TicketsBearcats Face Purdue in Wooden Tradition
UC to test 2-0 start in first trip away from home.
Contact: Brian Teter
11/26/2004
Eric Hicks is UC's leading rebounder. |
CINCINNATI vs. PURDUE
John Wooden Tradition ? Indianapolis, Ind.
GAME FACTS
Date: Saturday, Nov. 27, 2004
Time: 3:30 p.m. EST
Site: Conseco Fieldhouse (18,345), Indianapolis, Ind.
Records: Cincinnati 2-0, Purdue 1-1
TV: Fox Sports Net Ohio, TBS, WGN (Chris Denari, Quinn Buckner, Stacy Paetz).
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock).
Tickets: Available at site.
Series: Cincinnati leads, 1-0.
Last Meeting: Dec. 22, 2001 in Las Vegas; Cincinnati 79, Purdue 62.
The Coaches:
? BOB HUGGINS (West Virginia ?77)
At Cincinnati: 16th year, 376-119 (.760)
Overall: 24th year, 544-191 (.740)
Huggins is the nation?s seventh-winningest active coach and is 13th in victories.
? GENE KEADY (Kansas State ?58)
At Purdue: 25th year, 505-250 (.669)
Overall: 27th year, 543-268 (.670)
Keady has been named National Coach of the Year six times and Big Ten Coach of the Year seven times. He has directed Purdue to postseason play in 23 of his 24 seasons.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 33 Armein Kirkland, 6-8 Jr., Tyler, Texas......3.0 pts, 3.5 reb, 1.5 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C.......17.0 pts, 11.0 reb, 1.0 blk
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas..19.5 pts, 10.0 reb, 3.5 blk
G 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md. ......8.5 pts, 6.0 reb, 2.0 ast
G 13 Jihad Muhammad, 5-11 Jr., Plainfield, N.J..20.0 pts, 5.0 reb, 1.5 ast
PURDUE PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 14 Carl Landry, 6-7 Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.......20.5 pts, 13.0 reb, 2.0 ast
F 42 Matt Kiefer, 6-10 Jr., Evansville, Ind.....12.5 pts, 2.0 reb, 1.0 ast
G 5 Bryant Dillon, 6-6 Jr., Indianapolis, Ind...3.5 pts, 2.0 reb, 2.5 ast
G 10 Brandon McNight, 6-2 Sr., South Bend, Ind..19.0 pts, 1.5 reb, 4.0 ast
G 30 Xavier Price, 6-3 Fr., O?Fallon, Ill........9.5 pts, 5.5 reb, 0.5 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati makes its first venture away from home, facing Purdue on Saturday at the John Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis, Ind. The Bearcats enter the 3:30 p.m. EST game at Conseco Fieldhouse with a 2-0 ledger, with an 88-70 win over Valparaiso on Nov. 19 and a 76-70 double overtime victory over Northern Iowa on Wednesday. Purdue is 1-1. The Boilermakers suffered an 81-71 loss to Miami (Ohio) in their season opener, but rebounded with a 66-56 win over Detroit on Tuesday.
JOHN WOODEN TRADITION: Cincinnati is making its second appearance in the John Wooden Tradition, a basketball double header at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Bearcats played in the second event, in 2000-01, losing to Notre Dame, 69-51. No. 4 Illinois and No. 24 Gonzaga will play in the 1 p.m. first game on Saturday.
STORY LINES:
? Saturday?s game will match two coaches who each have won over 500 games. Cincinnati?s Bob Huggins has amassed a 544-199 record in 24 seasons as a head coach to rank seventh among active coaches in winning percentage (.740) and 13th in victories. Purdue?s Gene Keady has a 543-268 ledger compiled in 27 seasons.
? Purdue is the third of five straight Cincinnati opponents that participated in postseason tourney play last season. The Boilermakers were in last year?s NIT. Valparaiso, Northern Iowa, Dayton and Vanderbilt advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season.
? Bearcat senior forward Jason Maxiell needs just one point to reach the 1,100 mark in career scoring. Maxiell has moved into 29th place on UC?s career scoring list with 1,099 points. Bill Lammert (1952-55) and Melvin Levett (1996-99) share 27th place with 1,119 points.
MUHAMMAD TAKING CHARGE: Jihad Muhammad has wasted little time making an impact at Cincinnati. The junior college transfer, who has taken over the point guard duties, is the Bearcats? leading scorer, averaging 20.0 points per game. Muhammad tallied 23 points in Wednesday?s win over Northern Iowa. He keyed UC?s late comeback, scoring 12 points in the final 6:46 of regulation. He turned in a four-point play, connecting on a 3-pointer and then adding a free throw, to tie the game at 56 with 1:23 to play and send it into overtime. He was 5-of-6 at the foul line in the second overtime to help clinch the victory.
HICKS STARTING FAST: Eric Hicks has continued to show the fine offensive play in Cincinnati?s first two games 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 in the Bearcats? season opening win over Valparaiso. Hicks followed that by scoring 16 points and grabbing 13 rebounds , his fourth career double-double, in Wednesday?s win over Northern Iowa. 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.
MAX GETS INTO THE ACT: Jason Maxiell played a huge role in Cincinnati?s 76-70 double overtime win over Northerrn Iowa on Wednesday. The 6-7 senior, who is on the watch lists for the Naismith and Wooden national player of the year awards, scored 21 points, blocked five shots and pulled down a career high-tying 15 rebounds. He sealed the victory with 1:03 remaining in the second overtime by stealing the ball and dribbling the length of the court for a dunk which gave UC an insurmountable seven-point lead. Maxiell now has 15 double doubles.
OTHER NOTES FROM THE NORTHERN IOWA WIN:
? The Bearcats trailed the Panthers by 18 points in the second half, the largest second-half deficit they have overcome in Fifth Third Arena and matching the largest comeback at Fifth Third. In the final regular season game of the 1997-98 season, UC trailed Saint Louis by 18 points in the first half, and eventually came back for a 61-58 victory.
? Cincinnati?s .286 field goal percentage was the worst since the Bearcats shot .246 at Memphis on March 1, 2003.
? The Bearcats committed 11 turnovers while forcing 22 Northern Iowa miscues. Cincinnati has a +11.5 turnover margin after two games.
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 was not ranked in preseason Top 25 of either of the two major polls. The Bearcats are receiving votes in both polls. UC is three spots away from the Top 25 in the ESPN/USA Today poll at No. 28 and is No. 33 in the Associated Press poll. Cincinnati last opened the season unranked in 2001-02. UC climbed as high as No. 4 that year 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. 29 on the UC career scoring list with 1,099 points and second in career blocked shots with 168.
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.
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 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 18 of those games will be carried nationally or regionally by ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, CBS and ESPN Plus, not including the postseason.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats visit area rival Dayton next Saturday, Dec. 4. The UC-UD game will tipoff at 4 p.m. and be televised nationally on ESPN. Cincinnati returns to Fifth Third Arena on Dec. 9 to host Southeastern Conference rival Vanderbilt.