TicketsBearcat Cagers Seek Second Win
UC hosts Northern Iowa on Thanksgiving Eve.
Contact: Brian Teter
11/24/2004
CINCINNATI vs. NORTHERN IOWA
GAME FACTS
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2004
Time: 8:00 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records:
Cincinnati 1-0
Northern Iowa 1-0
TV: WXIX-TV 19 (Jeff Piecoro, Anthony Buford).
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, 375-119 (.759)
Overall: 24th year, 543-191 (.740)
Huggins is the nation?s seventh-winningest active coach and is 13th in victories.
? GREG McDERMOTT (UNI ?88)
At UNI: 4th year, 47-42 (.528)
Overall: 11th year, 177-106 (.625)
McDermott directed Northern Iowa to its first ever Missouri Valley Conference championship last season and the school?s second NCAA Tournament appearance.
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati will try for win No. 2 of the 2004-05 basketball season when hosting Northern Iowa on Wednesday, Nov. 24. The 8 p.m. contest will be the first for both teams in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic, a six-team round-robin event which will culminate in late December in Las Vegas. The Bearcats opened the season last Friday with an 88-70 win over Valparaiso. Northern Iowa opened with an 84-66 win over Wayne State (Neb.) on Sunday.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 33 Armein Kirkland, 6-8 Jr., Tyler, Texas.......6.0 pts, 3.0 reb, 1.0 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C........18.0 pts, 9.0 reb, 2.0 blk
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas...18.0 pts, 5.0 reb, 2.0 blk
G 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md........10.0 pts, 3.0 reb, 3.0 ast
G 1 Chadd Moore, 6-2 Jr., Huntsville, Ala. ......8.0 pts, 3.0 reb, 6.0 ast
NORTHERN IOWAPROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 32 Grant Stout, 6-8 So., New Sharon, Ia........10.0 pts,11.0 reb, 3.0 ast
C 2 Eric Coleman, 6-6 Fr., Maplewood, Minn.......0.0 pts, 3.0 reb, 0.0 ast
G 5 Erik Crawford, 6-3 Jr., Oakdale, Minn.......20.0 pts, 5.0 reb, 2.0 ast
G 12 Ben Jacobson, 6-3 Jr., Sioux City, Ia.......12.0 pts, 1.0 reb, 1.0 ast
G 23 Brooks McKowen, 6-2 So., Fairbank, Ia........3.0 pts, 4.0 reb, 1.0 ast
LAS VEGAS HOLIDAY CLASSIC: The Las Vegas Holiday Classic is an exempt event featuring six teams?Cincinnati, Illinois, Longwood, Northern Iowa, Northwestern State (La.) and Valparaiso. The teams will play a round-robin schedule during which each faces four of the other five schools. The Bearcats will not face Valparaiso, whom they defeated in their season opener last Friday. The first two games will be on campus sites. UC will host Northern Iowa on Wednesday and Northwestern State on Dec. 18. The teams join up in Las Vegas on Dec. 30 and 31. Cincinnati will face Longwood on Dec. 30 at 9:30 p.m. EST and take on Illinois in a rematch of last year?s NCAA Tournament second round game on Dec. 31 at 10:30 p.m. EST.
EXPERIMENTAL RULES: As an exempt basketball event, the Las Vegas Classic will feature this year?s experimental rules.
? The width of the free throw lane is expanded by three feet, making it similar in width to the lane in the NBA.
? The 3-point line is extended from 19 feet, 9 inches to 20 feet, 6 inches.
? A ?no-charge? zone is created, similar to that used in the NBA. An arc is taped onto the court two feet from the center of the basket. If an offensive player makes contact with a defensive player who has one foot inside this arc, no offensive charging foul will be called.
STORY LINES:
? Northern Iowa is the second of five straight Cincinnati opponents that participated in postseason tourney play last season. The Panthers were in last year?s NCAA Tournament, along with Valparaiso, Dayton and Vanderbilt. Purdue, which UC will face on Nov. 27, saw action in the NIT.
? Cincinnati has never played Northern Iowa. The Bearcats have considerable history playing against teams of the Missouri Valley Conference, a lot of it stemming from the 13 years (1957-58 through 1969-70) that UC held membership in the conference. UC is 77-35 vs. teams which currently make up the MVC and has won its last four clashes vs. Missouri Valley teams.
? Bearcat senior forward Jason Maxiell enters the game ranked No. 33 on UC?s career scoring list with 1,078 points. He needs 14 points to reach 32nd place, held by Bill Westerfeld (1,092 points, 1946-49). Maxiell?s 18 points in the season opener moved him up two spots on the UC list.
? Cincinnati has a 206-27 record (.884) in Fifth Third Arena since the Bearcats began playing in the building in 1989-90.
HICKS STARTING FAST: Eric Hicks continued to show the fine offensive play in last Friday?s season opener that he demonstrated during the preseason exhibition contests. The 6-6 junior forward scored a career-high 18 points, making 6-of-8 field goals, and gathered nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Hicks was UC?s leading scorer and rebounder during preseason, averaging 21.0 points and 16.0 rebounds and shooting .739 from the field in the Bearcats? two exhibition wins. He had 29 points vs. Northern Kentucky and 19 rebounds vs. Southern Indiana.
JIHAD DANDY IN DEBUT: Jihad Muhammad took some good-natured kidding following his Bearcat debut. The junior college transfer was chided for his prowess on the boards, and in particular, for out-rebounding Wooden and Naismith awards candidate and teammate Jason Maxiell, who finished with five rebounds. Muhammad scored 17 points, featuring 3-of-8 shooting from 3-point range, and had seven rebounds.
BEARCATS EXTEND HOME OPENER STREAK: With last Friday?s win over Valparaiso, Cincinnati extended its streak of consecutive home-opening wins to 39. UC?s last loss in a home opener occurred in 1964-65 when Miami (Ohio) defeated the Bearcats, 65-55, at Cincinnati Gardens. Cincinnati is 85-19 in home openers and has the same record in season openers.
OTHER NOTES FROM THE VALPARAISO WIN:
? Jamaal Lucas made the second start of his career. The senior?s only other start occurred in the opening game of last season. He also played a career-high 19 minutes.
? Five players made their debuts as Bearcats as well as their first appearances in college contests?Jihad Muhammad, Asrangue Souleymane, Roy Bright, Erick Murray and Ryan Patzwald.
? The Bearcats committed just six turnovers while accumulating 16 assists, six by Chadd Moore. By contrast, Valparaiso committed 18 turnovers.
? The Bearcats, who held 17 foes to sub-.400 shooting in 2003-04, picked up where they left off by limiting Valparaiso to .383 shooting. UC had a defensive field goal percentage of .394 last season.
VETERAN TEAM: The Bearcats opened 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.
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. 30 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: 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.
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.
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.
FIVE BEARCATS IN THE NBA: Five former Bearcats were on the rosters of NBA teams when the pro season opened. The quintet of Bearcat pros is the most among C-USA schools.
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
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 televised programs in the nation this season. All but one of the Bearcats? 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 will travel to Indianapolis following Thanksgiving to take on Purdue in the John Wooden Tradition at Conseco Fieldhouse. The game is on Saturday, Nov. 27 at 3:30 p.m. EST and will be televised by FoxSports Net Ohio. UC?s next game after Purdue is on Dec. 4 when the Bearcats head north on Interstate 75 to take on Dayton. Cincinnati returns to Fifth Third Arena on Dec. 9 to host Vanderbilt.