TicketsUC Guards First Place Hold Hosting Houston
Cougars gave Louisville its onlly loss this season.
Contact: Brian Teter
1/28/2005
Chadd Moore has scored 11 points over the last two games. |
CINCINNATI vs. HOUSTON
GAME FACTS
Date: Saturday, Jan. 29, 2005
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records:
Cincinnati (20USA/21AP): 16-3, 5-1 C-USA (tie-1st)
Houston: 12-8, 3-3 C-USA (tie-7th)
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: Cincinnati leads, 21-1.
Last Meeting: Feb. 7, 2004 in Houston; Cincinnati 54, Houston 51.
The Coaches:
? BOB HUGGINS (West Virginia ?77)
At Cincinnati: 16th year, 390-122 (.762)
Overall: 24th year, 558-194 (.742)
Huggins is the nation?s sixth-winningest active coach and is 11th in victories. He is 7-0 vs. Houston.
? TOM PENDERS (Connecticut ?67)
At Houston: 1st year, 12-8 (.600)
Overall: 31st year, 539-369 (.594)
Penders has directed teams to 10 NCAA Tournaments and six NITs. He is 12th among active coaches in total victories.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md.........9.5 pts, 4.4 reb, 2.8 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C........13.1 pts, 8.8 reb, 2.6 blk
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas...15.2 pts, 7.9 reb, 3.1 blk
G 5 Nick Williams, 6-3 Sr., Arlington, Texas.....7.8 pts, 2.2 reb, 1.5 ast
G 13 Jihad Muhammad, 5-11 Jr., Plainfield, N.J...10.8 pts, 3.2 reb, 2.9 ast
HOUSTON PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 25 Ramon Dyer, 6-7 Jr., Wilson, La..............9.9 pts, 5.5 reb, 0.9 ast
C 5 Sergio de Randamie, 6-7 Jr., Paramaribo, Suriname..1.6 pts, 1.9 reb 0.6 blk
G 23 Lanny Smith, 6-3 So., Missouri City, Texas..14.9 pts, 2.2 reb, 3.9 ast
G 20 Andre Owens, 6-4 Sr., Indianapolis, Ind.....17.4 pts, 4.9 reb, 2.2 ast
G 2 Chris Lawson, 6-4 Jr., Chicago, Ill..........4.7 pts, 1.8 reb, 1.8 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati will try to keep its hold on first place in the Conference USA race when hosting Houston on Saturday evening. The Bearcats, 16-3 overall, enter the 7 p.m. EST contest at Fifth Third Arena in a three-way tie for the C-USA lead with Louisville and Charlotte, all sporting 5-1 ledgers. The Bearcats, No. 20 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 21 in the Associated Press rankings, routed USF, 74-48 in Tampa on Thursday. Houston, 12-8, is 3-3 in Conference USA play following Wednesday?s 63-61 loss to Tulane. One of the Cougars? wins was a 70-67 upset of C-USA tri-leader Louisville on Jan. 5.
BEARCATS IN THE POLLS: Cincinnati is No. 20 in this week?s ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 21 in the Associated Press poll. In the computer ratings, UC is No. 15 in the Sagarin Index (1/28/05) and No. 30 in the RPI (1/28/05).
LAST TIME VS. HOUSTON: Jason Maxiell scored the go-ahead basket on a dunk with 1:25 to play and sank two clinching free throws in the final seven seconds to spoil Houston?s bid to upset Cincinnati on Feb. 7, 2004 in Houston. UC, which trailed by as many as eight points in the first half and five in the second period, survived despite shooting a season-low .321 from the field. Robert Whaley scored a career-high 17 points.
LAST TIME AT FIFTH THIRD ARENA: Steve Logan scored 26 points to lead Cincinnati?s 85-50 rout of Houston on Feb. 24, 2001. The Bearcats never trailed, and led by as many as 37 points in the second half. Kenny Satterfield and Immanuel McElroy contributed 12 points each.
STORY LINES:
? Saturday?s game will be the first between Cincinnati and Houston in Cincinnati in four seasons, and possibly the last regular season meeting for a while, with UC?s departure for the BIG EAST Conference. The Cougars, who will remain in Conference USA, were last in Fifth Third Arena on Feb. 24, 2001. The two teams have played 22 times, 12 when both were members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
? The contest will feature a pair of 500-win head coaches. Bob Huggins, sixth among active mentors in winning percentage, is 11th in total victories with 558. Houston?s Tom Penders is 12th in total victories with 539. Though the two have combined to coach 1,660 games, this will be the first time they have coached against each other.
? UC has never suffered back-to-back losses in Fifth Third Arena since the building opened in 1989. That streak will be tested Saturday. The Bearcats dropped a 74-70 decision to then-No. 3 Wake Forest in the last home outing.
? Cincinnati is 68-7 in Fifth Third Arena in C-USA play, and has an all-time record of 214029 (.881) in the building.
