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NEW YORK – There’s no doubt in Mick Cronin’s mind that his team will hear their named called on Selection Sunday.

“I don’t think that’s any question,” the Cincinnati coach said after his team lost to No. 1 Georgetown, 62-43, in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden. “If it is ‑‑ again, I don’t know how anybody could question that.”

The Bearcats are expected to go dancing, but they aren’t exactly coming in strong.

After an 18-6 start, Cincinnati has lost seven of their last 11.

Sitting at 22-11, 9-9 in the Big East, ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently has Cincinnati as the No. 11 seed in the West Region taking on No. 6 Butler.

Despite their record over the past five weeks, redshirt junior Sean Kilpatrick of White Plains, N.Y., feels both he and his team can rebound after his 2-of-12, four-point performance.

“We’ll be alright,” he told SNY.tv. “I got so much confidence in my team and I know that everybody’s going to bounce back “

“With getting guys healthy and getting fresh mentally, having gone last year to the championship game here and then having to beat Texas and Florida State and the NCAA made us play at 10 on Sunday night and bus home and get home at 6 in the morning and turn around and fly to Boston on Tuesday and play against a team you can play on Saturday an hour from home, that was a disadvantage,” he said.

“So I do think the team getting some rest could be an advantage.”

Photo credit: DraftExpress.com

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NEWARK

No, the best moment may have happened before the game even started.

That’s when the junior from Yonkers, N.Y. ran out onto the Prudential Center floor and saw his 2-year-old daughter, Bailey, waiting in the crowd to see him play.

“Coming out of the tunnel being able to see her was just amazing,” the man they call “SK” told SNY.tv exclusively following Cincinnati’s 66-59 victory in which he went 5-of-15 from beyond the arc.

A former star at White Plains High School and Notre Dame Prep, Kilpatrick hadn’t seen Bailey since September. She lives with her mother, Brittany, in White Plains; Kilpatrick said he and the baby’s mother are not together.

“My mom actually helps along with that as well, so I get to see her on FaceTime or Skype or something like that,” Kilpatrick said.

“So to actually get to physically see her and her clapping and doing everything is just amazing.”

A Preseason All-Big East First Team selection, Kilpatrick said his own parents were separated and that he wants to make a different life for Bailey.

“I don’t want my daughter to grow up basically the way I did,” he said. “I mean, I grew up kind of tough. It was tough for my mom and my dad.”

The 6-foot-4 Kilpatrick is averaging 18.5 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Bearcats (18-4, 6-3 Big East).

He has scored 20 or more points in eight games this season, including three times in Cincinnati’s last five games.

“I think his understanding is much better,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “He’s much more an all-around player. He’s still gotta become better at blocking out. He’ll go get the ball but when his man is a rebounder, that’s probably his biggest weakness.

“But his ball-handling, his pace, letting the game come to him, controlling his aggression offensively is where he’s really developed…But obviously, he’s one of the class players in our league.”

Kilpatrick is planning on playing professionally down the road — hopefully in the NBA — to help provide for his daughter.

“Once I’m able to sit here and give my daughter a different background and a different way of life, that’s something major to me so I take that very personal, especially if  I’m sitting here playing basketball,” he said. “That is a full-time job.”

Kilpatrick remains best friends with former Bearcat Lance Stephenson, the Brooklyn native who is now averaging 8.3 points and 2.8 assists for the resurgent Indiana Pacers. Stephenson has two children of his own.

“It’s funny because we actually spoke [Friday] night after his game,” Kilpatrick said.

“It’s just amazing knowing that your best friend, even though he has a busy schedule and he’s going through what he’s going through with the NBA, he can still stay in touch with you.

“When I do have the open time just to go around and go to Indiana and especially to see him, it’s just amazing. So it feels like that beat, it never skipped a beat between me and him. Then on top of that we’re speaking every day, so it’s just amazing.

“I love him, just like he loves me and that’s the greatest part about it.”

And like Stephenson, Kilpatrick wants to end up in the NBA to help provide for his daughter.

“I have that type of confidence in myself,” he said.

“But also Lance, he always put that in my head, ‘You can make it here.’ It’s not like it’s an impossible thing. Everything is possible. And you gotta continue to keep God in your corner and continue to keep that type of faith in your corner that you can make it.”

Photos: Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati Athletics

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Jermaine Lawrence

The 6-foot-10 Sparta (N.J.) Pope John XXIII forward announced on tumblr that he’s headed to Cincinnati over St. John’s and UNLV.

“My family and I would like to thank all the schools that showed interest,” he wrote. “I’m humble[d] to have had the experience of being recruited.

“I appreciate and thank those in New York who have supported me. It was a tough decision, however I do believe UC is a better fit for me.”

