Tickets25/23 CINCINNATI (19-3, 8-1) AT MEMPHIS (13-9, 5-4)
Thursday, Feb. 7 // 7 p.m. (ET)
FedExForum // Memphis, Tenn.
SERIES INFO: 78th meeting; Cincinnati leads 44-33 overall;
Memphis leads 22-14 in Memphis;
Cincinnati leads 24-10 in Cincinnati and 6-1 at neutral sites
STREAK: Cincinnati - 4
2017-18 MEETINGS: Cincinnati won 82-48 (Dec. 31) at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Ky.;
Cincinnati won 62-48 (Jan. 27) at FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.;
Cincinnati won 70-60 (Mar. 10) in AAC Championship Semifinals at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 13th season at Cincinnati (287-143); 16th season overall (356-167)
Penny Hardaway is in his first season at Memphis (13-9); first season overall (13-9)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (FEB. 4): Cincinnati (25/23); Memphis (--/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPN2; Adam Amin 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 – During his two seasons playing for what was then called Memphis State University, Penny Hardaway faced the University of Cincinnati Bearcats seven times.
He lost six of those games.
In 1991-92, Hardaway's first season with the Tigers, they lost four times to the Bearcats. One of those losses was in the championship game of the Great Midwest Conference tournament. Another was in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Final, which sent the Bearcats to the Final Four.
Hardaway, a consensus first-team All-American in 1993 and the third overall pick in that year's NBA draft, averaged only 14.3 points against UC, eight points below his college career average. He shot 38.6 percent against the Bearcats compared with the 45.6 percent he shot against everyone else.
Will he have better success against UC as the Tigers' head coach?
He'll get his first chance to coach against his old nemesis at 7 p.m. ET Thursday at Memphis' FedExForum. No. 25 UC (19-3 overall, 8-1 in the American Athletic Conference) has won seven straight games. Memphis (13-9, 5-4) has lost two straight and three of its last four, but is 11-1 at home, its only loss coming against top-ranked Tennessee.
UC leads the all-time series 44-33 and has won six of the last seven games against the Tigers.
In his first year as the Memphis head coach, Hardaway has employed an up-tempo offensive style that's predicated on pressure defense designed to force the Tigers' opponents into mistakes and create easy baskets.
"They're going to come after you with so much intensity on defense that they're going to impose their style one way or another on the game," said UC coach Mick Cronin. "If you don't embrace it, it'll be to your demise. You have to understand what's coming with their pursuit of the basketball."
Memphis leads the AAC in scoring with 84.1 points per game, but gives up 77.6. The Tigers shoot 46.8 percent from the field, 33.8 percent from three-point range. They average 8.7 steals per game and force 17.4 turnovers, but turn the ball over themselves an average of 15.5 times per game.
Jeremiah Martin leads Memphis in scoring with 16.3 points per game, followed by Kyvon Davenport (14.4) and Tyler Harris (12.6)
"They do a great job of playing through the ups and downs," Cronin said. "When you play that style you're going to have times where you give up some layups, but they just continue to come after you. The game is not over against them until the clock hits zero."
This will be the Bearcats' first game since they moved into the Top 25 this week for the first time this season after they were ranked all of last season. UC has been ranked in the Associated Press poll for at least one week in nine of the last 10 seasons.
"Our guys are used to being ranked," Cronin said. "But the way we played against Ohio State on national TV (in their season opener) probably destroyed any quality thoughts that some people had about us. But to me, it doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter."
Hardaway was hired as the Memphis coach to replace Tubby Smith even though he had never coached in college before. But Cronin said that apparent lack of credentials is deceiving because of Hardaway's coaching stints at Memphis East High School and in AAU.
He also knew that Hardaway would come equipped with plenty of crucial recruiting contacts.
"He was running an elite summer program, which is a huge part of our world," Cronin said. "So not only when you're doing that are you running your own program, you're sitting in the lobby talking to the guys that run all the programs around the country. I used to sit in that lobby a long time ago. Forget the NBA stuff. He's connected."
How the Bearcats play this week will go a long way toward determining if they'll repeat as AAC champions. After Thursday's game, they'll fly to Houston to get ready to face the 12th-ranked Cougars on Sunday afternoon. Houston is currently tied for first place with UC.
"We know this week we've got two tough games on the road, but our main focus right now is finding out how to beat Memphis," said junior forward Trevon Scott. "Houston is nowhere on our mind right now."
Scott said he's looking forward to playing against Memphis' up-tempo style, saying, "That's my style of play."
Whether he's still saying that after Thursday night remains to be seen.
"The pressure's not just going to stop," Cronin said. "You can't just think that OK, we got the ball over half-court, now they're going to go back and play defense the way 80 percent of the other people play defense. No. They're still going to try to get up after you, especially at home.
"If it's annoying you and you think it's just going to stop, I've got to take that guy out. We've got to have guys in the game that are like, hey, let's play. They're going to come after us so we've got to go after them and we've got to play some ball."
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.
