CINCINNATI — With the meat of the Big East schedule at hand, Weyinmi Efejuku and his Providence College basketball teammates have adopted a familiar mantra: us against the world.

This often tired and frequently irrelevant theme actually applies to this group of Friars. Picked 10th in the preseason Big East coaches’ poll, the Friars haven’t done much so far this year to alter that middle-of-the-road prediction. With a 10-4 record and 2-0 start in the conference, the Friars certainly remain in position to do good things this season, but building on a three-game winning streak tonight at Fifth Third Arena against the Cincinnati Bearcats presents a major challenge.

The game is PC’s first Big East road test. A second comes Saturday at Georgetown. Winning on the road is what separates the average teams from the good ones in college basketball and the Friars know what these trips feel like. The veteran-dominated team has been to all the Big East haunts, including this one where PC eked out an 81-79 overtime win last March.

“I think we’ve been through enough road games in the three years that we’ve played together that we know about playing on the road,” said Efejuku, a senior guard from New York City. “Playing on the road in this league is tough no matter if you have seniors, freshmen, it doesn’t matter. But I think our experience has helped us.”

Efejuku went on to say that the Friars are simply focused on improving and facing each Big East test with maximum effort. “I don’t feel any pressure,” said Efejuku. “The most pressure there is, is the pressure we put on ourselves. Just winning and playing as hard as we can is the best we can do.”

Teammate Geoff McDermott spins the road-test scenario more bluntly. “Nobody really expects us to do anything, so I don’t feel any pressure,” said the senior forward. “We just want to play hard and try to get better every day.”

First-year PC coach Keno Davis said he’s spoken to his team about the mental outlook it must take on the road. He’s thrilled to be 2-0 in the Big East, pointing out that some of the conference’s power teams (such as Georgetown) already own two losses. That cushion could help the Friars tonight.

“You can’t feel pressure when you go on the road,” said Davis. “You have to enjoy the atmosphere of the other crowd getting after you. You’re not predicted to win on the road in the Big East but we’ve talked about the fact that people don’t think much of our team. Almost everyone is thinking we’re a second-division team. That takes some pressure off them, too.”

The Friars certainly could have picked a more difficult road opponent in a conference as deep as the Big East. The Bearcats are not one of the record nine ranked teams in the league, and the fact that they are coming off an ugly blowout loss at Marquette has to give Mick Cronin and his the team cause for concern.

Even so, the Bearcats are far from a pushover, especially at home. They’ve already grabbed some key wins (most notably over UNLV) and are a fierce rebounding squad that features one of the best freshmen in the country in homegrown 6-8 forward Yancy Gates.

“Cincinnati is a good ball club,” said Davis. “No team in the country is going to shoot as well as Marquette did (with 15 threes) that game. That loss only counts one game. I’m sure they’re excited about coming home.”

The Bearcats have lost two straight, but both came on the road, at Memphis and then Marquette. Tonight’s game is the first of three in a row for a group that not only rides the broad shoulders of Gates and Texas transfer Mike Williams, but also the explosive scoring of guard Deonta Vaughn. The game will likely come down to how well the Friars can keep Gates and his teammates off the backboards.

“They’re an incredible rebounding team. Among the best in the country,” said Davis. “We’ve got to come in there and not get beat just from them crushing us off the boards. If we compete there, they won’t get the easy opportunities that we can’t afford to give up.”

kmcnamar@projo.com