There was some talk that Lawrence would take one final visit to St. John’s before deciding, but that never happened. He ended up taking officials to Cincinnati and UNLV and unofficials to St. John’s, but never an official visit there.

The No. 7 power forward in the Class of 2013, Lawrence is a New York City native who left Cardozo High in Queens last season for Pope John.

He is the latest New York or New Jersey player to commit to Bearcats coach Mick Cronin, who recently watched Lawrence work out at Pope John.

In recent years, Cincinnati has landed Lance Stephenson, Sean Kilpatrick, Jermaine Sanders and Shaq Thomas. (The Stephenson, Sanders and Thomas commits were all broken by SNY.tv.)

“New York City players have gone there and then been comfortable,” Lawrence told ESPN.com. “I started thinking, Why can’t I be comfortable there?”

Lawrence missed the first half of the season with a hand injury, but recently returned with a vengeance. On Saturday, he went for 19 points, 7 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks without playing the fourth quarter in a 67-41 County win over South Hunterdon.

“He’s so quick and skilled, I think he’ll make an immediate impact,” Pope John coach Jason Hasson told SNY.tv. “They have a great coaching staff. They worked extremely hard to get him and they’re going to make him a lot tougher, which is what he really needs to get to the NBA. He needs to get more physical and be able to take bumps and be more physical.

“Since he’s been back, he’s been unbelievable. I hope the people who vote for the McDonald’s All-American Game take him into consideration because he’s definitely a McDonald’s All-American type player.”

Said longtime New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski: “He brings to [Cincinnati] a guy who has a limitless ceiling potential-wise. He covers the court like a blanket. He has great athletic ability. He can step out and shoot the 3. And he obviously needs to get stronger. And what Mick Cronin brings to him is a passion for the game. He’ll be playing for a guy that will drive him. He’s a terrific kid, but right now he’s very passive. He’s as nice of a person on the court as he is off, which is a sure formula for failure. I don’t think he realizes how good he can be and how hard he has to work to reach that level.

“Mick Cronin will really push him and hopefully Mick Cronin’s passion for the game will be contagious.”

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The 6-foot-10 Lawrence of Pope John XXIII is considering Cincinnati, St. John’s and UNLV and is expected to announce soon.

He will visit St. John’s this coming weekend, according to Evan Daniels of Scout.com. After visiting Rutgers Wednesday, the Johnnies host Seton Hall Sunday.

Lawrence has yet to play this season as he recovers from hand surgery.

“[Coach Cronin] watched our game-day workout and talked to me and Jermaine for a little while about how he would fit in at Cincy,” Pope John coach Jason Hasson told SNY.tv.

Asked what his message was, Hasson added: “On offense, they like to focus on mismatches in their offense and Jermaine is the ultimate mismatch. With guard quickness and forward size, he creates a mismatch almost on every possession.

“Defensively, the way they pressure to have an elite shot-blocker like Jermaine would allow them to pressure even more than they already do.”

Cincinnati has a recent tradition of landing tough players from New York and New Jersey, including Lance Stephenson, Sean Kilpatrick, Jermaine Sanders and Shaq Thomas.

Of Cincinnati, Lawrence recently told SNY.tv: “Cincinnati, the coaching staff is real cool. They’ve been keeping in touch with me since my sophomore year. I like the way they use their forwards and they’re a tough team. There’s nothing better than playing with a tough team.”

Hasson said Cincinnati also offered 6-9 2015 forward Moustapha Diagne, who put up 25 points and 16 rebounds in Monday’s loss to Brooklyn South Shore at the Big Apple Invitational. Cincinnati assistant Darren Savino previously watched Diagne at the Hoop Group Tip-Off.

Diagne has recently added offers from Oregon State, George Mason, La Salle, Rider and Towson to go along with previous ones from West Virginia and Cleveland State.

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BearcatLair.com reported that the 6-foot-10 Lawrence out of Pope John XXIII (Sparta, N.J.) is down to Cincinnati, St. John’s and UNLV, to which he has already taken an official.

Fans chanted his name Saturday as Lawrence sat courtside when No. 11 Cincinnati defeated Wright State 68-58 at Fifth Third Arena. Cincinnati remained unbeaten after the win, but suffered its first loss Thursday night to New Mexico, 55-54.

“Got so much love from the fans out here in Cincy,” Lawrence Tweeted.

Lawrence is a New York native and the Bearcats have had a number of New Yorkers in recent years, from Lance Stephenson to Sean Kilpatrick and Jermaine Sanders.

However, St. John’s coach Steve Lavin will get the last crack at Lawrence, who is currently out of action until early January after undergoing surgery on a tendon in his shooting hand.

