GREENVILLE, N.C. — One of East Carolina coach Bill Herrion's wishes in his team's first season in Conference USA is for opponents to leave town talking about what a difficult road trip it is. He's off to a good start.

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CINCINNATI   Player-Ht-Yr-PPG   I. McElroy-6-4-Sr.-9.7   Jamaal Davis-6-8-Sr.-7.8   Donald Little-6-11-Jr.-7.8   Leonard Stokes-6-6-Jr.-11.8   Steve Logan-6-0-Sr.-22.5   Coach: Bob Huggins (313-97, 13th season; 481-169, 21st overall).   EAST CAROLINA   Player-Ht-Yr-PPG   Kenyatta Brown-6-4-Sr.-11.4   Erroyl Bing-6-6-So.-16.3   Moussa Badiane-6-10-Fr.-7.5   Brandon Hawkins-6-2-Sr.-6.3   T.Holcomb-Faye-6-1-Jr.-8.2   Coach: Bill Herrion (30-38, third season; 197-109, 11th overall).

        This is what the University of Cincinnati had to do to get to its league opener: First, it flew to Raleigh, N.C., which got enough snow this week to prompt flight cancellations and road closings.

        UC took a bus to Greenville, mostly on roads partially covered with snow and ice. The 98-mile ride took more than three hours.

        “It's hard to get here,” Herrion said. “I'd like word to get out that when teams come to play here, win or lose, it's a really tough place to play.”

        East Carolina could get a rude welcome to C-USA today. In the Pirates' first game in their new league, they play host to the six-time defending regular-season champion Bearcats, who are ranked No.13 and have a 12-game winning streak.

        “I think it's ideal,” Herrion said. “Why not? If I've got to sell Cincinnati (to fans and players), we've got problems.”

        The Pirates are making a difficult transition. They are coming from the Colonial Athletic Association, where they were a combined 11-21 over the past two seasons.

        Their admittance into C-USA — along with Texas Christian University — was largely because of their football team, which has had four straight winning seasons and gone to three consecutive bowl games.

        Herrion hopes 8,000-seat Minges Coliseum is packed tonight, but no matter the outcome, he wants fans to continue supporting his team.

        “The game might not go the way we want it to go,” he said. “I hope that doesn't mean the following Saturday — when we have Charlotte at home — the place is half-filled.”

        When Herrion took the East Carolina job in 1999, he had heard the school probably would end up in Conference USA. He just didn't expect the announcement to come as soon as it did — days before his first October practices and during the fall recruiting period.

        “You're not going to pick the phone up and just call a talented kid and say, "Hey, guess what, we're in Conference USA and we want to recruit you now,' and get the kid,” Herrion said.

        East Carolina has won four straight games, but against USC-Spartanburg, Middle Tennessee State, Radford and Lees-McRae. Early in the season, it beat Rutgers and Northwestern.

        The Pirates still are playing without sophomore Gabriel Mikulas, an Argentina native serving a 13-game NCAA suspension for competing in nonsanctioned games; he becomes eligible Tuesday. Mikulas was the CAA rookie of the year last season after averaging a team-high 15 points and 5.7 rebounds.

        Moussa Badiane, a 6-10 freshman from France, was suspended for six games by the NCAA, also for participation with an unsanctioned club team. Since he joined ECU, he is averaging 5.7 blocks.

        What most concerns UC is that the Pirates average 26.3 3-point attempts a game, with six players having at least 25 attempts. UC averages 18.8 attempts with three players having at least 25 attempts.

        “I like how our kids are competing right now,” Herrion said. “We're going to beat somebody. I firmly believe that.”

UC greets East Carolina in C-USA debut UC women suffer 1st loss of year

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