TicketsBearcats Guard Share of First Place at USF
UC to try to extend 13-game winning streak over the Bulls.
Contact: Brian Teter
1/24/2005
Jason Maxiell is 1st in C-USA and 7th nationally in blocked shots. |
CINCINNATI vs. SOUTH FLORIDA
GAME FACTS
Date: Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
Site: Sun Dome (10,411), Tampa, Fla.
Records:
Cincinnati (18USA/20AP): 15-3, 4-1 C-USA (tie-1st)
USF: 8-8, 1-4 C-USA (11th)
TV: ESPN2 (Dave O?Brien, Jason Williams).
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock).
Tickets: Available at site.
Series: Cincinnati leads, 17-3.
Last Meeting: Feb. 11, 2004 in Cincinnati; Cincinnati 80, USF 67.
The Coaches:
? BOB HUGGINS (West Virginia ?77)
At Cincinnati: 16th year, 389-122 (.761)
Overall: 24th year, 557-194 (.742)
Huggins is the nation?s sixth-winningest active coach and is 12th in victories. He is 13-0 vs. USF.
? ROBERT McCULLUM (Birmingham Southern ?76)
At USF: 2nd year, 15-28 (.349)
Overall: 4th year, 59-73 (.447)
McCullum directed Western Michigan to an NIT berth during his three seasons prior to taking over at USF. He is 0-1 vs. Cincinnati.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md.........9.8 pts, 4.6 reb, 2.8 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C........12.8 pts, 8.6 reb, 2.5 blk
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas...15.6 pts, 7.9 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...10.8 pts, 3.2 reb, 2.9 ast
USF PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 1 Marlyn Bryant, 6-3 Sr., Leesburg, Fla........6.3 pts, 3.6 reb, 1.6 ast
F 21 Terrence Leather, 6-9 Sr., Tampa, Fla.......18.8 pts, 8.7 reb, 1.6 ast
C 44 Solomon Jones, 6-10 Jr., Mount Dora, Fla.....7.6 pts, 7.1 reb, 2.7 blk
G 3 Brian Swift, 5-10 Sr., Warrensville, Ohio...14.9 pts, 3.1 reb, 5.7 ast
G 25 James Holmes, 6-2 Jr., Ypsilanti, Mich.......7.4 pts, 1.8 reb, 1.6 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati seeks to hold onto its share of first place in Conference USA with a visit to USF on Thursday. The 7 p.m. EST game will be televised nationally by ESPN2. Cincinnati, 15-3, enters the week in a four-way tie for the C-USA lead with Louisville, Charlotte and DePaul, all sporting 4-1 ledgers. The Bearcats, No. 18 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 20 in the Associated Press rankings, suffered a 74-70 loss to No. 3 Wake Forest on Saturday. USF, 8-8, is 1-4 in league play following Saturday?s 62-50 home loss to Houston, the Bulls fourth consecutive setback.
BEARCATS IN THE POLLS: Cincinnati is No. 18 in last week?s ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 20 in the Associated Press poll. In the computer ratings, UC is No. 16 in the Sagarin Index (1/24/05) and No. 28 in the RPI (1/24/05).
LAST TIME VS. USF: Tony Bobbitt, making his only start of the season, scored 26 points on a career-high eight 3-point field goals to lead Cincinnati to an 80-67 win over USF on Feb. 11, 2004 at Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats took command of the game with a 9-0 scoring run midway through the first half. USF became the first team in 56 games to shoot .500 or better vs. UC, finishing with a .522 field goal percentage.
LAST TIME AT THE SUN DOME: Steve Logan scored 27 points and Jason Maxiell added a then-career high 18 points to boost Cincinnati to a 78-68 win over USF on Jan. 26, 2002. Logan connected on a pair of treys near the end of the first half to give UC a 35-29 halftime lead. The Bulls took a pair of one-point leads in the second half, the second with 14:43 remaining. UC moved ahead to stay with a 12-2 scoring run.
STORY LINES:
? Thursday?s game will be the last regular season meeting of Cincinnati and USF as members of Conference USA. Both teams will continue the series next season when they move to the BIG EAST Conference.
? USF will challenge Cincinnati?s defense, which is ranked fourth nationally in field goal percentage defense, with its offense. The Bulls rank second in C-USA in field goal percentage offense, shooting .466. The Bearcats have allowed their foes a .364 shooting percentage.
? The Bearcats will be challenged by another high-scoring big man. USF 6-9 senior forward Terrence Leather is C-USA?s third-leading scorer, averaging 18.9 points, and is fourth in field goal percentage (.546). In Saturday?s loss to No. 3 Wake Forest, UC was victim of a career-high 29-point outburst from Deacon 6-9 center Eric Williams.
