TicketsAMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE OPENER
MEMPHIS (9-4, 0-0) at No. 21/22 CINCINNATI (11-2, 0-0)
SERIES INFO: 75th meeting; Cincinnati leads 41-33 overall; Cincinnati leads 23-10 at home and 5-1 at neutral sites.
Memphis leads 22-13 in Memphis
LAST MEETING: Cincinnati won 87-74 on Feb. 23, 2017 at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati
STREAK: Cincinnati - 1
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 12th season at Cincinnati (248-137); 15th season overall (317-161)
Tubby Smith is in his second season at Memphis (28-17); 27th season overall (585-293)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (DEC. 25): Cincinnati (21/22); Memphis (--/--)
RADIO: 55 WKRC; Mo Egger provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPNU; Jim Barbar provides play-by-play with color analyst Julianne Viani
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB
TICKET INFO: A limited number of $25 general admission seats in the lower-level bleachers are available at the BB&T Arena ticket office beginning two hours before tipoff. Arena doors open 90 minutes prior to start time
By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – Nine days will have passed since their last game by the time the University of Cincinnati Bearcats take the floor Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. to face Memphis in their American Athletic Conference opener at BB&T Arena.
As UC coach Mick Cronin pointed out, that's an inordinately long layoff for a college basketball team in the middle of the season.
"It's kind of unheard of," Cronin said. "We had five legitimate off days, four days of practice to get ready for a game. There's just a lot of unknown for our team."
The 20th-ranked Bearcats (11-2) last played on Dec. 21 when they posted a harder-than-expected 81-62 win over Cleveland State.
"I think the layoff will help us in February," Cronin said. "Right now it's a major concern. You do everything you can in practice. We've been having two-a-days since we've been back, trying to get your rhythm back, trying to get sharp. But you can't simulate playing in a game. You can play scrimmages in practice, but it's not the same.
"To be honest with you, I'm paranoid about Sunday because of the layoff. If we can find a way to get a win and get a game back under our belt…I don't expect us to think that we're going to be smooth in anything that we do on Sunday."
The Bearcats, who were picked by the league's coaches to win the regular-season league championship, will try to extend their 33-game home winning streak, the longest in the country, against a Memphis team that's coming off a 71-61 home loss to LSU on Thursday night. The Tigers (9-4) are in their second year under coach Tubby Smith, who won a national title with Kentucky in 1998.
UC leads the series against its long-time rivals, 41-33, and has won five of the last seven meetings between the two schools. The Bearcats haven't lost to Memphis at home since Dec. 19, 2007, in Cronin's first year as head coach.
The AAC, in its fifth season, has been bolstered by the addition of former Missouri Valley Conference power Wichita State, which is ranked eighth nationally this week.
"I think the league is improved from last year," said UC senior forward Kyle Washington. "Since I got here you saw exponential growth. Wichita State was a great addition. SMU is always good. Memphis is getting better, so it's going to be competitive."
Cronin tosses UCF and Houston into the mix when he makes his case for why the league is more competitive this year, and points to early projections that have the American sending four, possibly five teams to the NCAA Tournament. The league has never sent more than four teams to the tournament. Last year only two AAC teams were invited.
Memphis returns only two lettermen from last year – Jimario Rivers and Jeremiah Martin, who leads the team with an average of 18.4 points per game, with 4.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists. Last year Martin scored 23 points with 11 assists in an 87-74 loss to UC at Fifth Third Arena.
The Tigers, who had to overcome a 16-point first-half deficit to beat Northern Kentucky by two, shoot just 29.3 percent from 3-point range, which ranks 331st in the country.
"They play really well at times," Cronin said. "At times you can tell that they've got a lot of new guys and it tends to make it tough to get them all on the same page. But Jeremiah Martin is a great guard. He's as good as you'll see in transition. Great athlete, great size. It's hard for him because you can see that he's got to get 20 a game and five assists every night for them. If he doesn't, they're going to struggle. That's just where they are right now. It's a tough spot for him to be in, but he's a very talented player."
Cronin said the Bearcats accomplished three of their goals during the non-conference schedule.
"Our point guards needed to get a lot of game experience and they did," Cronin said. "Jarron Cumberland needed to get a lot of real-game experience as a starter, learning how to play 30 minutes a game, be responsible, and play well all the time, and then getting our freshmen minutes of the bench.
"You'd maybe like to have one more win in the non-league. Maybe you'd like to have some other things accomplished. But I think we went through a lot. We had to deal with adversity. We had to deal with losing and we had to find a way to win a big game on the road (at UCLA). I thought we got a lot out of our non-league schedule."
UC last won a conference championship in 2013-14, the inaugural season for the American, when it shared the title with Louisville, both with 15-3 league records. Louisville left the following season for the Atlantic Coast Conference. SMU won the title the next year, followed by Temple and then SMU again last year.
As the pre-season favorite for the second straight year, the Bearcats expect every opponent to save their best for them, starting with Memphis.
"If we weren't picked to win it, we would have an X on our back anyway just because of reputation and what Coach has built here," Washington said. "I think we had some bumps and bruises earlier (this season), but I think we've experienced a lot of growth from the top down. I think our young guys have learned a lot. I think the older veterans have learned a lot. I think we're ready."
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.