TicketsUC, UofL Clash for 85th Time on Saturday
Teams will battle for positions in the national rankings.
Contact: Brian Teter
1/13/2005
Jason Maxiell leads the Bearcats in scoring and blocked shots. |
CINCINNATI vs. LOUISVILLE
GAME FACTS
Date: Saturday, Jan. 15, 2005
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records:
Cincinnati (13USA/18AP): 14-, 3-0 C-USA (tie-1st)
Louisville (19USA/19AP): 13-3, 2-1 C-USA (tie-6th)
TV: CBS, WKRC-TV 12 in Cincinnati (Gus Johnson, Clark Kellogg).
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock).
Tickets: Sold out.
Series: Louisville leads, 47-37.
Last Meeting: Mar. 11, 2004 at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati (C-USA Tournament); Cincinnati 64, Louisville 62.
The Coaches:
? BOB HUGGINS (West Virginia ?77)
At Cincinnati: 16th year, 388-120 (.764)
Overall: 24th year, 556-192 (.743)
Huggins is the nation?s sixth-winningest active coach and is 12th in victories. He is 15-8 vs. Louisville.
? RICK PITINO (Massachusetts ?74)
At UofL: 4th year, 77-33 (.700)
Overall: 19th year, 429-157 (.733)
Pitino has taken teams to the NCAA Final Four four times. He is 5-5 vs. Cincinnati, 3-4 as Louisville?s coach.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 33 Armein Kirkland, 6-8 Jr., Tyler, Texas......13.6 pts, 4.1 reb, 2.3 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C........13.1 pts, 8.7 reb, 2.3 blk
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas...16.1 pts, 8.3 reb, 3.4 blk
G 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md........10.0 pts, 4.3 reb, 2.5 ast
G 13 Jihad Muhammad, 5-11 Jr, Plainfield, N.J....11.3 pts, 3.3 reb, 2.8 ast
LOUISVILLE PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 3 Juan Palacios, 6-8 Fr., Medellin, Columbia..10.9 pts, 6.2 reb, 1.3 stl
F 32 Francisco Garcia, 6-7 Jr., Bronx, N.Y.......17.6 pts, 4.9 reb, 4.2 ast
C 2 Ellis Myles, 6-8 Sr., Compton, Calif........10.9 pts, 9.7 reb, 2.9 ast
G 34 Larry O?Bannon, 6-4 Sr., Louisville, Ky.....13.8 pts, 2.8 reb, 2.1 ast
G 5 Taquan Dean, 6-3 Jr., Neptune, N.J..........14.0 pts, 3.5 reb, 2.6 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: Cincinnati and Louisville square off for the 85th time in their vaunted rivalry on Saturday in a game which will have implications in the Top 25 rankings, as well as the 2005 Conference USA race. The Bearcats enter the 1 p.m. EST game at Fifth Third Arena atop the C-USA standings with a 3-0 ledger, and are ranked No. 13 by ESPN/USA Today and No. 18 by the Associated Press. Louisville, 13-3, is tied for fifth in C-USA at 2-1 and is rated No. 19 in both polls. The two teams had contrasting performances in their final tune-ups for this showdown. Louisville routed Southern Miss, 107-62, on Tuesday while Cincinnati had to hold off East Carolina for an 84-78 win on Wednesday.
BEARCATS IN THE POLLS: Cincinnati climbed seven spots, to No. 13, in this week?s ESPN/USA Today poll and rose five spots to No. 18 in the Associated Press poll. In the computer ratings, UC is No. 12 in the Sagarin Index (1/13/05) and No. 23 in the RPI (1/13/05).
LAST TIME VS. LOUISVILLE: Armein Kirkland?s layup with 16.9 seconds to play lifted Cincinnati to a 64-62 win over Louisville in the second round of the Conference USA Tournament, at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. The closely-fought game featured eight lead changes and nine ties. Taquan Dean pulled Louisville into a tie with 50 seconds remaining. Francisco Garcia led all scorers with 28 points, while Jason Maxiell paced UC with 15.
LAST TIME AT FIFTH THIRD ARENA: Tony Bobbitt sank a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws in the final 1:36 of overtime to lead Cincinnati to a 66-61 win over No. 10 Louisville on Feb. 21, 2004. Though UC led most of the second half, the Bearcats needed a Field Williams jumper at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Williams led UC with 18 points. Francisco Garcia?s 27 points paced the Cardinals.
