St. Joseph's-Cincinnati preview

The Hawks need to press their advantage by spreading the floor, forcing Cincinnati's post defenders away from the basket, and then hitting from the outside. But St. Joe's doesn't depend on the outside shot. Look for all of the Hawks to also be driving to the hoop. A bigger key is usually at the other end, where an opponent heating up from the outside gives the Hawks problems. St. Joe's isn't afraid to use some zone, but too much of it can be dangerous since sometimes it can allow opponents to get in a rhythm. A key to the Hawks season has been the contributions that go beyond stars DeAndre' Bembry and Isaiah Miles. Aaron Brown averaged 16 points a game in the Atlantic 10 tournament. Maybe the biggest key of all: Can the combined point guard spot, Shavar Newkirk and Lamarr Kimble, hold their own in their personal battle?

As you'd expect, the Bearcats were second in the American Athletic Conference in field-goal percentage defense and second in rebounding margin, first in blocked shots. They hit the offensive boards especially hard and also were first in the AAC in steals, so the Hawks will have to take care of the ball. One vulnerable area: Cincinnati was 10th in the league in three-point percentage defense. Offensively, Cincinnati was second in assists, so the Bearcats know how to run offense. They were the only team in the AAC with two players who had at least 7.7 rebounds a game (Gary Clark 9, Octavius Ellis 7.7).

Can Miles do what he has done all season, hit from the outside while also hitting the boards? If the answer is yes, and Miles stays out of foul trouble, that usually nullifies much of the advantage rebounding powers have over the Hawks since St. Joe's guards are a big help on the boards. At the other end, can St. Joe's not get too badly by the offensive rebounding of Clark, a 6-8 sophomore who also was named the AAC's defensive player of the year.

Guard Troy Caupain runs the Bearcats and last time we saw him he was scoring 37 points in an epic four-overtime loss to Connecticut in the AAC tournament.

This is second trip to NCAAs in three years for St. Joe's although Bembry was the only player from this group seeing postseason time that previous trip, when the Hawks lost to eventual national champion Connecticut in overtime in the 2014 first round. The Hawks lost their defensive mojo late in this regular season, then saw George Washington make 9 of their first 11 threes in the A-10 quarterfinals St. Joe's came back in that one and looked strong against Dayton and Virginia Commonwealth.