TCU vs Cincinnati Odds, Pick for Tuesday

Cincinnati and No. 19 TCU meet at Fifth Third Arena on Tuesday night for a pivotal matchup in the Big 12 Conference.

The Horned Frogs are 13-3 after knocking off a pair of nationally-ranked foes last week.

Meanwhile, the Bearcats lost their previous two contests by a combined four points to fall to 12-4 on the season.

You have to bring your best effort on a nightly basis to get wins in the Big 12. With two teams in the top 40 in the NET, we should get another great battle in this one.

You could make the argument that nobody in the country had a better week than coach Jamie Dixon’s squad as TCU knocked off No. 9 Oklahoma on Wednesday night and No. 2 Houston on Saturday.

That marked just the second time in program history that TCU won consecutive games over top-10 opponents, with the first happening two seasons ago. The victory over the Cougars also tied for the school’s highest-ranked win.

One of the keys to the strong start has been the play of Emanuel Miller. The senior forward ranks in the top five in the Big 12 in scoring (16.8) and averages just under six rebounds per game.

Miller finished with 27 points to lead the Horned Frogs in the win over the Sooners before tallying a team-high 13 points against the Cougars. He’ll need to have another strong performance to get a road victory here.

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Cincinnati's recent schedule has been a gauntlet. This will be the Bearcats' fourth-straight game against a ranked opponent, which is their longest streak since the 1993-94 season.

So far, coach Wes Miller’s team has been up for the challenge, which started with an impressive 11-point victory at No. 12 BYU.

A strong defense has been the key as the Bearcats held both BYU and Baylor to season-lows in scoring.

The status of Cincinnati’s starting center, Aziz Bandaogo, is something to monitor prior to this game. Bandaogo didn’t play in the loss to the Bears due to an injury he picked up against the Longhorns.

Another key starter, CJ Fredrick, has missed recent games. So, Cincinnati may not be at full strength for this game.

I know, as a whole, overs have been profitable across college basketball this season, but I don’t fully believe in the offensive numbers for these teams.

So, my best bet is for the total to fall Under 151.5 at DraftKings, which I would bet to 148.5.

For starters, neither team has played a difficult schedule of defenses. The strength of opposing defenses for both schools ranks outside the top 140.

Meanwhile, we've seen a trend of lower-scoring contests when Cincinnati has played the hardest teams on its schedule. In the five games against teams inside the top 100 in the NET, this same play would have cashed four times.

This is also a matchup of teams that defend the 3-point line much better than they shoot it from beyond the arc.

After the week TCU had, it wouldn’t shock me if this is a flat spot for the Horned Frogs, which would only help our play as the Bearcats would rather play with totals in the 70s.

Pick: Under 151.5 (Play to 148.5)