TicketsCINCINNATI (12-3, 1-1 AAC) at TULSA (10-5, 1-1 AAC)
SERIES INFO: 39th meeting; Cincinnati leads 26-12 overall;
Cincinnati leads 9-8 in Tulsa and 16-2 in Cincinnati;
Tulsa leads 2-1 at neutral sites
STREAK: Cincinnati- 5
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 13th season at Cincinnati (280-143);
16th season overall (349-167)
Frank Haith is in his fifth season at Tulsa (88-56);
15th season overall (275-185)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (JAN. 7): Cincinnati (--/--); Tulsa (--/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPN2; Kevin Brown provides play-by-play with color analyst John Thompson III
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB
By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI - One of the most admirable traits of last year's University of Cincinnati basketball team was its resiliency on the road.
Those Bearcats, who finished the season with a 31-5 record, the American Athletic Conference championship and a No. 6 national ranking, went 9-2 on the road, their two losses coming at Xavier and at Houston.
Unfortunately for the Bearcats, that road success hasn't automatically transferred to this year's team, even though many of these players were on last year's team as well. It just doesn't work that way.
"Winning on the road in conference play is a new frontier for this team," said UC coach Mick Cronin.
The Bearcats (12-3 overall, 1-1 in the American) have lost two of their first three road games this season, falling at No. 18 Mississippi State on Dec. 15 and at unheralded East Carolina last Saturday. They'll get another chance to prove their road mettle Thursday night at Tulsa (10-5, 1-1) at 7 p.m. ET at the Reynolds Center.
The Golden Hurricane has won six of its last seven games, its only loss during that period coming against No. 17 Houston.
A UC victory over Tulsa will give Cronin the 350th win of his career. He was 69-24 in three seasons at Murray State and is 280-143 in 13 years at UC, trailing only Bob Huggins (399 wins) on the school's career victories list.
Tulsa has won its last 15 home games and 23 of its last 25. The Bearcats lost there by two points in overtime in 2016 and won by two the following season.
"Tulsa's brutal to beat at home," Cronin said. "They've already beaten two Big 12 teams (Oklahoma State and Kansas State) in their building. We always struggle against them."
If there's one thing the Bearcats can usually count on, it's their trademark shutdown defense, but that defense wasn't on display at East Carolina, which shot 51.1 percent from the field and made nine of 22 from three-point range. No other UC opponent this season – not even Mississippi State or Ohio State – has shot over 50 percent against the Bearcats this season.
"It was just a learning experience about how important the scouting report is," said junior forward Trevon Scott. "Everybody has to be locked in on the scouting report, pay attention to details and focus on doing the small things.
"We've just been going to war (in practice)," he continued. "We're challenging each other. We know we shouldn't have lost that game. To win tomorrow we've got to bring out the best in each other."
Tulsa, coached by Frank Haith, is led by swingman DaQuan Jeffries (13.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and a 52.2 shooting percentage) and forward Martins Igbanu (13.3, 6.0 and a 58.6 shooting percentage.) Point guard Sterling Taplin has averaged 9.7 points and 4.9 assists.
The Bearcats were able to win at times last year even without their best effort, Cronin said, because of the talent disparity between them and most of their opponents. That's no longer the case.
"This year we're more to the mean," he said. "We weren't tough enough to handle the effort that (ECU) brought to the table. There's a great responsibility that goes with playing on a team that's done what we've done in this league the last few years.
"We've been talking about that since the summer, but until it happens, it could be hubris on our part thinking that we're just as good as last year. You'd better play defense like you played last year. We're not there. We're doing well, but we're not there."
Cronin said no starting job was safe as the Bearcats headed to Tulsa.
"The way we played defense at East Carolina, everything's up for evaluation," Cronin said.
This is the first of three conference games in six days for the Bearcats. They return home Saturday to face Connecticut at Fifth Third Arena, then take on USF on Tuesday at home. But before they get back home, they need to fix what went wrong last Saturday, which is why Cronin calls the Tulsa game "a test of our toughness."
"It's not going to be easy," Scott said. "Our coaches gave us the keys to win the game. We just have to do a better job of following those keys. We've got to outdo them. We've got to outwork 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.
