Short of winning five games in five days, the Bearcats are likely not going to make the NCAA Tournament.  But, that doesn't mean they don't have anything to play for when they take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (15-16, 5-13) Tuesday night in the opening round of the Big East Tournament.

The Bearcats knocked off Rutgers way back on January 2, 65-58, in Piscataway, giving them a 2-0 conference record at the time.  Deonta Vaughn led the way with 17 points while Lance Stephenson and Yancy Gates both chipped in 10 points and UC overcame a five-point halftime deficit to pull out the victory.

The good news is the Bearcats are going to play a team they have beaten before and should beat again.  The bad news is the venue they have to play that team is Madison Square Garden, a place that has been UC's house of horrors over the last few years.  It's not just that they've lost their last four games at MSG, it is how they've lost.  Aside from a hard-fought 70-64 loss to Pittsburgh two years ago, the Cats have not had much luck in that building.  Everyone knows about the maddening loss to St. John's earlier this season when the Bearcats held a three-point lead (and the ball) with 19 seconds remaining and somehow managed to blow that quite easily.

There was also the flop on the first day of the conference tournament last season when playing DePaul, who had gone winless (0-18) during regular season conference play - including two losses to the Bearcats - managed to rout a UC team apparently ready for the offseason, 67-57.  And finally, no one needs to be reminded about Gerry McNamara's ridiculous shot in the '06 tournament to beat the Bearcats 74-73.  Suffice to say, the Bearcats are due some wins at MSG and there's no better time than the present.

In the first meeting, the Bearcats were able to bottle Mike Rosario to 12 points, which is about four under his season average of 16.4.  More impressively they kept him to 4-of-19 shooting and turned him over four times as well.  Lately, the 6-3 sophomore has been able to score, but his shooting has been pretty poor.  In fact, over his last seven games, he is shooting a paltry .327 (34-of-104) and an even worse .294 (17-of-58) from three-point range.  On the season, Rosario is only connecting on .323 of his three attempts, so the Bearcats will likely be happy if he continues to try from behind the arc.

6-7 junior Jonathan Mitchell led the Scarlet Knights with 14 points and seven rebounds last time.  On the season, he averages 11.7 and 6.0 respectively.  Combined with Rosario, the two take a bunch of three-point shots.  To be exact, 380 of the teams 611 total threes are from Mitchell and Rosario.  Mitchell shoots it better at .344, but won't take nearly as many as Rosario, who has taken over half of his total shots from behind the arc.  Mitchell isn't nearly as bad, but it is close.

Since the surprising departure of Gregory Echenique, Hamady Ndiaye has emerged as a solid threat down low for Rutgers.  The 6-11 senior has discovered more of his offensive game and has played pretty well down the stretch.  On the season he is averaging 9.5 points and a team-leading 7.1 rebounds.  However, Ndiaye has scored in double-figures 12 of the Big East games, and has grabbed double-digit rebounds in six.  In the first meeting, though, Yancy Gates and Steve Toyloy were able to hold him down to just seven points and two rebounds.

Freshman Dane Miller has really come on of late for the Scarlet Knights.  The unanimous All-Big East Freshman team member is scoring 9.5 points and grabbing 6.0 rebounds on the season, but since entering the starting lineup in place of Patrick Jackson, the 6-6 Miller is averaging 14.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.  It's a big reason why he, along with UC's Lance Stephenson, is up for Big East Rookie of the Year (to be announced Tuesday).  In the first meeting, Miller came off the bench to score 10 points and grab six rebounds.

Fred Hill has bounced back and forth between James Beatty and Mike Coburn in the starting lineup.  Both juniors, and both score around the same, but lately Beatty has been getting the starts.  Beatty, 6-2, averages 5.2 points and 3.6 assists in 25.6 minutes per game.  He came off the bench in the first game and was held scoreless while taking just one shot.  Typically, he will shoot around five to eight times per game and not get near double-figures, so he isn't much of a threat on offense.  He does lead the team with 42 steals, however.

Coburn, 6-0, started the first meeting and scored eight points.  His last two games, against Seton Hall and Pittsburgh, Coburn has scored 11 and 10 points respectively so he may be finding his shot.

Austin Johnson and Patrick Jackson round out the regular rotation for Rutgers.  Johnson, a 6-8 freshman, averages just 2.6 points in 11.1 minutes.  He was held scoreless in 10 minutes of action the first meeting.  His season high is 13 set way back in December against New Jersey Tech, but he did score 12 Saturday against Pittsburgh.

Jackson, a 6-6 sophomore, averages 2.5 points in 11.2 minutes.  He was in the starting lineup the first game and only scored two points.  Unlike his replacement, Dane Miller, Jackson has seen his production decrease drastically.  In fact, he has scored over two points just one time in his last 14 games and that was just a three point outburst against DePaul.

On paper, this is one the Bearcats can, and should, win.  However, we have said that and been burned too many times this year to know better.  Either way, the Bearcats do have something to play for this week.  In another season of mystery, this team has proven it can play with (and beat) some of the best teams in the country.  At the same time, it can also be beaten by anyone in the country.  Now is the time to take a big step forward.  Onto the post-season and with a positive look at 2010-2011.