Know Your Opponent: UAB Blazers edition

The Cincinnati Bearcats look to get back on track after losing a tough one Sunday night against Xavier in the Crosstown Shootout. On top of that, this is the first true road game outside of Cincinnati. UAB is a old Conference USA foe, and I relish the opportunity to kick their ass once again. All of my UAB memories are mixed.. Since 1991-1992, the Bearcats are 15-8 against UAB. The last loss in 07-08 at UAB. The last win was last year. That was the Deonta Vaughn off the bench game. He scored 16. Let's get to the breakdown and prediction. The fun is after the jump.

All stats taken from KenPom.com, the Polls, and the school's websites.

Record: 6-2

KenPom Rank: 56

AP/USA Today Rank: 25/NR

Strength of Schedule (KenPom): 179

Tempo: 67 (232)

Offensive Ratings (Rank)

Efficiency: 104.3 (123)

Effective FG%: 47.9 (189)

Turnover %: 19.4 (99)

Off. Rebound %: 40.5 (21)

FTA/FGA: 30 (302)

3%: 27.7 (308)

2%: 51 (74)

FT%: 60.3 (327)

Point Distribution (% of total points)

3: 24.3 (223)

2: 59.8 (30)

FT: 15.9 (324)

Defensive Ratings (Rank)

Efficiency: 89.2 (32)

Effective FG%: 44.6 (68)

Turnover %: 19.4 (247)

Off. Rebound %: 24.9 (7)

FTA/FGA: 37.5 (182)

3%: 33.1 (140)

2%: 41.6 (33)

Block %: 10.8 (93)

Steal %: 8.8 (241)

Point Distribution (% of total points)

3: 32.7 (42)

2: 45.9 (310)

FT: 21.4 (148)

Statistical Leaders

Points (top 3): Lance Stephenson 12.9  Yancy Gates 12.4 Deonta Vaughn 10.6

Rebounds (top 3): Yancy Gates 7.5 Lance Stephenson 5.9 Rashad Bishop 5

Assists (top 2): Deonta Vaughn 4 Lance Stephenson 2.5

Blocks: Yancy Gates 1.6

Record: 8-1

KenPom Rank: 60 

AP/USA Today Rank: NR

Strength of Schedule (KenPom): 293

Tempo: 65.5 (279)

Offensive Ratings (Rank)

Efficiency: 107.6 (83)

Effective FG%: 50.9 (114)

Turnover %: 17.9 (45)

Off. Rebound %: 38.3 (41)

FTA/FGA: 45 (57)

3%: 35.3 (134)

2%: 50 (103)

FT%: 70.5 (116)

Point Distribution (% of total points)

3: 24.8 (216)

2: 51.5 (198)

FT: 23.7 (65)

Defensive Ratings (Rank)

Efficiency: 92.7 (69)

Effective FG%: 45.3 (86)

Turnover %: 22.2 (108)

Off. Rebound %: 29.7 (66)

FTA/FGA: 30.1 (65)

3%: 30.7 (73)

2%: 45 (97)

Block %: 10.6 (98)

Steal %: 9.8 (169)

Point Distribution (% of total points)

3: 25.9 (199)

2: 54.5 (103)

FT: 19.5 (210)

Statistical Leaders

Points (top 3): Elijah Millsap 15.8 Howard Crawford 14.2 Jamarr Sanders 11.3

Rebounds (top 3): Elijah Millsap 9.3 Kenneth Cooper 4.9 Jamarr Sanders 4

Assists (top 2): Aaron Johnson 4.2 Jamarr Sanders 2.7

Blocks: George Drake 1.1

KenPom's predictor has us losing this game by 3. These are relatively evenly matched teams. UAB has played absolutely no one to this point though. They lost to the best team they played, Kent State. That game was at Kent State, but the Golden Flashes are 5-4. Yancy Gates and Steve Toyloy have their hands full with Elijah Millsap. His brother is Paul Millsap of the Utah Jazz. We need Deonta Vaughn to get going. Lance Stephenson and Yancy Gates could carry the team, but a 3 headed monster makes things a whole lot easier. I think that the Cats take this one down on the road. Yancy goes for 14-10, Stephenson 17-8-3, Vaughn 14-2-6. The surprise star of the game, Darnell Wilks. Prediction: Cincinnati 68 UAB 62