STORY LINES:
? Saturday?s game will showcase two of the nation?s winningest active head coaches. Cincinnati?s Bob Huggins ranks sixth among active coaches with a 556-192 record for a .743 winning percentage. Louisville?s Rick Pitino is ninth at 429-157 for .732.
? The Cincinnati-Louisville series is Conference USA?s longest-running rivalry. The two teams have met 84 times. Louisville holds a 47-37 lead in the series, but Cincinnati has won 13 of the last 19 games.
? Cincinnati and Louisville have been rivals in three conferences, the Missouri Valley (1964-70), Metro (1975-91) and Conference USA (1995-present). Next year the two teams will move to the BIG EAST.
? The UC-UofL contest will feature Conference USA?s top offensive team testing the league?s top defense. Louisville leads C-USA in scoring offense (84.2) and field goal percentage (.491). Cincinnati is ranked first in C-USA and third nationally in field goal percentage defense (.354) and is third in scoring defense (61.0).
? Francisco Garcia has scored 55 points in his last two games vs. Cincinnati and has averaged 21.2 points in the five games he has played vs. UC.
? Eric Hicks recorded a then-career high 14 rebounds and six blocks vs. Louisville last season (2/21/04) and has averaged 2.0 blocks vs. UofL during his career.
? Saturday?s game will be 12th time that Cincinnati (13th ESPN/USA Today) and Louisville (19th both polls) will have squared off when each team has been ranked in the Top 25. The high-watermark of these ranked clashes occurred last season when the Bearcats, No. 5 in the coaches poll and No. 6 by AP, and the Cardinals, No. 5 in the AP poll and No. 6 by the coaches, met on Jan. 21 in Louisville.
? Jason Maxiell needs 14 points to move into 18th place on Cincinnati?s career scoring list. Damon Flint (1994-97) is currently 18th with 1,316 points. In 17th place is Maxiell?s former teammate, Leonard Stokes (2000-03) with 1,318 points.
? The Bearcats lead Conference USA and are ranked third nationally in blocked shots (7.4). Jason Maxiell leads C-USA and is sixth nationally in blocks (3.4) with Eric Hicks (2.3) fourth in C-USA and 30th nationally.
? The Louisville game begins a challenging portion of Cincinnati?s schedule during which the Bearcats will face three foes (No. 19 Louisville 13-3, Charlotte 11-2, No. 3 Wake Forest 14-1) who have a combined record of 38-6.
? Cincinnati has an all-time record of 213-27 (.884) in Fifth Third Arena since the building opened in 1989. UC is 67-6 in Fifth Third in C-USA play. UC is 8-3 vs. Louisville in games played at Fifth Third Arena. The Cardinals? three wins makes them one of only three teams (Marquette and Xavier are the others) with multiple victories over UC at Fifth Third in the 16-season history of the arena.
KINGS OF C-USA: Cincinnati is the winningest team in the history of Conference USA, both in league play and overall. The Bearcats have compiled a 114-29 ledger (.797) in the previous nine seasons in C-USA play, winning or sharing the regular season crown in all but one of those years. The Bearcats have posted a 248-63 (.797) overall record during this span. With the inclusion of Cincinnati?s four previous seasons in the Great Midwest Conference, the Bearcats have been regular season champions 10 times in the past 13 seasons. UC has 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.
RECAPPING THE EAST CAROLINA GAME:
? Jihad Muhammad set a new career high with seven assists.
? East Carolina?s 78 points was a season high by a Bearcat opponent. The Pirates recorded UC opponent highs of 29 field goals and 19 free throws.
? ECU outrebounded UC by 15 (47-32), the largest margin by a Cincinnati opponent this season. Cincinnati had outrebounded its previous six opponents by an average margin of 11.0.
BEARCAT BITES:
? Cincinnati has beaten 12 of its opponents by 10 or more points, and 11 of those foes by at least 16 points. UC is second in C-USA and 14th nationally in average scoring margin.
? The Bearcats have held 11 opponents to sub-.400 shooting, six to 32 percent or less. UC held two opponents, Detroit (.293) and Jackson State (.239) under 30 percent.
? UC has had four or more players reach double figures in scoring in nine of the 15 games. Five players have reached double digits in two games and six reached the twins mark in two other contests.
? Cincinnati is ranked No. 3 nationally in field goal percentage defense (.361).
? Eight of UC?s first 15 opponents appeared in postseason play in 2003-04.
MUHAMMAD DIRECTING THE SHOW: Jihad Muhammad has set career highs for assists in each of his last two games. The 5-11 junior dished out six assists in last Saturday?s win over Saint Louis and had seven assists in Wednesday?s victory over East Carolina. Since returning to the starting lineup at point guard three games ago, Muhammad has averaged 5.7 assists and 2.0 steals, while committing just four turnovers during that span, none in his last two contests.
