TicketsBearcats Tackle No. 3 Wake Forest
Demons bring No. 3 ranking into Fifth Third Arena on Saturday.
Contact: Brian Teter
1/20/2005
Eric Hicks is leading UC in rebounding. |
CINCINNATI vs. WAKE FOREST
GAME FACTS
Date: Saturday, Jan. 22, 2005
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records:
Cincinnati (18USA/20AP): 15-2, 4-1 C-USA (tie-1st)
Wake Forest (3USA/3AP): 15-2, 4-1 ACC (tie-2nd)
TV: ABC, WCPO-TV 9 (Brent Musburger, Steve Lavin, Doris Burke).
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock).
Tickets: Sold out.
Series: Cincinnati leads, 5-1.
Last Meeting: Feb. 15, 2004 in Winston-Salem, N.C.; Wake Forest 91, Cincinnati 85.
The Coaches:
? BOB HUGGINS (West Virginia ?77)
At Cincinnati: 16th year, 389-121 (.763)
Overall: 24th year, 557-193 (.743)
Huggins is the nation?s sixth-winningest active coach and is 12th in victories. He is 2-1 vs. Wake Forest.
? SKIP PROSSER (Merchant Marine ?72)
At WF: 4th year, 82-31 (.726)
Overall: 12th year, 247-109 (.694)
Prosser has taken teams to postseason play in all but one season as a head coach. He is 5-4 vs. Cincinnati, 1-1 while at Wake Forest.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md........10.2 pts, 4.7 reb, 3.0 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C........12.4 pts, 8.8 reb, 2.4 blk
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas...16.2 pts, 7.8 reb, 3.2 blk
G 5 Nick Williams, 6-3 Sr., Arlington, Texas.....7.9 pts, 2.2 reb, 1.6 ast
G 13 Jihad Muhammad, 5-11 Jr., Plainfield, N.J...10.9 pts, 3.4 reb, 2.9 ast
WAKE FOREST PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 10 Jamaal Levy, 6-9 Sr., Panama City, Panama....7.9 pts, 7.6 reb, 2.5 ast
F 13 Vytas Danelius, 6-9 Sr., Kaunas, Lithuania...6.4 pts, 4.8 reb, 4.1 ast
C 31 Eric Williams, 6-9 Jr., Wake Forest, N.C....14.9 pts, 6.2 reb, 1.1 blk
G 1 Justin Gray, 6-2 Jr., Charlotte, N.C........16.9 pts, 2.8 reb, 2.3 ast
G 3 Chris Paul, 6-0 So., Lewisville, N.C........15.8 pts, 4.8 reb, 6.5 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: After climbing back into first place in the Conference USA race, Cincinnati will take a ?break? from league play to entertain No. 3 Wake Forest on Saturday before a sold-out Fifth Third Arena and an ABC regional television audience. Both teams enter the 1 p.m. contest with 15-2 records, but from different directions. The Demon Deacons were upset, 91-83 in overtime, at Florida State on Tuesday. Cincinnati, No. 18 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 20 in the Associated Press rankings, routed Charlotte, previously unbeaten in C-USA play, 80-58, on Wednesday.
BEARCATS IN THE POLLS: Cincinnati is No. 18 in this week?s ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 20 in the Associated Press poll. In the computer ratings, UC is No. 13 in the Sagarin Index (1/20/05) and No. 30 in the RPI (1/20/05).
LAST TIME VS. WAKE FOREST: Chris Paul scored a career-high 30 points to lead Wake Forest to a 91-85 win over Cincinnati on Feb. 15, 2004 in Winston-Salem. The Demon Deacons staged a 20-3 sprint in the final four minutes of the first half to erase the Bearcats? 12-point lead and take control of the game. WFU was 10-of-15 from 3-point range. Tony Bobbitt tallied 23 points for Cincinnati.
LAST TIME AT FIFTH THIRD ARENA: Kenny Satterfield scored six points in overtime to lead Cincinnati to a 78-72 upset of No. 8 Wake Forest on Jan. 27, 2001. The Bearcats owned a 10-point lead with 4:44 remaining in regulation, but Broderick Hicks scored 10 points in the final four minutes and sent the game into overtime with a trey with 1:04 remaining. Satterfield?s short jumper with 1:23 left in OT put Cincinnati ahead for good.
STORY LINES:
? Saturday?s game will provide a third straight stiff test for Cincinnati?s nationally-ranked defense. Wake Forest is ranked fourth nationally in scoring offense (85.5). The Demon Deacons are shooting .491 from the field and .402 from 3-point range. The Bearcats, who boast the nation?s fourth-best field goal percentage defense (.358) and are 40th in scoring defense (61.3), have responded to recent challenges. Last Saturday, UC held C-USA scoring leader Louisville 15.2 points under its season average. UofL, which entered the game shooting .491 from the field, shot a season-low .375. On Wednesday, UC held Charlotte, which had C-USA?s third-best offense (79.5), to a season-low 58 points and a .295 field goal percentage.
? Cincinnati-Wake Forest games have historically been high-scoring. The two teams have combined to score an average of 168 points over their previous six meetings, Cincinnati averaging 89.3 points and Wake Forest averaging 78.7 points. The teams combined for 204 points in their meeting in 1965-66 (UC 117, WFU 87). Last year?s contest featured 176 total points (WFU 91, UC 85).
? Bob Huggins and Skip Prosser will renew their coaching rivalry when Cincinnati hosts Wake Forest. The two have been on opposite benches eight times. Prosser is 1-1 vs. UC since taking over the Wake Forest program but has a 5-4 advantage in the series, having won four of seven games over UC when he was at Xavier.
