GREENVILLE, N.C. – Everything pointed to an easy University of Cincinnati basketball victory over East Carolina here Sunday afternoon. Of course, it wasn’t.
Easy, that is.
A win, it was.
The No. 22 Bearcats led most of the game and beat ECU 55-46, with subpar shooting and solid defense on both sides.
The Bearcats were a 15-point favorite, and UC entered with a seven-game winning streak. ECU had lost four straight games and was without its leading scorer.
These are the kinds of games that make coaches age before their years. Still, UC coach Mick Cronin kept his cool as the Bearcats and ECU, two national Top 20 defensive teams, slugged it out before a half-empty but occasionally loud Minges Coliseum.