TicketsNo. 12/11 CINCINNATI (15-2, 4-0) at UCF (12-5, 3-2)
SERIES INFO: 10th meeting; Cincinnati leads 8-1 overall; Cincinnati leads 3-1 in Orlando;
Cincinnati leads 3-0 at home; Cincinnati leads 2-0 at neutral sites
LAST SEASON'S MEETINGS: Cincinnati won 60-50 on Feb. 8, 2017 at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati;
UCF won 53-49 on Feb. 26, 2017 at CFE Arena in Orlando, Fla.
STREAK: UCF - 1
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 12th season at Cincinnati (252-137); 15th season overall (321-161)
Johnny Dawkins is in his second season at UCF (36-17); 10th season overall (192-132)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (JAN. 15): Cincinnati (12/11); UCF (--/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: CBS Sports Network; Dave Ryan provides play-by-play with color analyst Jordan Cornette
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – For the first two years of his college basketball career, University of Cincinnati forward Trevon Scott was known as Tre, even though his mom preferred that he go by his given name. This year he finally relented.
"My mom, she always told me, 'Your name is Trevon,' " Scott said. "When you go to these camps, tell people to start calling you by your full name. I was like, no, Tre is my basketball name. Everyone knows me as Tre. Finally, I decided I'm going to give my mom what she wants."
So it is that the 6-foot-8 sophomore from Darien, Ga., is now listed as Trevon Scott.
Scott and UC (15-2, 4-0 American) wrap up their two-game swing through the Sunshine State on Tuesday when they face UCF (12-5, 3-2) at 7 p.m. ET at CFE Arena in Orlando.
In the end, the name change was minor and something that Scott was willing to do for his mom. Now he's trying to adjust to another identity issue, this one being pushed by UC head coach Mick Cronin, who wants Scott to become the next Justin Jackson.
"They want my role to be a dirty work guy," Scott said, "rebound, block shots, which is something I've got to do more. Bringing energy to the game whenever I check in.
"Coming into college, a lot of players don't want to embrace that type of role. It took me a year and a half. Now I'm fine with it. I'm embracing it. I know the better I get at that, the more I'll play."
Jackson, who played at UC from 2010 to 2014, was a raw, gangly prospect as a freshman who blossomed his senior year into the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, a second-team all-conference selection who averaged 11.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.9 blocked shots.
Scott started his UC career in 2015, a year after Jackson completed his. They met for the first time in the summer of 2016 while Jackson was in town playing open gym with the UC players. At the time, Scott had just redshirted as a true freshman.
"When I first spoke with him, he said, 'I heard you're supposed to be the kind of player I was,' " Scott said. "Lately, they've been using Justin (as an example) a little more. They also told me they want me to become the kind of defender Titus Rubles was, how he could guard every position one through five."
Scott is working hard to make the transition, but it hasn't been easy for a player who set the school scoring record at McIntosh County Academy with 1,824 points while averaging 13.3 rebounds. In high school, the offense revolved around him. Last year as a redshirt freshman at UC, he played in 35 games, all as a reserve. He averaged 3.1 points and 2.5 rebounds while logging an average of 10.2 minutes per game. Through nonconference play this season, Scott averaged 12.8 minutes, 3.0 points and 3.3 rebounds. He attempted only 19 shots, but made 13 of them.
"It's a real big adjustment," Scott said, "but I always tell myself that when it comes to scoring my time will come."
Cronin agrees with him on that point.
"We're going to need him to have two great years when Gary (Clark) leaves of giving us a soldier on the glass, a stopper on defense, a guy who out-hustles everybody he plays against," Cronin said. "We've had those kinds of guys and that's why we've been able to stay in the NCAA Tournament. He's old enough now that he sees it."
Scott comes from a small town of nearly 2,000 and is the product of a close-knit family. The oldest of three children of Anita and Eddie Scott, he's extremely close to his two sisters, Jada and Jadyn, who are 16-year-old twins.
"They're like my best friends honestly," Scott said. "We talk all the time. We laugh, we fuss, we fight. Any big brother would protect his little sisters. I was always making sure they were good."
Moving to Cincinnati involved a measure of culture shock for Scott. He was comfortable in Darien, where he had extended family throughout the county and seemed to know everyone in town.
"When I first saw (the Cincinnati skyline) it was overwhelming when I drove down from Georgia," he said. "I asked myself what I am I getting myself into? Is this place too big? I was mesmerized by being around all these tall buildings. I don't have that where I'm from. It was just everything, the cold. I'm still trying to adjust to the weather here.
Being away from home, Scott said, and learning to fend for himself in a new environment have helped him to grow up. He's improving as a player, too, doing his best to follow the path Cronin has set for him.
But his willingness to be accommodating has limits. There's one thing his mom asked him to do that he hasn't been able to deliver. At least not yet.
"She wanted me to cut my hair to go along with it," Scott said, "but I don't know about that. I thought about it plenty of times but right now I don't know."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January 2015.