Cincinnati, OH (U-WIRE) -- With March Madness right around the corner, the University of Cincinnati Men's Basketball Team will look to pick up some much needed momentum against two hungry conference opponents this week.

The Marquette Golden Eagles will come to Fifth Third Arena Thursday night (which can be seen on ESPN2 at 9 p.m.), and then the Bearcats travel to Texas Christian University Saturday afternoon.

Marquette (18-8) (6-7) is usually led by their star senior point guard Travis Diener, who leads Conference USA in scoring with 19.7 points per game while also averaging a league-high seven assists per game. Diener also shoots 40 percent from three-point range, which is also among the top in the conference. The bad news for Marquette is that Diener broke his hand this week and will miss the rest of the season.

UC will have to focus its attention on Steve Novak, who averages 13 points per game and shoots 45 percent from behind the arc.

The Bearcats and Golden Eagles will meet for just the second time in the past two seasons, and next to Louisville and Xavier, Marquette is one of UC's fiercest rivals going back the past five seasons.

Marquette desperately needs a win against a Top-25 opponent on the road for any chance of making it to the NCAA Tournament this season. On the flip side, the Bearcats need to win out in conference play to have any shot at another regular season conference crown, as well as a high seed and first round bye in the conference tournament in Memphis next month.

On Saturday the Bearcats travel to TCU, which will be somewhat of a homecoming game for several UC players.

Jason Maxiell, Armein Kirkland, Jamaal Lucas and Nick Williams are all Texans who will try to put on a show and get a conference win as they return to the Lone Star State.

The Horned Frogs (16-10) (6-6) are led by Cory Santee, who averages just fewer than 14 points per game and 3.8 assists.

They also must defend Marcus Shropshire who averages 12.6 points per game and shoots 40 percent from three-point land. While it's unlikely that TCU will make the NCAA Tournament, they will look to gain some confidence and momentum before the conference tournament.

If the Bearcats are to win these two tough conference games, look to see strong performances from senior leader Jason Maxiell (15.5 ppg and 7.6 rpg) and the team's hottest player of late Eric Hicks (14 ppg and 9 rpg).

The team appears to come and go as their stars inside do. Also, UC will need a strong game running the point from Jihad Muhammad, who the Bearcats will need to play well if they hope to have postseason success.

He needs to do a better job of running the offense and setting up his teammates in positions where they're comfortable and can score easy buckets.

If Muhammad does that, his scoring opportunities will eventually come around. He just needs to be patient and let the game come to him instead of forcing the issue.

The Bearcats are basically a lock for this year's NCAA Tournament, but are trying to avoid an eight or nine seed, which would set up a possible second round showdown against a No. 1 seed.

Although no wins are guaranteed in the big dance, if UC can win out this regular season, and win the conference tournament, they could set themselves up for as high as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

(C) 2004 The News Record via U-WIRE