KIRKLAND EARNS C-USA HONORS: Armein Kirkland became the first Bearcat to earn Conference USA Players of the Week honors after averaging 20.0 points in leading Cincinnati to a pair of C-USA victories last week. Kirkland scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds in the Jan. 6 win over DePaul, and tallied 22 points in the Jan. 8 win over Saint Louis. Kirkland shot .593 from the field and averaged 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists during the two games.
BLOCK PARTY: Cincinnati is ranked third nationally in blocked shots, with Jason Maxiell sixth and Eric Hicks 30th in the individual rankings. The Bearcats recorded a season-high 13 blocks in their Dec. 27 win over Miami (Ohio) and had 10 blocks on four other occasions. Maxiell was responsible for six rejections vs. Miami and has twice matched his career high of seven blocks.
WAY TO START: Cincinnati has won 15 of 17 jump balls the Bearcats have encountered this season. UC has captured the opening tip in 13 games, and captured the tipoffs of both overtime periods of its Nov. 24 victory over Northern Iowa. Jason Maxiell has been the jumper in each of the tipoffs.
MAXIELL REACHES MORE MILESTONES: Jason Maxiell?s 30 points in the Dec. 30 win over Longwood was the most by a Bearcat since Leonard Stokes tallied 31 vs. Louisville on Feb. 22, 2003.
? Maxiell, with 1,302 points, ranks 19th on the UC career scoring list.
? Maxiell has 212 career rejections, fifth on the C-USA career list and second to Kenyon Martin at UC.
? Maxiell has played in every game?111 consecutive contests?since arriving at UC as a freshman. In Saturday?s game vs. Louisville, he will move into a tie for second place for most consecutive games played.
MAX RESPONDS: Jason Maxiell seems to play at his best when the game is on the line. In the Dec. 18 win over Northwestern State, after the Tigers had whittled Cincinnati?s lead to one point midway through the second half, the 6-7 senior scored all nine points in a 9-2 run which enabled the Bearcats to regain control of the game. Maxiell finished with 21 points, tying his season high. His other 21-point performance occurred in the Nov. 24 win over Northern Iowa, during which he also pulled down a career high-tying 15 rebounds. Maxiell sealed the victory with 1:03 remaining in the second overtime by stealing the ball and going in for a dunk which gave UC an insurmountable seven-point lead.
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.
MAXIELL A SENIOR CLASS NOMINEE: Jason Maxiell is one of 30 college basketball seniors nominated for the fourth annual Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award. The award, an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, honors the seniors who have remained at their schools to pursue the many rewards that a senior season can bring.
MAXIELL EARNS C-USA HONORS: Jason Maxiell was named to the Conference USA preseason all-league team for the third straight year. Cincinnati, which has won eight of the previous nine C-USA regular season championships, was picked to finish third behind Louisville and Memphis.
KIRKLAND FINDING THE MARK: Armein Kirkland is one of the hottest shooters and scorers in Conference USA. The junior from Tyler, Texas has averaged 15.7 points, shooting .576 (19-of-33) from the field, over his last three games. Kirkland has become a major scoring threat from the perimeter. He has shot .500 from 3-point range (13-of-26) over his last six games to up his season 3-point percentage to .469, fourth-best in Conference USA.
MOORE ASSISTS THE OFFENSE: Chadd Moore recorded career assists highs, dishing out nine in the Dec. 20 win over Jackson State and garnering 10 assists to go with 10 points?his first career double-double?in the Dec. 22 win over LaSalle. Moore leads the Bearcats in assists, averaging 3.2. On the defensive end, he is second on the team in steals (1.3).
MUHAMMAD LETS IT FLY: Jihad Muhammad launched his career as a Bearcat with a flurry, averaging 17.3 points in his first three games, including a career-high 23 points vs. Northern Iowa on Nov. 24. Muhammad keyed UC?s late comeback vs. NIU by 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. Muhammad leads UC in 3-point field goals (32) and is the team?s top free throw shooter (.846).
LOOKING AHEAD: Cincinnati?s three-game homestand continues with the Bearcats hosting C-USA rival Charlotte on Wednesday (Jan. 19) and No. 3 Wake Forest on Jan. 22 (ABC. Please note that the Charlotte starting time has been changed to 7 p.m. EST and will be locally televised on WXIX-TV 19 and nationally on ESPN2.