SERIES INFO: 39th meeting; Cincinnati leads 26-12 overall;
Cincinnati leads 9-8 in Tulsa and 16-2 in Cincinnati;
Tulsa leads 2-1 at neutral sites
STREAK: Cincinnati- 5
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 13th season at Cincinnati (280-143);
16th season overall (349-167)
Frank Haith is in his fifth season at Tulsa (88-56);
15th season overall (275-185)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (JAN. 7): Cincinnati (--/--); Tulsa (--/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPN2; Kevin Brown provides play-by-play with color analyst John Thompson III
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (TWITTER, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM): @GoBearcatsMBB or GoBearcatsMBB
By Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI - One of the most admirable traits of last year's University of Cincinnati basketball team was its resiliency on the road.
Those Bearcats, who finished the season with a 31-5 record, the American Athletic Conference championship and a No. 6 national ranking, went 9-2 on the road, their two losses coming at Xavier and at Houston.
Unfortunately for the Bearcats, that road success hasn't automatically transferred to this year's team, even though many of these players were on last year's team as well. It just doesn't work that way.
"Winning on the road in conference play is a new frontier for this team," said UC coach Mick Cronin.
The Bearcats (12-3 overall, 1-1 in the American) have lost two of their first three road games this season, falling at No. 18 Mississippi State on Dec. 15 and at unheralded East Carolina last Saturday. They'll get another chance to prove their road mettle Thursday night at Tulsa (10-5, 1-1) at 7 p.m. ET at the Reynolds Center.
The Golden Hurricane has won six of its last seven games, its only loss during that period coming against No. 17 Houston.
A UC victory over Tulsa will give Cronin the 350th win of his career. He was 69-24 in three seasons at Murray State and is 280-143 in 13 years at UC, trailing only Bob Huggins (399 wins) on the school's career victories list.
Tulsa has won its last 15 home games and 23 of its last 25. The Bearcats lost there by two points in overtime in 2016 and won by two the following season.
"Tulsa's brutal to beat at home," Cronin said. "They've already beaten two Big 12 teams (Oklahoma State and Kansas State) in their building. We always struggle against them."
If there's one thing the Bearcats can usually count on, it's their trademark shutdown defense, but that defense wasn't on display at East Carolina, which shot 51.1 percent from the field and made nine of 22 from three-point range. No other UC opponent this season – not even Mississippi State or Ohio State – has shot over 50 percent against the Bearcats this season.
"It was just a learning experience about how important the scouting report is," said junior forward Trevon Scott. "Everybody has to be locked in on the scouting report, pay attention to details and focus on doing the small things.
"We've just been going to war (in practice)," he continued. "We're challenging each other. We know we shouldn't have lost that game. To win tomorrow we've got to bring out the best in each other."
Tulsa, coached by Frank Haith, is led by swingman DaQuan Jeffries (13.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and a 52.2 shooting percentage) and forward Martins Igbanu (13.3, 6.0 and a 58.6 shooting percentage.) Point guard Sterling Taplin has averaged 9.7 points and 4.9 assists.
The Bearcats were able to win at times last year even without their best effort, Cronin said, because of the talent disparity between them and most of their opponents. That's no longer the case.
"This year we're more to the mean," he said. "We weren't tough enough to handle the effort that (ECU) brought to the table. There's a great responsibility that goes with playing on a team that's done what we've done in this league the last few years.
"We've been talking about that since the summer, but until it happens, it could be hubris on our part thinking that we're just as good as last year. You'd better play defense like you played last year. We're not there. We're doing well, but we're not there."
Cronin said no starting job was safe as the Bearcats headed to Tulsa.
"The way we played defense at East Carolina, everything's up for evaluation," Cronin said.
This is the first of three conference games in six days for the Bearcats. They return home Saturday to face Connecticut at Fifth Third Arena, then take on USF on Tuesday at home. But before they get back home, they need to fix what went wrong last Saturday, which is why Cronin calls the Tulsa game "a test of our toughness."
"It's not going to be easy," Scott said. "Our coaches gave us the keys to win the game. We just have to do a better job of following those keys. We've got to outdo them. We've got to outwork 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.