

Ultimately, the Bearcats needed a clutch shot from Cashmere Wright to seal the deal.

And now they get to play the Big East's top seed in the semifinals. No rest for the weary.

Syracuse is going to be favored to win Friday night's game, and for good reason. The Orange owned the Big East this season, and they handled Cincinnati quite well in their one and only regular season meeting.

But can Cincinnati win? Sure they can. As long as they abide by these four keys.

Make Threes

Cincinnati isn't exactly a sharpshooting team from beyond the arc. Per TeamRankings.com, the Bearcats shot just 35 percent from beyond the arc as a team during the regular season, which is far from an elite figure. 

But heck, the Bearcats can do better from three than they did against Georgetown. Cincinnati took 21 threes, and made just two of them. It's remarkable that Cincinnati still managed to win.

It's not going to be easy to make threes against the Orange. Their opponents shot just 30.2 percent from distance during the regular season, one of the top marks in the country.

The Bearcats obviously don't want to get too three-happy, but at least being efficient from beyond the arc can only help them overcome Syracuse's tough defense.

Offensive Rebounding

One thing Cincinnati does better than most is pull down offensive rebounds. The Bearcats pulled down 12.1 offensive boards per game during the regular season, good for 18th in the country.

This is a trend that held true for Cincinnati against Georgetown. They pulled down 14 of them to the Hoyas' 11.

Yancy Gates, Cincinnati's leading rebounder, will have to crash the boards against Syracuse, but Cincinnati's guards will have to be active too, just as they were against Georgetown. Gates pulled down three offensive boards, and Dion Dixon and Jaquon Parker each pulled down three of their own.

If the threes are falling, Cincinnati won't need as many offensive boards. Regardless, they definitely won't hurt.

Bother Kris Joseph

It would be doing a disservice to Jim Boeheim's coaching and Syracuse's depth to say that the Orange revolve around Kris Joseph, but, well, he is a Wooden finalist. He's pretty good.

There are times when Syracuse seems to revolve around Joseph, though. I wouldn't call him a ball hog, but it's not uncommon for him to take upwards of 10 and even 15 shots a game. When he has to take that many shots, it's usually because he's missing more shots than usual.

The trick will be to make Joseph settle for tough shots and to force him into taking them. The last thing Syracuse's offense—which thrives on ball movement—needs is Joseph piling up shots. 

Of course, it will help if Joseph finds a way to go cold on his own, as he did against UConn. He made just one of his eight shot attempts from the field.

Make Them Make Mistakes

Between these two teams, Syracuse is more likely to win the turnover battle. The Orange forced 16.4 turnovers a game, good for 13th in the country.

But turnovers are a problem on offense for the Orange. They averaged 10.4 turnovers per game during the season, one of the highest marks in the country.

Syracuse is able to make up for its own turnovers at the other end, but Cincinnati can do itself a big favor by exploiting Syracuse's turnover problem, which is something UConn couldn't do. The Huskies forced the Orange to commit just four turnovers. 

Cincinnati will have to do better than that.