No. 8 Cincinnati aims for 14th straight win (Feb 02, 2018)
You can count one of the program's former rival coaches among those thinking Cincinnati can be a real factor come NCAA Tournament time.
"I think they've got an outstanding team that could get to the Final Four depending on who they play, the health, and if they bring their 'A' game," former Xavier coach and current CBS Sports Network radio analyst Pete Gillen told the Cincinnati Enquirer this week.
"You need a player that can make a big shot down the stretch," Gillen said. "I think Jacob Evans can do that. Gary Clark can do that. Usually those last games tend to be low-scoring. Coaches get a little conservative. You need guys that can put it on the deck and create. That, and great defense. Defense travels on the road and in your tournaments."
The No. 8 Bearcats (20-2, 9-0 American) take their 13-game winning streak on the road with a visit to struggling Connecticut in Hartford on Saturday.
UConn (11-11, 4-5) has lost four of its last five games amid the growing fan call to fire former national champion-coach Kevin Ollie.
"They've had every possible weird injury that you can have," Cincy coach Mick Cronin told Bearcats.com. "They've just had a lot of things happen to them. All I know is that they've got good guard play and we've got to get ready to play."
Cincinnati, which beat UConn three times last season, the third win coming in the semifinals of the conference tournament, is coming off erasing an 18-point first-half deficit and raying past Houston for its 38th straight home victory.
UConn is coming off an 80-71 road loss at Central Florida.
The Huskies got Terry Larrier back in the lineup -- Larrier wearing a mask to protect his face after suffering a fractured sinus wall that required surgery after he took a shot to the face Jan. 10 and was in and out of the lineup with severe headaches.
That's clearly one of the "weird" injuries this team, which also lost ace young point guard Alterique Gilbert to shoulder surgery for a second straight season, has had to deal with. He has played nine games in his two years at UConn.
Larrier scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in his return against UCF.
"I adjusted a little bit to (the mask)," Larrier said, "I still have to get accustomed to shooting, playing with it, but I definitely played better with it than I did last time, so that's a good sign.
"I'm going to have to get comfortable with it. I don't have a choice."
Cincy's Clark, the AAC Player of the Week the past two weeks, overcame foul trouble and recorded his fifth straight double-double -- his ninth of the season -- in the win over Houston.
Now, the Bearcats, the conference leaders, have to be prepared for the desperate Huskies.
"A lot of these guys on this team last year know how hard UConn played against us in the conference tournament," Cronin said. "Gary Clark had his teeth knocked out. So you'd better expect them to play with a lot of pride as long as Kevin's standing over there. They might not make shots or whatever, but they're going to play with a lot of pride."
