Fading Cincinnati in danger of missing March Madness

CINCINNATI (AP) — Another home-court loss in the Big East has Cincinnati in a familiar place with only two weeks left before tournament time. The Bearcats are in danger of missing out again.

Their overriding goal is to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005, when Bob Huggins was still the coach. They started the season well, going 10-3 and winning their first two conference games. Since then, they’ve drifted back into dangerous territory.

A 79-76 overtime loss to Marquette on Sunday left the Bearcats (15-11, 6-8) in a five-way tie for eighth place in the league. Seven Big East teams made the NCAA tournament last season. And Cincinnati has a very tough closing stretch.

“It’s very frustrating,” senior guard Deonta Vaughn said.

Failing to make the NCAA tournament would be a huge setback for a program that thought it was finally back on its feet. The Bearcats haven’t been there since Huggins was ousted before the start of the 2005-06 season, their first in the Big East.

Coach Mick Cronin set the tournament berth as a make-or-break goal this season, his fourth in rebuilding the program. The roster was much deeper, the young players had another year of experience, and freshman Lance Stephenson was expected to give the Bearcats a game-changing offensive threat.

They’re struggling badly heading into a daunting final stretch. They play last-place DePaul (1-13) at home Wednesday, then play at No. 8 West Virginia — Huggins’ current team — followed by a home game against No. 7 Villanova. The Bearcats finish their regular season at Georgetown (8-6).

Then comes the Big East tournament, which has been a nightmare for the Bearcats. They’re 0-3 in the tournament, including a stunning 67-57 loss to DePaul last year that ended their season.

They’re going to have to pull off some upsets to get back into NCAA tournament consideration.

“Now we’ve got to just fight for the last four games,” Vaughn said. “We know we’ve got some games that we can hopefully win, and then make some noise in the Big East tournament. We can get right back there on the bubble.”

Cronin publicly set the NCAA-or-bust goal at the start of the season. The Bearcats have made themselves a long shot after losing at South Florida and at home to Marquette in consecutive games.

Cronin is concerned about his players’ psyche, knowing they’ll hear about another season teetering on disappointment.