Thursday, Feb. 7 // 7 p.m. (ET)
FedExForum // Memphis, Tenn.
SERIES INFO: 78th meeting; Cincinnati leads 44-33 overall;
Memphis leads 22-14 in Memphis;
Cincinnati leads 24-10 in Cincinnati and 6-1 at neutral sites
STREAK: Cincinnati - 4
2017-18 MEETINGS: Cincinnati won 82-48 (Dec. 31) at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Ky.;
Cincinnati won 62-48 (Jan. 27) at FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.;
Cincinnati won 70-60 (Mar. 10) in AAC Championship Semifinals at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.
COACHES: Mick Cronin is in his 13th season at Cincinnati (287-143); 16th season overall (356-167)
Penny Hardaway is in his first season at Memphis (13-9); first season overall (13-9)
AP/USA TODAY RANKINGS (FEB. 4): Cincinnati (25/23); Memphis (--/--)
RADIO: 700 WLW; Dan Hoard provides play-by-play with color analyst Terry Nelson
TV: ESPN2; Adam Amin 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 – During his two seasons playing for what was then called Memphis State University, Penny Hardaway faced the University of Cincinnati Bearcats seven times.
He lost six of those games.
In 1991-92, Hardaway's first season with the Tigers, they lost four times to the Bearcats. One of those losses was in the championship game of the Great Midwest Conference tournament. Another was in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Final, which sent the Bearcats to the Final Four.
Hardaway, a consensus first-team All-American in 1993 and the third overall pick in that year's NBA draft, averaged only 14.3 points against UC, eight points below his college career average. He shot 38.6 percent against the Bearcats compared with the 45.6 percent he shot against everyone else.
Will he have better success against UC as the Tigers' head coach?
He'll get his first chance to coach against his old nemesis at 7 p.m. ET Thursday at Memphis' FedExForum. No. 25 UC (19-3 overall, 8-1 in the American Athletic Conference) has won seven straight games. Memphis (13-9, 5-4) has lost two straight and three of its last four, but is 11-1 at home, its only loss coming against top-ranked Tennessee.
UC leads the all-time series 44-33 and has won six of the last seven games against the Tigers.
In his first year as the Memphis head coach, Hardaway has employed an up-tempo offensive style that's predicated on pressure defense designed to force the Tigers' opponents into mistakes and create easy baskets.
"They're going to come after you with so much intensity on defense that they're going to impose their style one way or another on the game," said UC coach Mick Cronin. "If you don't embrace it, it'll be to your demise. You have to understand what's coming with their pursuit of the basketball."
Memphis leads the AAC in scoring with 84.1 points per game, but gives up 77.6. The Tigers shoot 46.8 percent from the field, 33.8 percent from three-point range. They average 8.7 steals per game and force 17.4 turnovers, but turn the ball over themselves an average of 15.5 times per game.
Jeremiah Martin leads Memphis in scoring with 16.3 points per game, followed by Kyvon Davenport (14.4) and Tyler Harris (12.6)
"They do a great job of playing through the ups and downs," Cronin said. "When you play that style you're going to have times where you give up some layups, but they just continue to come after you. The game is not over against them until the clock hits zero."
This will be the Bearcats' first game since they moved into the Top 25 this week for the first time this season after they were ranked all of last season. UC has been ranked in the Associated Press poll for at least one week in nine of the last 10 seasons.
"Our guys are used to being ranked," Cronin said. "But the way we played against Ohio State on national TV (in their season opener) probably destroyed any quality thoughts that some people had about us. But to me, it doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter."
Hardaway was hired as the Memphis coach to replace Tubby Smith even though he had never coached in college before. But Cronin said that apparent lack of credentials is deceiving because of Hardaway's coaching stints at Memphis East High School and in AAU.
He also knew that Hardaway would come equipped with plenty of crucial recruiting contacts.
"He was running an elite summer program, which is a huge part of our world," Cronin said. "So not only when you're doing that are you running your own program, you're sitting in the lobby talking to the guys that run all the programs around the country. I used to sit in that lobby a long time ago. Forget the NBA stuff. He's connected."
How the Bearcats play this week will go a long way toward determining if they'll repeat as AAC champions. After Thursday's game, they'll fly to Houston to get ready to face the 12th-ranked Cougars on Sunday afternoon. Houston is currently tied for first place with UC.
"We know this week we've got two tough games on the road, but our main focus right now is finding out how to beat Memphis," said junior forward Trevon Scott. "Houston is nowhere on our mind right now."
Scott said he's looking forward to playing against Memphis' up-tempo style, saying, "That's my style of play."
Whether he's still saying that after Thursday night remains to be seen.
"The pressure's not just going to stop," Cronin said. "You can't just think that OK, we got the ball over half-court, now they're going to go back and play defense the way 80 percent of the other people play defense. No. They're still going to try to get up after you, especially at home.
"If it's annoying you and you think it's just going to stop, I've got to take that guy out. We've got to have guys in the game that are like, hey, let's play. They're going to come after us so we've got to go after them and we've got to play some ball."
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.