TicketsUC Takes on Division II Wins Leader
Bearcats face Southern Indiana in final exhibition game.
Contact: Brian Teter
11/10/2004
Eric Hicks had 29 points and 13 rebounds vs. Northern Kentucky. |
CINCINNATI vs. SOUTHERN INDIANA
GAME FACTS
Date: Saturday, Nov. 13, 2004
Time: 7:00 p.m. ESTSite: Fifth Third Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records:
Cincinnati 25-7 in 2003-04, Southern Indiana 28-7 in 2003-04
TV: None.
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock).
Tickets: Available, $25, 513-556-CATS or www.UCBearcats.com.
Series: First meeting.
The Coaches:
? BOB HUGGINS (West Virginia ?77)
At Cincinnati: 16th year, 374-119 (.759)
Overall: 24th year, 542-191 (.739)
Huggins is the nation?s seventh-winningest active coach and is 13th in victories.
? RICK HERDES (Grace ?80)
At USI: 4th year, 75-22
Overall: 4th year, 75-22
Herdes directed USI to the Elite Eight of the Division II tourney in 2004. He has been with the school for 12 years, helping teams to a 306-68 record.
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati will make its final preseason tune-up for the 2004-05 men?s basketball season hosting Division II power Southern Indiana on Saturday. Tipoff is 7 p.m. The Bearcats won their first exhibition contest, blasting Northern Kentucky, 103-64 on Monday. Southern Indiana lost to Evansville, 88-75, on Nov. 6.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2003-04 Statistics
F 33 Armein Kirkland, 6-8 Jr., Tyler, Texas......6.0 pts, 2.6 reb, 2.3 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C........7.0 pts, 5.8 reb, 0.4 ast
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas..13.6 pts, 6.9 reb, 2.1 blk
G 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md........7.9 pts, 4.0 reb, 3.6 ast
G 1 Chadd Moore, 6-2 Jr., Huntsville, Ala.......3.2 pts, 0.9 reb, 2.0 ast
SOUTHERN INDIANA PROBABLE STARTERS 2003-04 Statistics
F 33 Stacy Pearson, 6-4 Jr., Miami, Fla........*21.6 pts, 9.4 reb, 2.3 ast
F 42 Randy Holbrook, 6-9 Sr., St. Louis, Mo.....11.1 pts, 5.2 reb, 0.8 ast
G 15 David Bryant, 6-0 Jr., Louisville, Ky.....*12.8 pts, 4.7 ast
G 22 Cris Brunson, 6-1 Sr., Evansville, Ind.....10.8 pts, 1.7 reb, 2.1 ast
G 25 Chris Thompson, 6-9 Jr., Starke, Fla......*22.0 pts,11.0 reb
*Stats from junior college; Pearson stats from 2002-03 junior college year
DIVISION II'S BEST: What team in the Midwest has posted 12 straight 20-win seasons and averaged 25.5 victories a year since 1992-93? Southern Indiana. The Screaming Eagles are the No. 1-ranked team in the preseason Division II polls, and for good reason. USI was 28-7 last year, advancing to the Elite Eight of the Division II Tournament. The program ranks eighth among schools in all divisions in victories over the past 12 years.
BEARCATS START FAST: The Bearcats got the 2004-05 season off to a fast start in their first exhibition game of preseason, beating Northern Kentucky, 103-64, on Nov. 8. Cincinnati jumped out to a 22-3 lead and never looked back.
? Eric Hicks scored 29 points and had 13 rebounds. Hicks was 12-of-15 from the field, which included three dunks, but he also meshed his first-ever college 3-pointer. Hicks also rejected three shots.
? Jason Maxiell, UC?s preseason Wooden and Naismith Award candidate, powered in 17 points and eight rebounds.
? Chadd Moore, who got the starting nod at point guard, dished out six assists while committing no turnovers and finished with eight points.
? James White tallied 18 points, six rebounds and three assists.
? Jihad Muhammad scored 14 points, and was the Bearcats? top long-distance marksman with three 3-pointers.
? UC shot .532 from the field and held a 48-33 advantage in rebounding. The Bearcats committed just six turnovers while passing for 19 assists.
BEARCATS IN THE POLLS: For only the third time in the last 13 seasons, Cincinnati is not ranked in preseason Top 25 of either of the two major polls. The Bearcats are receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today initial poll and are two positions away from the Top 25 at No. 27. UC is No. 32 in the Associated Press poll. Cincinnati last opened the season unranked in 2001-02. UC climbed as high as No. 4 that season en route to a 31-4 campaign and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
MAXIELL ON WOODEN, NAISMITH LISTS: Jason Maxiell has been named to the watch lists of both the John Wooden Award and the Naismith Award, both honoring college basketball?s player of the year. Maxiell was named to the John Wooden Award Preseason All-American team for the third year in a row. His selection marks the fifth time in the last six seasons that a Cincinnati player has been represented. Kenyon Martin was selected prior to the 1999-00 season and won the John R. Wooden Award that year. Steve Logan was on the 2001-02 list and finished as one of the top five finalists. This is the first time Maxiell has earned early consideration for the Naismith Award, which Martin won in 2000.
