Geoff JohnsonThe Cincinnati Bearcats will try to shock the favorites Syracuse Orange to make an improbable run at the Big East tournament title before they get ready to start March Madness 2012, this Friday at 7 PM ET.
The Bearcats needed two overtimes to beat Georgetown in a thriller 72-70. Cincinnati’s forward Yancy Gates was huge scoring 23 points, and recording eight boards in the victory over the Hoyas; three other Bearcats scored double digit figures to help the team get the win.
Cincy trailed by 11 points midway through the second half of the quarterfinal but rallied behind Gates, who had Henry Sims as the nemesis from Georgetown.
Syracuse, on the other side, is the big favorite to win it all, but there something always happen and they failed to reach the final. The Orange have won 11 straight, including 58-55 win over UConn this Thursday, where Dion Waiters had 18 points, and James Southerland scored all 10 of his points over the final 8 minutes of the contest.
“I hate sitting around all week, and it’s very difficult,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “I’m glad that we were able to get a win. We haven’t played that many games and we needed to play again. Tomorrow’s game will help us, but this was a tremendous comeback. This team has been very good down the stretch all year, and that was the case today.”
The last time Syracuse and Cincinnati played each other, the Bearcats went down by eight points; consider that when making your pick.