? Cincinnati has a 17-3 lead in its series with USF and enters Thursday?s game with a 13-game win streak over the Bulls.
? Bob Huggins will be shooting for his 390th coaching victory at Cincinnati in Thursday?s contest. Huggins is 389-122 in his 16 seasons at Cincinnati. His 557-194 overall record makes him the nation?s sixth-winningest active head coach in terms of percentage and 12th in terms of victories.
? The game at USF begins a stretch in which Cincinnati will play three of its next four games on the road. The Bearcats return to Fifth Third Arena on Saturday to host Houston, but follow that with trips to Louisville (Feb. 2) and Charlotte (Feb. 5).
RECAPPING THE WAKE FOREST GAME:
? The No. 3 Demon Deacons shot .466 from the field, the highest by a Cincinnati opponent since LaSalle?s .479 on Dec. 22, 2004, a span of nine games.
? Wake Forest?s 17 assists was a season high by a UC opponent and its 15 personal fouls was a season low.
? Armein Kirkland dished out a career-high eight assists.
? Chadd Moore recorded a career-high three blocked shots.
? UC?s loss was its first non-conference home defeat in 20 games (three played at U.S. Bank Arena) since Xavier?s win in 2002.
BEARCAT BITES:
? Cincinnati has shot .800 at the foul line the last two games, after suffering through a slump during which the Bearcats had shot just .605 for a five-game period. UC, which shot .737 at the charity stripe over its first 11 games, has a .709 team free throw percentage.
? UC has shot .426 (29 of 68) from 3-point range over the last three games.
? 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 (.364) and No. 3 in blocked shots (7.6).
? Eleven of UC?s 18 opponents appeared in postseason play in 2003-04, including the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked teams in the nation.
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 249-65 (.793) 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 four games, the 6-3 senior has averaged 15.0 points, shooting .546 (19-of-35) from the field and .571 (16-of-28) from 3-point range. Williams sank a career high six 3-point field goals in back to back games vs. Louisville (1/15/05) and Charlotte (1/19/05) and finished with a career scoring high of 22 points vs. Charlotte. Williams has also been hot at the foul line, having made 20 of his last 22 free throw attempts.
HICKS TAKES OFFENSE: Eric Hicks has averaged 15.3 points over his last four games to move into second place in the team scoring stats with a 12.8 point scoring average. The 6-6 junior tallied 18 points, matching his second-highest output, vs. No. 3 Wake Forest on Saturday. Hicks has also been on a tear at blocking shots. He has recorded 14 blocks over his last five games, 10 in his last three contests, and ranks fourth in C-USA in blocks (2.5).
MAX?S MILESTONES: Jason Maxiell achieved a pair of milestones with his recent play. Maxiell climbed four spots on Cincinnati?s career scoring list, reaching 15th place with 1,341 points. He has also played in 114 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in Cincinnati history.
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 4.6 assists, and only 1.0 turnovers, over his last five games. Muhammad dished out a career-high seven assists vs. East Carolina on Jan. 12 and had six assists in two other games. As well as leading the Bearcats in assists (2.9), Muhammad leads the team with 38 three-pointers.
KIRKLAND GETTING THE MESSAGE: Bob Huggins cited lack of rebounding as a reason for Armein Kirkland?s move from the starting lineup to the sixth man role two games ago. Kirkland has shown signs of getting his coach?s message. The 6-8 junior has grabbed seven rebounds in each of his last two games since going to the bench. In Saturday?s game vs. No. 3 Wake Forest, Kirkland also passed out a career-high eight assists.
BLOCK PARTY: Cincinnati leads Conference USA and is ranked third nationally in blocked shots (7.6). Jason Maxiell leads C-USA and is eighth nationally in blocks (3.2) with Eric Hicks (2.5) 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 or more blocks on five other occasions. Maxiell was responsible for six rejections vs. Miami and has twice matched his career high of seven blocks.
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 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.
BEARCAT BALANCE: UC has four players averaging in double figures scoring, and a fifth (James White) averaging 9.8 points. In league play, the Bearcats have five players currently tallying double digits scoring.
WAY TO START: Cincinnati has won 16 of 20 jump balls the Bearcats have encountered this season. UC has captured the opening tip in 14 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.
GAME TIME CHANGE: UC?s Feb. 16 game at Fifth Third Arena vs. Southern Miss has been moved up an hour and will now tip off at 7 p.m. The C-USA contest will be carried in Greater Cincinnati on WXIX-TV 19, while the rest of the nation will see it on ESPN2.
LOOKING AHEAD: Cincinnati returns to Fifth Third Arena on Saturday, Jan. 29 to host Houston at 7 p.m.