By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Eric Hicks has started two games this season and didn't play in three others. He has played as many as 25 minutes in a game and as few as one.

If he has learned nothing else during his freshman season at the University of Cincinnati, he has learned to become more flexible.

"You just sit and wait," Hicks said. "Sometimes you go in first and sometimes you go in last. Sometimes you play 20 minutes and sometimes you play two. You've just got to give it your best when you go in."

Such is life as a UC reserve.

The Bearcats, who head into the final seven games of their regular season starting Saturday at Charlotte, remain a work in progress.

As UC coach Bob Huggins has said so many times this season: Every day is a new day.

The Bearcats have undergone more experiments than a jar of fruit flies. Despite the seemingly constant juggling act - or maybe because of it - UC is 14-6, and after Saint Louis' upset of Louisville on Wednesday, still has an outside shot at a share of the Conference USA championship.

It's been quite a ride to this point. Remember when Armein Kirkland was being considered as the starting point guard during the preseason?

Then came the Xavier game and Kirkland was viewed as some sort of secret weapon that could cause mismatch problems for opponents. He played 7 minutes in UC's next game.

That was followed by freshman Chadd Moore's one start against Chattanooga, after which it looked as if Moore would either unseat Taron Barker as the starter or split the position evenly with him. He played only four minutes against DePaul, three vs. East Carolina and six against Saint Louis after Barker reclaimed the position.

Moore simply shrugged and headed back to the bench to wait until he was needed.

"You've just got to be ready at all times when (Huggins) calls your name," he said.

The Bearcats pressed with success against DePaul and Louisville, and there were rumblings among the coaches about making it a major part of their defense. They pressed only briefly against Oklahoma State.

It's been that kind of season, with four different players starting at center, two at point guard and three at power forward. Derek Hollman started four straight games at center, but has played a total of eight minutes in UC's past five games.

Only Leonard Stokes and Field Williams have started every game.

If you're looking for consistency and neat substitution patterns, you've come to the wrong place. Huggins does what he has to do to give his team its best chance to win.

"I don't know that anybody really has a substitution pattern," Huggins said. "You try to exploit mismatches."

There is some logic to Huggins' substitutions. Tony Bobbitt usually is summoned to spell Williams at shooting guard and Moore plays at the point when Barker comes out.

And in the last three games, Hicks has averaged 15 minutes as the first frontline sub off the bench.

But all that can change.

"I just see who's playing good that day," Huggins said.

UC has started the same lineup for four straight games, with Barker and Williams at guard, Kareem Johnson at center, and Jason Maxiell and Stokes at forward.

It's UC's longest stretch with the same starting lineup. Overall, the Bearcats have used seven different lineups.

Johnson is happy to have secured a spot as a starter, but he knows that status can be short-lived.

"It's tough over there on the bench," Johnson said. "You never know if you're going to get in. It's bad on your mind. It throws you off mentally. I'm still not used to it."

But he might have to get used to it again. When asked Thursday if Johnson would start again at center against Charlotte, Huggins was non-committal.

"There's still two days to go," he said.

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com