TicketsBearcats Win Season Opener Over Valpo
UC pulls away in second half for 88-70 win
Contact: Brian Teter
11/19/2004
Jason Maxiell had 18 points in UC's season opening win over Valpo. |
CINCINNATI, Ohio ? It was not easy, but the Cincinnati won their 39th straight home opener on Friday night at Fifth Third Arena with a 88-70 win over defending Mid-Continent Conference champion Valparaiso. The Bearcats, 1-0, used a couple of key second half runs to put away the Crusaders before a crowd of 10,806.
Four Bearcats scored in double figures, led by the power forward combination of Jason Maxiell and Eric Hicks, who each tallied 18 points. Hicks? 18 was a career-high and he also added a game-high nine rebounds. Junior guard Jihad Muhammad, making his UC regular season debut added 17 points and seven rebounds, while James White came off the bench to tally 10 points, three assists and three rebounds, despite not playing in the first half.
White, along with fellow junior forward Armein Kirkland, both starters, did not start in the opener because they missed class this week, according to head coach Bob Huggins.
"We ask these two guys to lead and they are capable of leading,? Huggins said. ?I feel like they have a responsibility to everyone else, and they did not take care of that, so they did not play in the first half.?
UC, which led just 38-37 at halftime, trailed 45-44 with 17 minutes to play before going on a 12-6 run over the next 4:30 to take a 56-51 lead with 12:30 remaining. After Valpo rallied to tie the score at 56-all, the Bearcats went on a 15-6 run over the next 4:10 to take command at 71-62 with 6:41 remaining.
?I did not think we defended very well in the first half, and we got tired,? said Huggins. ?We played much better in the second half and our rebounding was better because we had bigger guys out there with Armein and James after playing three perimeter guys almost the whole first half.
Valpo, which out-rebounded UC 42-39 for the game, actually had a 12 rebound edge early in the second half before the Bearcats established control on both ends of the floor in the second 20 minutes, outscoring VU 50-33 after intermission while shooting 47 percent from the field in the second half.
Muhammad, a junior college All-American point guard last year at San Jacinto (Texas) College, ignited the Bearcats in the second half, scoring 14 of his 17 points and really got the UC attack going.
?I hope I displayed a couple things the fans liked so they can come back and support us like they did tonight,? Muhammad added.
Veteran Valpo coach Homer Drew was pleased with his team?s effort against the athletic Bearcats. ?We were very close and this is a good stepping stone. I think Cincinnati will be in the Top 20 very quickly. They are a good team that is so quick,? Drew said.
Valpo was led in scoring by forwards Ron Howard and Dan Oppland, who scored 17 and 14 points, respectively.
The Cincinnati-Valparaiso game pitted the two teams in Division I basketball that have won the most conference titles in their respective leagues (nine) over the last 10 years. UC has now won four of the five all-time meetings.
UC returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 24 at Fifth Third Arena against defending Missouri Valley Conference tournament champion Northern Iowa. Game time is at 8:00 p.m. EST.
GAME NOTES
- Senior guard Jamaal Lucas made his second career start vs. Valpo. Ironically, his only other career start was in last year?s season-opener against Akron.
- Jihad Muhammad, Roy Bright, Asrangue Souleymane, Erick Murray, and Ryan Patzwald all made their Bearcat debuts on Friday night.
- UC?s next opponent, Northern Iowa, made the NCAA Tournament last year and lost a close first round game to Georgia Tech, a team that played in last year?s NCAA championship game against UConn.