They say there is no added pressure. They say they just come to the gym, day after day, to try to get better. They say they don't notice any extra hoopla. Nineteen victories in a row? The No.4 ranking in the country? Sure, that's all nice. But it apparently is not affecting how the University of Cincinnati players approach practices and games.

STREAK BY THE NUMBERS

• 10-0 - Record at home   • 5-0 - Record on the road   • 4-0 - Record at neutral sites   • 7-0 - Record in Conference USA   • 21.4 - Average margin of victory   • 35.6 - Opponents' field goal percentage   • 27.9 - Opponents' 3-point percentage   • 56.3 - Opponents' scoring average   • 1 - Opponent which has come within fewer than 10 points   • 9 - Opponents which have come within fewer than 20 points   • 9 - Opponents which have scored 55 or fewer points   • 13 - Opponents which have shot less than 40 percent from the field

        “There's no pressure,” senior Immanuel McElroy said. “We know where we're ranked, but we want to be No.1, so we have to go out there and take care of our business. We've just got to keep doing what we've been doing and get better.”

        The Bearcats play East Carolina (7-12) tonight at Shoemaker Center, putting the nation's longest winning streak on the line against a team they beat by 10 points on the road 3 1/2 weeks ago.

        UC will try to become the first team in the country to reach 20 victories this season and tie a school record for the earliest date to reach No.20.

        This is also the longest winning streak in Conference USA history.

        “We don't really talk about the streak,” senior Steve Logan said. “We're not worried about that. If we just stay confident and keep believing in one another, it will take care of itself.”

        Other than rising through the polls, the Bearcats have put together their winning streak without attracting much national attention. Sports Illustrated hasn't come calling yet. Nor has ESPN the Magazine.

        “When we were No.1 (in 1999-2000), there were a lot of people hanging around and wanting to be around us,” Logan said. “There was a lot of hype because of Kenyon (Martin) and Pete Mickeal. When you're No.3 or No.4, there's not that much hype going on.”

        But it's starting.

RECENT STREAKS

Recent Division I winning streaks of 15 games or more, with date streak ended and opponent:   • Michigan State: 23, Jan. 7, 2001, Indiana   • Duke: 22, Jan. 6, 2002, Florida St   • Stanford: 20, Feb. 3, 2001, UCLA   • Cincinnati: 19, TBD , TBD   • North Carolina: 18, Feb. 18, 2001, Clemson   • Hofstra: 18, Mar. 15, 2001, UCLA   • Georgetown: 16, Jan. 20, 2001, Pittsburgh

        CBSSportsline.com was in town Monday to do interviews for a story scheduled to run Wednesday. USA Today plans to run a story later this week. Slam Magazine wants to feature Logan. Basketball Times is already working on a Logan story.

        During Sunday night's Duke-Virginia game, the announcers said that one team they'd like to see face the top-ranked Blue Devils was Cincinnati.

        Who could resist a showdown between the country's top offensive team (Duke, 91.4 ppg) and top defensive team (UC, 56.9), they pondered.

        If there is national hesitancy in saying too much about UC, the schedule may be a factor. The Bearcats have not defeated a ranked team during their streak, and the only one left is No.24 Wake Forest on Feb.9.

        Should UC lose in the next two weeks, it likely will have more to do with where and whom UC is playing than any increase in national scrutiny or pressure to keep the streak intact. After tonight, the Bearcats go on the road for three games, against Marquette (17-3) and Charlotte (12-6) before Wake Forest (14-6).

        “I don't think Cincinnati even gets the respect they deserve,” Marquette coach Tom Crean said. “They're tremendous. They're a team that's legitimately going to play for the national championship.”

        While Cincinnati has had two longer winning streaks during its history, the top two have come over two seasons.

        Only the 1960-61 national championship squad, which won 22 straight, had a longer single-season win streak. The 1962-63 team won its first 19 games.

        The key to the Bearcats' streak has been their defense, their team chemistry and their leader (Logan).

        “I had a team at Florida State that was 19-2, and once at Iona we were, I think, 17-1 and had the lon gest streak in the country,” DePaul coach Pat Kennedy said. “When I go back to those particular teams, the thing that a coach keeps coming back to is consistency of big plays.

        “You're going to have some games where you win because you're just better and more talented. ... (But) when I've seen Cincinnati on TV, Steve Logan will just flat-out step up and make that great drive to the basket and bank the ball off the glass and get fouled when it's a three-point game, and now all of a sudden Cincinnati's up by six.”

        Said Saint Louis coach Lorenzo Romar: “He's the leading scorer in our league, but he's also a guy that just controls the tempo. I know when we played them, that was the big difference in our game. When things seemed like they were getting out of hand, he was the guy that would hit the big shot, he was the guy who made sure he got them in their offense. This is a team that, I think, Coach Huggins should deserve national coach of the year honors.” ”

        Logan said it's a UC team that simply “never quits.” He said the Bearcats are more of a family than in past years.

        McElroy said that after the Oklahoma State loss Nov.16, “everybody was pretty down. We just came in the next day and said we're not going to play like this anymore.”

        Huggins said that even before that defeat, these were players who practiced hard every day, who enjoyed competing against one another. And still do.

        “(The streak) never comes up,” he said Monday. “They're concentrating on beating East Carolina, as they should.”

UC shoots for 20th straight win 100th victory next for Logan Catlett takes medical leave

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