? Houston?s Andre Owens is fourth in C-USA in scoring with a 17.4 average. On Thursday, UC held USF?s Terrence Leather scoreless. Leather entered the game ranked third in scoring and third in field goal percentage, scoreless, which
? The Bearcats have four players from the state of Texas: senior forward Jason Maxiell, a former first team all-state pick at Carrollton?s Newman Smith High; senior guard Nick Williams, who earned district offensive player of the year honors at Arlington?s Mansfield High; junior forward Armein Kirkland, an All-Eastern Texas selection at Tyler?s Lee High; and senior guard Jamaal Lucas, who earned all-region recognition as a senior at Roy Miller High in Corpus Christi.
? Cincinnati and Houston have played two common opponents, DePaul and Louisville. Cincinnati has a win over DePaul (83-54) but lost to Louisville (69-66). Houston upset Louisville (70-67) but lost to DePaul (68-57).
RECAPPING THE USF GAME:
? UC held USF to .259 shooting. The Bulls became the fourth Bearcat opponent to fail to shoot .300 from the field this season.
? Eric Hicks? 19 points and 11 rebounds was his eighth career double-double and fifth of the season.
? John Meeker scored a season-high five points, one shy of his career high.
? The UC bench accounted for 30 points, 12 by Armein Kirkland and nine by Roy Bright. The Bearcats have averaged 21.4 points in bench scoring over their last five games.
? The victory was Bob Huggins? 390th at Cincinnati and the 558th of his career, moving him into a tie with former Butler mentor Tony Hinkle for 38th place among all Division I coaches (active and non-active) in total wins.
BEARCAT BITES:
? Cincinnati has beaten 14 of its opponents by 10 or more points, and 13 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 14 opponents to sub-.400 shooting, eight to 32 percent or less. UC has held four opponents, Detroit (.293), Jackson State (.239), Charlotte (.295) and USF (.259) 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. 2 nationally in field goal percentage defense (.358) and No. 3 in blocked shots (7.6).
? Eleven of UC?s 19 opponents appeared in postseason play in 2003-04.
? The Bearcats three losses were to teams ranked No. 1 (Illinois), No. 3 (Wake Forest) and No. 18 (Louisville) at the time the Bearcats played them.
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 116-30 ledger (.795) in C-USA play, winning or sharing the regular season crown in all but one of those years. The Bearcats have posted a 250-65 (.794) 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.
BEARCATS COLLEGE BASKETBALL?S NO. 10 PROGRAM: The University of Cincinnati's rich basketball history, tradition and success has been recognized with the naming of UC as college basketball's No. 10 program of all time. The ranking was done by Street & Smith's in its latest publication, Greatest College Basketball Programs of All Time. The rankings were based on over 100 years of men's basketball history, using the criteria: NCAA and NIT Tournament performance, conference success, and all-time winning percentage. Other factors considered were first round NBA draft picks, graduation rates, NCAA infractions and mascot ferocity. Among its accomplishments, Cincinnati made a then-unprecedented five consecutive trips to the Final Four (1959-63), won back-to-back NCAA titles in 1961 and 1962 and was runner-up in 1963, has six total Final Four appearances, boasted college basketball's first three-time national scoring leader (and one of only two) in Oscar Robertson, who concluded his career in 1960 as the sports top career scorer, and two national players of the year in Robertson and Kenyon Martin.
HICKS TAKES OFFENSE: Eric Hicks has been one of Cincinnati?s most productive players in recent games:
? The 6-6 junior has averaged 18.5 points over the last two games.
? He has averaged 10.0 rebounds over his last three contests to move into third place in the C-USA rebounding listing with his 8.8 season average.
? Hicks has averaged 3.5 blocks over his last four games, to rank fourth in C-USA and 26th nationally in rejections (2.6).
? He has also been a model of endurance on the court, averaging 34.8 minutes of playing time over his last four contests.
WILLIAMS ON A ROLL: Nick Williams has been Cincinnati?s top long-distance scoring threat recently. Over the past five games, the 6-3 senior has averaged 13.0 points, shooting .500 (21-of-42) from the field and .515 (17-of-33) 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.
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 1,348 points. He has also played in 115 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 4.3 assists, and only 0.8 turnovers, over his last six 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 39 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 averaged 6.3 rebounds over his last three games. Against then-No. 3 Wake Forest, Kirkland 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 seventh nationally in blocks (3.1), with Eric Hicks (2.6) fourth in C-USA and 26th 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.
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 9.5 points. In league play, the Bearcats have five players currently tallying double digits scoring while the sixth (White) is at 9.8.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats are back on the road to face both of the teams with which they share the Conference USA lead. UC visits No. 12 Louisville on Wednesday (Feb. 2) for a 7 p.m. game which will be televised nationally by ESPN. The Bearcats are at Charlotte on Saturday (Feb. 5) for a 4 p.m. game which will air on ESPN.