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UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

UC: Short rest, then on to Orlando

Tom Groeschen
tgroeschen@enquirer.com
Shaq Thomas has tried to play through injury, but he was limited to 11 minutes at Memphis on Saturday.

The Cincinnati Bearcats again will not have much rest until their next basketball game, Tuesday (7 p.m.) against Central Florida in Orlando.

UC will be playing its third game in six days. The stretch started with an 88-57 home win over South Florida this past Thursday, followed by a 63-59 loss at Memphis on Saturday.

UC (17-7, 7-4 American Athletic Conference) will be playing UCF (11-10, 5-5 AAC) for the first and only time in the regular season.

UCF was picked to finish No. 9 in the 11-team AAC in a preseason poll of league coaches, and the Knights are tied for seventh. The Bearcats, for their part, were voted No. 3 in the AAC in preseason and are tied for fourth place.

Noteworthy:

-The loss at Memphis (14-9) may not be particularly bad in the grand scheme, but UC remains closer to the NCAA Tournament bubble than not. The Bearcats, entering Sunday, were No. 67 in the NCAA RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) standings.

-UC, entering the weekend, was projected as a No. 10 NCAA Tournament seed by both Joe Lunardi of ESPN and Jerry Palm of CBS Sports.

-UC senior forward Shaq Thomas clearly has not been himself, scoring just one point in two games since injuring his right foot and ankle Jan. 28 against UConn. Thomas did not start the second half Saturday and played only 11 minutes overall, going scoreless.

Mick Cronin: Quick turnaround no excuse for Bearcats

-Central Florida lost 62-60 at home to Temple on Saturday. The Knights are led by 6-9 sophomore forward A.J. Davis, who averages 12.9 points per game. Adonys Henriquez, a 6-6 sophomore guard who averages 10.1 points, is out for the next two to three weeks (mild MCL sprain, bone contusion).

-Keep an eye on 7-foot-6 UCF freshman center Tacko Fall, who averages 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. Fall had 10 points, seven boards and three blocks against Temple on Saturday.

-Troy Caupain has taken over the UC scoring lead at 11.7 points per game, supplanting Farad Cobb (11.4). Next are Gary Clark (10.7), Octavius Ellis (9.7), Thomas (7.0), Jacob Evans (7.0), Kevin Johnson (6.0) and Coreontae DeBerry (5.9).

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UP NEXT

Cincinnati at Central Florida

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Where: CFE Arena (9,465), Orlando

TV/Radio: ESPNews/700 WLW-AM

Records: UC 17-7 (7-4 AAC), UCF 11-10 (5-5 AAC)