College Hoops Picks 2/4/2009 : Notre Dame Fighting Irish @ Cincinnati Bearcats

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-6, 12-8) at Cincinnati Bearcats (4-5, 14-8)

Wednesday, Feb. 4—7:30 p.m. EST

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Preview

Notre Dame (3-6, 12-8) is tied for 10th in the Big East after losing five straight. These losses have all come against respectable, ranked opponents—Louisville, Syracuse, Connecticut, Marquette, and Pitt—but the slide has taken them out of the Top 25.

Cincinnati (4-5, 14-8) has had to fight an uphill battle all season. After losing their only true point guard during the preseason, they have been playing without a natural ball handler. While this hasn't been a huge issue all season, it has caused problems in some of their bigger games (in their most recent game, they have 17 turnovers against Villanova—not something they should be proud of).

Notre Dame's strength lies in two players—Luke Harangody (F, 25.1 PPG, 13.2 RPG) and Kyle McAlarney (G, 15.9 PPG, .458 3P%). While both have been stellar, the Irish's lack of depth has caught up with them recently, most notably against Louisville when they were outscored by 14 in OT.

The Irish need this win. Badly. The Bearcats defeated an equally struggling Georgetown team last week, and another win over a big name school could do wonders for their program.

By the Numbers

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
Notre Dame	12-8	3-6	4-9	76	50	79.3	71.3
Cincinnati	14-8	4-5	5-9	58	22	69.1	64.0

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG
Notre Dame	44.1	43.2	40.3	33.9	71.1	43.3	6.2	18.1	9.9
Cincinnati	41.9	40.8	33.1	32.8	67.8	42.8	6.2	14.6	14.6

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Prediction

Current Line: Notre Dame -3.5

Notre Dame ATS: 4-9, 4-5 when favored.
Cincinnati ATS: 5-9, 2-6 when underdog.

I said it in the preview and I'll say it in the prediction—Notre Dame needs a win. Luke Harangody is having too strong a season for the Irish to finish in the bottom half of the Big East.

The Irish's main problem is the depth of their bench, and I don't see that issue rearing its ugly head against the Bearcats.

They may have been able to defeat the Hoyas, but Cincinnati's not going to be able to take down this other big-name school tied for 10th in the Big East.

Ryan's Pick: Notre Dame -3.5

*This article is also featured on CBBPlace.com*

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