? The Wake Forest coaching staff should feel at home during the trip to Cincinnati. Prosser spent 16 seasons in the city, nine as assistant coach and seven as head coach of the Bearcats? crosstown rival, Xavier. Demon Deacon assistants Jeff Battle, Dino Gaudio and Chris Mack were on Prosser?s staff at Xavier.
? Cincinnati junior Eric Hicks and freshman Roy Bright are natives of North Carolina. Hicks earned all-state honors and was runner-up for state player of the year honors as a senior at Dudley High in Greensboro, N.C. Bright, from Durham, was a prep star at Mt. Zion Academy. Bearcat redshirt freshman Asrangue Souleymane spent a year at Laurinburg Academy in North Carolina after coming to the U.S. from the Central African Republic.
? Saturday?s contest will feature two members of the John Wooden Award Watch list, Bearcat 6-7 senior forward Jason Maxiell and Demon Deacon 6-foot sophomore guard Chris Paul.
? Cincinnati has lost 28 games in Fifth Third Arena since the building was opened in 1989-90, but the Bearcats have never suffered consecutive losses in the arena. UC, which dropped a 69-66 decision to No. 19 Louisville last Saturday, came back to beat Charlotte, 80-58, on Wednesday.
? Cincinnati has an all-time record of 214-28 (.884) in Fifth Third Arena since the building opened in 1989.
? The Wake Forest game completes a three-game stretch in which the combined records of Cincinnati?s opponents at the times of the games was 40-7 (Louisville 13-3, Charlotte 12-2, Wake Forest 15-2).
RECAPPING THE CHARLOTTE WIN:
? Nick Williams scored a career-high 22 points and matched a personal best with six 3-point field goals.
? The Bearcats held Charlotte to a .295 field goal percentage, the third foe this season that UC has held under the .300 mark in shooting.
? Cincinnati scored 56 points in the second half, a season best for a half.
? After shooting just .605 foul stripe the previous five games, during which the team free throw percentage dropped from .737 to .702, Cincinnati shot .789 (15-of-19) at the charity stripe in Wednesday?s win over Charlotte.
? UC, which was beaten on the boards by an average margin of 13.5 in its previous two games, posted a 52-33 rebounding advantage vs. Charlotte, equalling a season-high of +19 on the boards.
? UC snapped Charlotte?s nine-game winning streak and the 49ers six-game road winning streak.
BEARCAT BITES:
? Cincinnati has beaten 13 of its opponents by 10 or more points, and 12 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 13 opponents to sub-.400 shooting, seven to 32 percent or less. UC has held three opponents, Detroit (.293) and Jackson State (.239), and Charlotte (.295) under 30 percent.
? UC has had four or more players reach double figures in scoring in 10 games this season. Five players have reached double digits in two games and six reached the twins mark in two other contests.
? Cincinnati is ranked No. 4 nationally in field goal percentage defense (.358) and No. 3 in blocked shots (7.4).
? Ten of UC?s first 17 opponents appeared in postseason play in 2003-04.
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 115-30 ledger (.793) in C-USA play, winning or sharing the regular season crown in all but one of those years. The Bearcats have posted a 249-64 (.796) 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.
WILLIAMS ON A ROLL: Nick Williams has been Cincinnati?s top long-distance scoring threat recently. Over the past three games, the 6-3 senior has averaged 17.0 points, shooting .571 (16-of-28) from the field and .591 (13-of-22) from 3-point range. Williams scored a career-high 22 points in Wednesday?s win over Charlotte. He has sunk a career-high six 3-point field goals in each of his last two games. Williams has also been hot at the foul line, having made 20 of his last 22 free throw attempts.
MAX?S MILESTONES: Jason Maxiell achieved a pair of milestones with his play in Wednesday?s win over Charlotte. Maxiell climbed four spots on Cincinnati?s career scoring list, reaching 15th place with 1,336 points. He also played in his 113th consecutive game, the second-longest streak in Cincinnati history.
MAXIELL TAKING COMMAND: Jason Maxiell has averaged 19.3 points over his last three games, shooting .553 (21-of-38) from the field. The 6-7 senior led Cincinnati?s second-half explosion in Wednesday?s win over Charlotte, scoring 21 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. Maxiell has topped the 20-point mark in scoring five times this season, which included a career-high 30-point effort vs. Longwood on Dec. 30.
MUHAMMAD DIRECTING THE SHOW: Jihad Muhammad is sparking the Cincinnati offense with his timely passing as well as his shooting. The 5-11 junior has averaged 5.3 assists over his last four games. Muhammad dished out a career-high seven assists vs. East Carolina on Jan. 12 and had six assists in two other games. He has averaged only a turnover a game during this same four-game span, and has recorded nine steals over his last six games.
BLOCK PARTY: Cincinnati leads Conference USA and is ranked third nationally in blocked shots (7.4). Jason Maxiell leads C-USA and is eighth nationally in blocks (3.2) with Eric Hicks (2.4) fourth in C-USA and 29th nationally. 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.
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.
KIRKLAND EARNS C-USA HONORS: Armein Kirkland became the first Bearcat to earn Conference USA Player of the Week honors (Jan. 10) after averaging 20.0 points in leading Cincinnati to a pair of C-USA victories over DePaul and Saint Louis. 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.
LOOKING AHEAD: Cincinnati visits USF on Thursday (Jan. 27) for a 7 p.m. game which will be televised by ESPN2. The Bearcats return to Fifth Third Arena on Jan. 29 to host Houston at 7 p.m.