Lavin has already produced a one-and-done player at St. John’s in small forward Moe Harkless, now with the Orlando Magic, and could have another on his hands with small forward JaKarr Sampson, who has already been named Big East Rookie of the Week three times before conference play starts.

Whether Lawrence has similar talent remains to be seen.

“He could be very good but more than anything else, he needs experience, he needs playing time,” New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski said. “He needs a lot of repetitions on the court in situations. He’s gotta learn to play hard all the time. When he does, he can be really a factor on the boards, especially on the offensive boards. And he changes ends as well as any big man you’ll find. He’s gotta build up his strength, his stamina and learn to play every possession.”

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Fans chanted his name Saturday as Lawrence sat courtside when No. 11 Cincinnati defeated Wright State 68-58 at Fifth Third Arena.

“Got so much love from the fans out here in Cincy,” Lawrence Tweeted.

Lawrence has already taken an official to UNLV and will schedule one to St. John’s upon his return. He is also considering Syracuse.

He is currently out of action after undergoing surgery on a tendon in his shooting hand.

“I think it’s going to be early January [when he returns],” Pope John coach Jason Hasson told SNY.tv recently. “We play Hudson Catholic Jan. 6. It might be before that, it might be that week after, so we’re not sure yet.”

Photo: Jermaine Lawrence

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WEST ORANGE, N.J. — Jermaine Lawrence

The 6-foot-10 forward from Pope John XXIII recently took an official to UNLV. He is also considering St. John’s, which he has visited unofficially several times, and Syracuse. Lawrence will sign in the spring.

Lawrence was sidelined by various injuries for much of the summer and is now out again after undergoing surgery on a tendon in his shooting hand.

“I think it’s going to be early January [when he returns],” Pope John coach Jason Hasson said after his team lost to Roselle Catholic, 71-58, at the Hoop Group Showcase at West Orange High School. “We play Hudson Catholic Jan. 6. It might be before that, it might be that week after, so we’re not sure yet.”

Cincinnati assistant Darren Savino was in attendance for the event.

The No. 11 Bearcats play Xavier Wednesday and host Wright State Saturday.

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NEW YORK — Click play above for my interview with Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick, a preseason first-team All-Big East selection from White Plains, N.Y.

“SK” talks about his expectations for himself and for the Bearcats, picked fourth in the Big East poll.

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PISCATAWAY, N.J.

While virtually everyone else laments their losses, Cronin thinks otherwise.

“People say, ‘Well, the Big East isn’t the same Big East.’ That’s good for Cincinnati,” Cronin told SNY.tv Friday at the Brayden Carr Foundation clinic at Rutgers.

Cincinnati finished fourth in the league last year and lost to Louisville in the Big East Tournament final at Madison Square Garden. They are ranked No. 12 in our Sheridan Hoops Preseason Top 25 for this season.

But Cronin believes his team will never get the respect it’s due as long as the Big East bluebloods remain.

“Even though you win and you finish ahead of Georgetown last year, you beat them twice, and in the final national poll they’re ranked ahead of you,” Cronin said. “And then they get beat in the first round.

“But name-brand connotation, Big East basketball, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? ‘Big Monday,’ Georgetown vs. Syracuse. It’s nobody’s fault, it just is what it is.

“So the changing of the Big East, it just gives us a chance to plant our flag deeper. And for any team, for the rest of us, that when you do win there’s room in the print for the story because there’s just so many other good teams.

“And people want to read about the other Big East teams. They don’t even think about you.”

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The Bearcats on Monday officially added David Nyarsuk, a 7-1, 230-pound center from Juba, Sudan who signed a letter of financial aid to attend Cincinnati.

SNY.tv reported Nyarsuk’s addition to the Bearcats on Aug. 6.

Nyarsuk has been cleared to play immediately by the NCAA and will have two years of eligibility, beginning this season. He played the last two seasons at Mountain State University, an NAIA school in Beckley, W.Va.

“We are very excited to add David to the Bearcat family,” UC head coach Mick Cronin said. “He was a top 20 prospect at his position coming out of high school and has proven to be a great shot blocker as a college player. He is a wonderful person and will be a great addition to our team.”

Nyarsuk is the tallest player in program history and the fourth 7-footer overall.

During his stay with the Cougars, Nyarsuk helped guide the program to the 2011 NAIA Division I national championship game, the 2012 national semifinals and a 59-15 combined record.

He ranked second in the nation in blocks as a freshman (97) and sophomore (102) while averaging 10.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.8 blocks during his two seasons. During the 2011-12 campaign, Nyarsuk averaged 9.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.9 blocks while shooting 55.7 percent from the field and recording eight double-doubles. The Cougars finished last year ranked fourth in the final coaches’ top 25 poll.

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