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CINCINNATI - After their double-overtime loss at Temple on Jan. 16, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats stood at 13-6 and were reeling following their fourth two-point loss of the season. If the season wasn't slipping away at that point, it surely wasn't going the way it was supposed to.
In an attempt to stop the bleeding, the players called a meeting - no coaches allowed - and talked about what they needed to do to right the ship.
Since that meeting, the Bearcats have won six of seven games and stand one loss behind Temple and SMU for first place in the American Athletic Conference standings.
Their latest triumph was a 75-60 victory over East Carolina on Saturday before 12,513 fans at Fifth Third Arena. It wasn't the cakewalk that the score indicates. The Pirates, despite their 10-15 overall record - 2-10 in the league - made the Bearcats work, even sweat at times, before they pulled away at the end.
"They forced us to grind out the win," said UC coach Mick Cronin. "As much as I'd like to go out there and make every shot and pull away early, it probably makes you better at the end of the day that we had to dig in and get better to win this game."
That's precisely what the Bearcats struggled to do in the games they lost early in the season. And that was topic number one in their team meeting.
"Down the stretch, we would go stretches without scoring," said senior forward Octavius Ellis. "We would stop the other team but we wouldn't score. We'd turn the ball over. I think we've just gotten more together on offense, making the right plays and not turning the ball over."
Ellis led the Bearcats (19—7, 9-4) with 16 points with 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double. He was joined in the double-double category by sophomore forward Gary Clark, who produced his sixth double-double of the season and third in the last four games with 15 points and 12 rebounds. UC also received double-figure scoring from Kevin Johnson with 13 points, Troy Caupain with 12 points, six assists and five rebounds, and Jacob Evans with 10 points. Senior forward Shaq Thomas did not start as he continues to recover from injuries to his right foot and ankle.
"We've come together," Clark said. "We talked about how with our earlier losses we would fall apart in the last three minutes of the game. Some games we would come out and get out big on a team and then we'd let them back in. We talked from the players' standpoint because the coach can't come out and play for us. We had to to come together and figure it out and put together two halves."
Clark, who has been berated all season by Cronin and associate head coach Larry Davis for being too nice on the court, said he does get tired of hearing that. But he said it with a smile and noted that he didn't expect to stop hearing it anytime soon despite his recent surge in production.
"It's like, well, what do you want me to do," Clark said, "just go up and nail someone or what? They'll keep being on me constantly. All you heard tonight was Coach Cronin yelling, 'Gary!' every possession, wanting me to do certain things harder."
UC struggled to score from the perimeter in the first half, missing its first eight 3-point shots, while the Pirates, who were led by Prince Williams' 15 points, were zeroing in from long range. The Bearcats needed a 9-0 run late in the half to take a 34-26 halftime lead.
ECU came back at the start of the second half to get within one point on a B.J. Tyson 3-pointer with 16:51 to play and tied the score at 42-42 on Prince Williams' layup with 13:35 remaining. Johnson then connected on a 3-pointer to start an 11-1 run that put UC ahead, 53-43, with 10:26 to play.
The Pirates, who made 9 of 22 from long range, came back again to get within six, but again Johnson made a three to start a 12-2 run that put the game away.
UC is now 5-0 against the bottom three teams in the league, but 0-3 against SMU and Temple, the two teams ahead of them in the standings. They Bearcats are off until Thursday when they play at Tulsa. They'll be looking for a regular-season sweep of the Golden Hurricane, which began the day tied with UC for third place. Two days later, they'll be back home against Connecticut, a team UC beat in Hartford on Jan. 28.
"This week could make or break our season," Ellis said.
To prepare for those two games, the Bearcats plan to continue to focus the same way they have during their resurgence, with three demanding days of practice and plenty of due diligence watching film. They don't have to be told they have work to do to make it back to the NCAA Tournament.
As Cronin said, "We did what we had to do to win today. We'll see what we do next Thursday. The guys understand what time of year it is."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years -- 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer -- before joining the staff of Go.Bearcats.com in January, 2015. He has written a new book, a memoir titled, "I Can't Believe I Got Paid For This." The book is available on-line only at CreateSpace and Amazon.com