Wichita State Shockers vs. Cincinnati Bearcats Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/17/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Fifth-Third Arena, Cincinnati, OH

Where to watch: ESPN2

DraftKings: Cincinnati -2

WynnBet: Cincinnati -2 

Caesars: Cincinnati -2.5

Wichita State: 13-9 (4-6 AAC)

Cincinnati: 16-9 (6-6 AAC)

The Wichita State Shockers come into this matchup with the Cincinnati Bearcats having won three of four but are falling out of favor in the AAC rather quick.

These aren't your great uncle's Shockers sitting at 4-6 in conference play and in favor of missing the NCAA Tournament, something that just seems blasphemous and ill-advised given all the history that we know of Wichita State.

The Shockers are coming off a 73-69 win against the South Florida Bulls on Saturday, a game they absolutely needed to have considering just how atrocious USF is to this point. Wichita State was led by Ricky Council IV scoring a game-high 18 points off the bench and Dexter Dennis chipping in with 14 on four made 3-pointers.

Leading scorer Tyson Etienne had 12 points but took 12 shots to get there.

I look at this Wichita State team and I don't see a Cinderella-like run in them. The perimeter shooting is not falling the way they'd like, and it's a team that appears to get outrebounded at every chance. The Shockers average only 36.7 rebounds per contest while only making 40 percent of its shots.

If it got to the point where the Shockers were, you know, shocking teams, it would require crazy runs via shooting and drawing fouls. Wichita State is a group that has been neck-and-neck with its law of averages this season and appears to be too far on tap to improve on anything it does. They're not going to block a lot of shots and have to rely on swifty guards to make things happen on defense.

Can it be consistent, though, is the key.

The Bearcats, meanwhile, are on the losing side of the spectrum over the last four games, dropping three of those contests and most recently a 81-74 loss to the Memphis Tigers two nights ago.

Cincinnati's struggles as of late have knocked the Cats a few pegs down the conference standings. It's taken them out of surefire favor with the Houston Cougars and even SMU Mustangs at the top, and this slide Cincinnati is on gives pause to think they can keep pace with those teams.

Jeremiah Davenport led the way with 20 points and 11 rebounds, a fine performance off an 8 of 13 shooting night, and David DeJulius finished with 13 points. The problem with the Bearcats, evidence in the case over the past four games, has been defense.

In those three losses, Cincinnati has given up at least 80 points. The one win, albeit against that same USF team we just mentioned, saw Cincinnati give up only 59 points in the win.

It's really tough to trust Cincinnati right now on the premise that we don't know what team we're going to get in this matchup. We're talking about an even group between the teams in terms of points allowed, field goal percentage and rebounds. Cincinnati has only a 2-rebound edge on Wichita State in terms of averages and has only one assist more.

It's a battle of guards that can shoot, but is there enough playmaking to get it done?

If the world got back to the days of Wichita State being a team to trust in terms of March, I'd feel a lot better about this game. Honestly, the thought of both teams struggling to this point scares me. But by way of law of averages, I like Wichita State and the direction they're heading. That win over SMU back on Feb. 5 might be the springboard the Shockers are looking for. And at the end of the day, I like the guard play from Wichita State slightly more than Cincinnati's. If they're not going to win on the glass, it's going to come down to which group can make the most shots at the end. And if that battle has to be won, give me the group that has the pedigree. Wichita State by 10

Wichita State is 137-90 ATS when the total is between 130 to 139.5.

Wichita State is 0-6 ATS this season following consecutive games of nine offensive rebounds or less.

Cincinnati is 27-47 ATS in the last three seasons.

PG: Craig Porter Jr.

SG: Tyson Etienne

SF: Dexter Dennis

PF: Morris Udeze

C: Joe Pleasant

PG: David DeJulius

SG: Mika Adams-Woods

SF: John Newman

PF: Jeremiah Davenport

C: Abdul Ado

Points: Tyson Etienne -- 15.1

Rebounds: Morris Udesze -- 6.0

Assists: Craig Porter Jr. -- 3.5

Points: David DeJulius -- 14.7

Rebounds: Jeremiah Davenport -- 5.4

Assists: Mika Adams-Woods -- 3.2