TicketsNo. 6/6 CINCINNATI (22-2, 11-0) at SMU (15-9, 5-6)
SERIES INFO: 14th meeting; Cincinnati leads 8-5 overall; SMU leads 3-1 in Dallas and 2-0 at neutral sites
Cincinnati leads 7-0 at home
LAST MEETING: Cincinnati won 76-56 on Jan. 7, 2018 at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Ky.
STREAK: Cincinnati - 1
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 12th season at Cincinnati (259-137); 15th season overall (328-161)
Tim Jankovich is in his second season at SMU (54-14); 11th season overall (211-135)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (FEB. 5): Cincinnati (6/6); SMU (--/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPN; Mike Corey provides play-by-play with color analyst Reid Gettys
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – A year ago almost to the day, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats headed to SMU with a 22-2 overall record and a 15-game winning streak only to see the Mustangs end the streak, 60-51.
The sixth-ranked Bearcats will try for a better result Sunday at 4 p.m. in Dallas when they take on SMU with the same 22-2 record and another 15-game winning streak seeking a more favorable result.
UC (11-0 and in first place in the American Athletic Conference) has lost its last two games in Moody Coliseum, which has developed into one of the toughest venues in the league for visiting teams. The Mustangs (15-9, 5-6) are 13-1 at home this season, their only loss coming against Tulane on Jan. 20.
"It's going to be a tough environment," said UC junior swingman Jacob Evans III. "They're a well-coached team and they play really well at home."
This time the Bearcats have several things working in their favor. Because of injuries, SMU was reduced to seven scholarship players for its 67-58 loss at Houston on Thursday night. The Mustangs led by seven with 6:17 to play, but were outscored 17-1 the rest of the game.
Among the injured players was junior guard Shake Milton, who has missed SMU's last two games with a hand injury, both of which SMU lost.
"It's really day-to-day, but it could be a week and a half," SMU coach Tim Jankovich said Thursday after the Houston game when asked about Milton's status. "He's slowly getting better, but I don't know when it's going to be good, when he's good to play."
The Bearcats were operating Thursday under the assumption that Milton, the third-leading scorer in the American with an 18-point average, would play against them.
"No matter whether Shake Milton plays or not, they've still been an unbelievable home team in the last four or five years," said UC coach Mick Cronin. "We've got to be ready to take their best shot, ready for the hostile environment. This is a game they probably need to win to get into the NCAA Tournament. It would be foolish to think that they're not going to play unbelievably hard to give themselves a chance to get a quality win."
The Mustangs have adjusted to Milton's absence by moving Jahmal McMurray, a transfer from South Florida, into Milton's spot. McMurray responded against Houston with 17 points, making four or eight from long range. The Mustangs are the best 3-point shooting team in the conference at 40.4 percent.
"We all know how good he was at South Florida," Cronin said. "He's more comfortable knowing he can take 15 shots a game. That's more who he is as a player."
Milton, projected by some analysts as a first-round NBA draft pick, scored 14 points against the Bearcats in UC's easier-than-expected 76-56 win at BB&T Arena on Jan. 7. Jarrey Foster led SMU with 16 points in that game, but Foster is now out for the season with a knee injury. Everett Ray is also out of the season with an injury, leaving Jankovich searching for ways to get by until Milton returns.
The Bearcats, meanwhile, have thrived on their depth this season and should have an advantage against the short-handed Mustangs in that department.
"It could be," Cronin said, "but you still can only play five at a time. It's only an advantage if you make it an advantage. Coach Jankovich knows what he's doing. They changed their defenses. They do things to shorten the game. They don't take the ball out (after a made shot). They let it bounce for three seconds. They may let it bounce until the ref tells you to pick it up. It's that detailed."
UC is coming off one of its best defensive performances of the season. On Tuesday, the Bearcats held Central Florida to 40 points and 28.3 percent shooting, the lowest mark of the season for a UC opponent. They've held their opponents to 36.3 percent shooting for the year, which ranks second nationally and is the lowest mark for the Bearcats since the 1955-56 team limited opponents to 33.3 percent. That team finished 17-7.
A UC victory Sunday would give the Bearcats their longest winning streak since Cronin took over as head coach in 2006-07 and move them one step closer to the AAC regular-season championship, with games at Houston and at home vs. Wichita State coming up in the most difficult portion of their conference schedule.
"We have to take things we learned from the last time we played them," Evans said of SMU. "It's not going to be the same game. They're going to be at home. Their players are going to be more confident. They're going to have the crowd behind them."
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.