College Hoops Picks Jan. 28, 2009: Georgetown Hoyas @ Cincinnati Bearcats

Georgetown Hoyas @ Cincinnati Bearcats

Wednesday, Jan. 28—7:30 PM EST

Preview

The Hoyas (No. 25 AP, No. 23 Coaches, 3-4, 12-6) are on a three-game slide and now sit with a losing Big East record—a place where no one expected them to be after they upset Connecticut in the Big East opener.

Fans were hopeful that they could be successful against Duke—I even incorrectly picked them +8.0 (they lost by nine). But everyone in the wild world of basketball expected them to defeat West Virginia and then-Big East winless Seton Hall.

Georgetown's biggest problems have come from downtown shooting—while they are still shooting .324 on the year, in their last two outings the Hoyas are 5-38 from beyond the arc. This also goes hand-in-hand with their rebounding problem—they have been clearing out as the shot goes up instead of fighting for rebounds.

The Bearcats (3-4, 13-7) were set up from the beginning of this season to have a long season. They lost their starting freshman point guard in preseason play and are now forced to go the whole season without a true point guard. It has caught up to them numerous times this season, and the lack of depth on their team has shown through on multiple occasions.

The Bearcats are winless against Top 25 this season, and their conference wins have come over the bottom of the Big East (Rutgers, DePaul, and St. John's).

The Cincinnati offense revolves around junior guard Deonta Vaughn (15.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 4.9 APG)—when he is on, they play well, and even in their losing efforts they are generally close. But when he is off (six points against Providence part deux and no points against Marquette), the game has seemed like a lost cause for the Bearcats.

This match is the first of two this season for Georgetown and Cincinnati—they face off in DC in a little over a week on Feb. 7.

Stats

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
Georgetown	12-6	3-4	6-7	13	1	72.8	62.6
Cincinnati	13-7	3-4	4-8	59	32	70.3	64.0

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG
Georgetown	47.3	38.9	32.4	29.9	72.8	37.3	8.0	13.7	13.9
Cincinnati	42.4	40.4	33.4	33.4	67.4	43.5	6.1	14.8	14.5

Prediction

Current Line: Georgetown -6.0

Georgetown ATS: 6-7, 5-5 when favored
Cincinnati ATS: 4-8, 1-5 when underdog

The Hoyas came off the worst stretch in college basketball this season unsuccessful, and in their first game out of the stretch they fell short—against Seton Hall. Cincinnati has struggled so far this season, especially during conference play. If the Hoyas can't defeat the Bearcats by more than six, their season is more in shambles than everyone initially thought.

The Seton Hall game was just a fluke, and the Hoyas will get their long-range stroke back.

Pick: Georgetown -6.0

*All statistics for this article have come from StatSheet.com*

*This article is also featured on CFBPlace.com—and soon to be featured on CBBPlace.com*