The Cincinnati Bearcats go from playing one of the best teams in the American Athletic Conference to one of the longshots here Sunday, against East Carolina.
The No. 22-ranked Bearcats (14-2, 4-0 AAC) will play an ECU team (9-9, 1-4 AAC) that has lost four straight games. UC has won seven straight, most recently a 66-64 home win over a strong SMU team Thursday night.
UC was picked by league coaches to win the AAC in a preseason poll, and ECU was picked seventh. For now, UC is in first place and ECU is tied for ninth in the 11-team league. Tip-off is 4 p.m. Sunday (CBS Sports Network) at 8,000-seat Minges Coliseum.
?Every game for the Bearcats is important, especially with the target we have on our back,? UC junior forward Gary Clark said.
UC beat East Carolina both home and away last season, but Clark is one of several Bearcats who painfully recall a 50-46 upset loss at East Carolina two years ago.
?Wherever we go, we have to come out fired up and ready to play,? Clark said. ?Whether we go to East Carolina or wherever we go, the other teams don?t have anything to lose or are just excited to play us. Every game, we have to be ready.?
Clark led UC with 18 points in Thursday?s win over SMU. Immediately afterward, UC coach Mick Cronin said he had not yet thought about East Carolina because of the focus on SMU.
?I know nothing about East Carolina, except that it?s in Greenville, North Carolina, and they closed my favorite restaurant,? Cronin said. ?(ECU) coach (Jeff) Lebo told me. So now, I have to find a place to eat Saturday night.?
By tip-off, Cronin and his staff will have had all day Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday to prepare for ECU. The Bearcats were to take a charter flight to Greenville on Saturday.
Sunday?s game begins a long stretch where UC will have little rest, as teams grind through the second half of their regular season schedules.
?We play Sunday, Wednesday (Temple, at home) and Saturday (at Tulane),? Cronin said. ?Like I told the guys, at this point in time, rest is extremely important. Taking care of your body is extremely important. Mental preparation is important, because you have to limit your physical activity so you?re ready with all these games coming. We don?t have a week off the rest of the year.?
Some fans already are pointing toward the annual Crosstown Shootout against No. 15 Xavier, which is Jan. 26 at UC.
?A four-day break is all we have here on out, because we?re playing Xavier so late in the season,? Cronin said. ?That?s the most important thing for us. Rest, recovery and making sure you?re ready to play.?
The No. 22-ranked Bearcats (14-2, 4-0 AAC) will play an ECU team (9-9, 1-4 AAC) that has lost four straight games. UC has won seven straight, most recently a 66-64 home win over a strong SMU team Thursday night.
UC was picked by league coaches to win the AAC in a preseason poll, and ECU was picked seventh. For now, UC is in first place and ECU is tied for ninth in the 11-team league. Tip-off is 4 p.m. Sunday (CBS Sports Network) at 8,000-seat Minges Coliseum.
?Every game for the Bearcats is important, especially with the target we have on our back,? UC junior forward Gary Clark said.
UC beat East Carolina both home and away last season, but Clark is one of several Bearcats who painfully recall a 50-46 upset loss at East Carolina two years ago.
?Wherever we go, we have to come out fired up and ready to play,? Clark said. ?Whether we go to East Carolina or wherever we go, the other teams don?t have anything to lose or are just excited to play us. Every game, we have to be ready.?
Clark led UC with 18 points in Thursday?s win over SMU. Immediately afterward, UC coach Mick Cronin said he had not yet thought about East Carolina because of the focus on SMU.
?I know nothing about East Carolina, except that it?s in Greenville, North Carolina, and they closed my favorite restaurant,? Cronin said. ?(ECU) coach (Jeff) Lebo told me. So now, I have to find a place to eat Saturday night.?
By tip-off, Cronin and his staff will have had all day Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday to prepare for ECU. The Bearcats were to take a charter flight to Greenville on Saturday.
Sunday?s game begins a long stretch where UC will have little rest, as teams grind through the second half of their regular season schedules.
?We play Sunday, Wednesday (Temple, at home) and Saturday (at Tulane),? Cronin said. ?Like I told the guys, at this point in time, rest is extremely important. Taking care of your body is extremely important. Mental preparation is important, because you have to limit your physical activity so you?re ready with all these games coming. We don?t have a week off the rest of the year.?
Some fans already are pointing toward the annual Crosstown Shootout against No. 15 Xavier, which is Jan. 26 at UC.
?A four-day break is all we have here on out, because we?re playing Xavier so late in the season,? Cronin said. ?That?s the most important thing for us. Rest, recovery and making sure you?re ready to play.?
