Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Vegas Play of the Day: Memphis at Cincinnati

My first American Athletic Conference foray in the Play of the Day, which uses odds from the South Point, went disastrously yesterday.

SMU allowed exactly what I wrote they wouldn’t by letting Louisville shoot better than 50 percent from three-point range. Nonetheless, I’m stubbornly booking more AAC action in continued efforts to work back towards our starting bankroll of $10,000.

Cincinnati minus-4 vs. Memphis: $330 to win $300

If there’s anything that can help the Bearcats snap out of a disappointing two-game skid, it should be a chance to inch excruciatingly close to their first conference title in 10 years on an emotional Senior Night.

Cincinnati will celebrate the careers of its three best players — seniors Sean Kilpatrick, Justin Jackson and Titus Rubles — Thursday at Fifth Third Arena. Kilpatrick and Jackson are the only two teammates in the nation who are both rank in the top 50 in Player Efficiency Rating.

Memphis, by comparison, doesn’t have a single player in the top 100. Kilpatrick and Jackson will slip down a couple rungs, however, if their offensive struggles continue.

In back-to-back losses against Connecticut and Louisville, the senior stars are a combined 15-for-50 from the field. Both those teams boast stauncher defenses than Memphis.

Kilpatrick, a guard, and Jackson, a forward, worked their inside-out magic against the Tigers the first time these teams met as they scored 31 points between the two of them on better than 50 percent shooting.

Cincinnati rolled to a 69-53 victory at Memphis. The revenge angle is a popular handicapping tactic, and something to make use of when the first game came down to a couple high-variance possessions.

But calling for revenge is to be avoided like an 18-foot jumper when one team badly blew out the other. Take the team that’s proven it can run the opponent off of the floor.

Standings: Bern (14-8, $11,240), Keefer (7-10, $8,567), Brewer (5-11-3, $6,360)

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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