Cincinnati @ Tulane preview
Devlin Fieldhouse
Last Meeting ( Jan 4, 2020 ) Cincinnati 71, Tulane 76
Cincinnati had to wait 24 days to play its most recent game.
Now, the Bearcats are scheduled to play for the second time in four days when they meet host Tulane in an American Athletic Conference game Sunday in New Orleans.
The Bearcats ended their long COVID-19-induced layoff with a 63-60 victory at Temple on Thursday even though they still were shorthanded.
"We've been through a lot these last three weeks, and COVID really took a toll on our team," said David DeJulius, who scored the Bearcats' first eight points and finished with a career-high 26. "It's a testament to our resilience over the last three weeks."
Cincinnati (4-7, 2-4 AAC) was still missing two players because of COVID protocols. One walk-on started and three players came off the bench in a conference game for the first time this season.
"The adversity that they've gone through here in the last month, I don't think people really have any idea," Bearcats coach John Brannen said. "This is so strange. To be able to describe it is very, very difficult."
Tulane's COVID disruptions haven't been as lengthy as Cincinnati's, but the Green Wave (7-6, 2-6) have had to make plenty of adjustments.
Coach Ron Hunter missed one game after testing positive for COVID and would have missed two others, but those game were among several postponements.
Hunter and Tulane returned from an 11-day hiatus to host No. 6 Houston on Jan. 28 and fell behind 36-8 on the way to an 83-60 defeat that was never competitive.
But the Green Wave followed up one of the lowest points of the season with one of the highest when they went to Temple three days later and prevailed 81-64.
"We keep talking as a team about consistency and I thought that the second half of the Houston game was the difference," Hunter said. "We scored 46 points in the second half and I saw glimpses of us sharing the ball and I thought that carried over (against Temple).
"I think you saw what we can be as a team."
Led by Jaylen Forbes' game-high 23 points, Tulane had five players score in double figures for the first time in Hunter's two seasons.
Then came a 75-67 loss on the road to Wichita State on Wednesday night and here comes Cincinnati.
"Our kids have been going through a lot these last few weeks," Hunter said.
--Field Level Media