Maxiell averaged 13.6 points and 6.9 rebounds last season, and during his three-season career as a Bearcat has averaged 11.0 points and 6.8 rebounds. He is No. 35 on the UC career scoring list with 1,060 points and second in career blocked shots with 161.
MAXIELL EARNS C-USA HONORS: Jason Maxiell was named to the Conference USA preseason all-league team for the third straight year. Maxiell joined Louisville?s Francisco Garcia, who was named Preseason Player of the Year, Memphis forward Sean Banks, Marquette guard Travis Diener and Charlotte forward Curtis Withers on the all-league team. Cincinnati, which has won eight of the previous nine C-USA regular season championships, was picked to finish third behind Louisville and Memphis.
SEVENTH-WINNINGEST PROGRAM: Cincinnati has been college basketball?s seventh-winningest program over the past five years. The Bearcats have compiled a 127-37 record for an .774 percentage during this period.
? UC?s 127 wins are the eighth-most among Division I teams over this period.
? Cincinnati has won 25 or more games eight of the last nine seasons.
? UC?s 13 straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the third-longest active streak in Division I.
? Cincinnati has been a top-four seed nine times during this streak and seven times in the last nine seasons.
CONFERENCE RULERS: Cincinnati shares with Valparaiso the distinction of having won the most conference regular season championships over the last 10 seasons. The Bearcats have been regular season champions nine times in the past 10 seasons, eight in Conference USA and once in the Great Midwest Conference. The Bearcats have won either a regular season or tournament title in 12 of the past 13 seasons, and six times during that span, UC has claimed both during the same season.
VETERAN TEAM: The Bearcats will open the season with a combined total of 160 games of starting experience. By comparison, last year?s team brought 108 games of starting experience into the 2003-04 campaign, while the 2002-03 team began with 59 career starts.
104th CAMPAIGN: The 2004-05 season is UC?s 104th year of basketball competition. The school has compiled a 1,474-847 record for a .635 percentage.
HUGGINS SEVENTH WINNINGEST: Bob Huggins enters the 2004-05 season as the nation?s seventh winningest active coach. Huggins has compiled a 542-191 record for a .739 winning percentage in his 23 seasons as a head coach. His 542 victories is tied for 13th place on the wins list.
BEARCAT NEWCOMERS TOP 10: The University of Cincinnati's men's basketball recruiting class for this season has achieved a top 10 ranking for the third straight year. The Bearcats' incoming class was ranked No. 10 by All Star Sports and received a No. 16 rating from PrepStars. All Star Sports' final individual rankings placed Roy Bright No. 47 among high school graduating seniors, Vincent Banks No. 3 among prep school players, and Jihad Muhammad No. 7 among junior college transfers. PrepStars rated Bright No. 18 and Banks No. 120 among high school seniors and Muhammad a top 10 junior college prospect. UC's 2002 recruiting class was ranked No. 5 by All Star Sports and No. 9 by both ESPN.com and FutureStars. The 2003 newcomers were rated No. 7 by PrepStars and No. 8 by HoopStars.
FIVE BEARCATS IN THE NBA: Five former Bearcats were on the rosters of NBA teams when the pro season opened.
Last Draft NBA
UC Yr. Pos. Season Team____________
Danny Fortson 1997 10 8th Seattle Super Sonics
DerMarr Johnson 2000 6 4th Denver Nuggets
Kenyon Martin 2000 1st 5th Denver Nuggets
Ruben Patterson 1998 31 7th Portland Trail Blazers
Nick Van Exel 1993 37 12th Portland Trail Blazers
UC?S DEFENSIVE REPUTATION: Bob Huggins-coached Cincinnati teams have earned a reputation for their defense and rebounding emphasis, and the success of last year?s team is evidence of this. UC held its foes to a .374 field goal percentage, second in the NCAA team statistics. The Bearcats were eighth in points allowed, surrendering 60.4 per game. Cincinnati was No. 2 in average scoring margin (+17.8 points) and No. 18 in rebounding margin (+5.9). The Bearcats were also pretty successful at taking care of the ball, their 11.9 turnover average ranking 11th nationally.
TICKET UPDATE: Single game tickets for all University of Cincinnati home games except the Feb. 10 Xavier contest are on sale at the UC Athletic Ticket Office at One Edwards Center. Groups of 15 or more qualify for discounted prices of $15 adult and $12 youth for every game in November and December except Vanderbilt and Miami, plus the Conference USA games vs. Houston and Southern Miss.
Season tickets for the Bearcats? 20 home games are $405 plus a $100 donation to UCATS (donation allows the purchase of two season tickets). High Five discounted season tickets, for seating in the upper five rows of designated sections of Fifth Third Arena, are available for $291 plus a $50 donation to UCATS.
Tickets may be ordered by phone using American Express, VISA, MasterCard or Discover, by calling 513-556-CATS during office hours. They may also be purchased on-line via the university's athletic web site: UCBearcats.com.
TV TIME: UC will again be one of the most teleivsed programs in the nation this season. All but one of the Bearccats? games this year (Dec. 18 vs. Northwestern State) will be televised, and 15 of those games will be carried nationally or regionally by ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, CBS and ESPN Plus.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats open the 2004-05 regular season hosting Valparaiso on Friday, Nov. 19. Tipoff for the opener is at 8 p.m. in Fifth Third Arena.