TicketsBearcats Battle Muskies in Crosstown Shootout
UC seeking and end to a two-game losing streak and two straight losses to XU
Contact: Brian Teter
2/7/2005
James White has averaged 18.0 points over his last three games. |
CINCINNATI vs. XAVIER
Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout
GAME FACTS
Date: Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005
Time: 9:00 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records:
Cincinnati (17USA/18AP): 17-5, 6-3 C-USA (tie-4th)
Xavier: 11-8, 5-4 A-10 (4th in West)
TV: ESPN2 (Mark Jones, Fran Fraschilla).
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock).
Tickets: Sold out.
Series: Cincinnati leads, 45-26.
Last Meeting: Xavier 71, Cincinnati 69; Feb. 3, 2004 at the Cintas Center.
The Coaches:
? BOB HUGGINS (West Virginia ?77)
At Cincinnati: 16th year, 391-124 (.759)
Overall: 24th year, 559-196 (.740)
Huggins is the nation?s seventh-winningest active coach and is 11th in victories. He is 7-8 vs. Xavier.
? SEAN MILLER (Pittsburgh ?92)
At Xavier: 1st year, 11-8 (.589)
Overall: 1st year, 11-8 (.579)
Miller was Xavier?s associate head coach the previous three seasons and has nine seasons of experience as an assistant coach.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md........10.6 pts, 4.9 reb, 3.0 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C........13.7 pts, 8.6 reb, 2.5 blk
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas...14.9 pts, 7.9 reb, 3.1 blk
G 5 Nick Williams, 6-3 Sr., Arlington, Texas.....8.6 pts, 2.3 reb, 1.6 ast
G 13 Jihad Muhammad, 5-11 Jr., Plainfield, N.J...10.3 pts, 3.3 reb, 2.8 ast
XAVIER PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 3 Justin Cage, 6-6 So., Indianapolis, Ind.....11.9 pts, 5.4 reb, 2.1 ast
F 15 Justin Doellman, 6-9 So., Union, Ky.........11.8 pts, 5.8 reb, 2.9 ast
F 52 Will Caudle, 6-9 Jr., Indianapolis, Ind......5.1 pts, 2.3 reb, 0.5 ast
G 12 Dedrick Finn, 6-1 Jr., Newburgh, Ind.........8.5 pts, 2.3 reb, 4.7 ast
G 34 Stanley Burrell, 6-3 Fr., Indianapolis, Ind.11.2 pts, 2.7 reb, 2.2 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: Local bragging rights will be on the line and a national television audience will be looking on when Cincinnati and Xavier clash in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout on Thursday at UC?s Fifth Third Arena. The two teams will be clashing for the 72nd time in their highly-contested rivalry when they meet at 9 p.m. EST. This year?s contest will be televised by ESPN2 as part of the network?s Rivalry Week.
A LOOK AT THE MATCHUP: Cincinnati (No. 17 ESPN/USA Today, No. 18 AP) enters Thursday?s game trying to snap a two-game losing skid which has dropped UC?s record to 17-5. The Bearcats were edged by Charlotte, 91-90, on Saturday, their first loss of the season to an unranked team, to fall into a tie for fourth place in Conference USA. UC will also be out to end a two-game losing streak to Xavier. The Musketeers, 11-8, are on a two-game winning streak and have captured three of their last four contests. Xavier also owns wins over UC in six of the last eight meetings.
LAST TIME VS. XAVIER: Lionel Chalmers? fade-away jumper with 26 seconds to play boosted Xavier to a 71-69 win over No. 10 Cincinnati on Feb. 3, 2004 at XU?s Cintas Center. UC overcame an eight-point deficit in the second half to take a 66-61 lead with 4:15 to play. Xavier tied the score at 66 with 2:37 remaining. The lead changed hands three times, Jason Maxiell giving UC a 69-68 advantage with 56 seconds to play. Chalmers led all scorers with 20 points. Tony Bobbitt tallied 17 for UC.
LAST TIME AT FIFTH THIRD: David West?s 23 points powered Xavier to a 50-44 victory on Dec. 7, 2002. The Musketeers took an 11-point lead in the first half, aided by a drought in which the Bearcats went eight minutes without a field goal. UC, led by Leonard Stokes? 13 points, pulled to within two points four times in the final 15 minutes, the last with 30 seconds to play.
STORY LINES:
? There is an adage about throwing out the records when a rivalry crops up and that may be true of the Cincinnati-Xavier series in recent years. Seven of the last eight UC-XU contests have had a Top 25-ranked team. In four of those contests, the unranked team has felled the ranked squad.
? This is the eighth Cincinnati-Xavier game to be played in UC?s Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats have a 4-3 lead in series games played in the building. Xavier is one of only three teams to have multiple wins over UC in Fifth Third Arena (the others are Marquette and Louisville, each with four).
? Thursday will mark only the 20th time the Cincinnati-Xavier game has been played on one of the two schools? campuses and the 12th time that it has been contested at UC. The Bearcats have a 7-4 record in crosstown battles on their campus, 3-1 in Armory Fieldhouse, which is immediately north of Fifth Third Arena, and 4-3 in their present home. Cincinnati Gardens was host to 42 games.
? The home court has not proven to be much of an advantage recently. The visiting team has won three of the last four Cincinnati-Xavier clashes.
? The Bearcats are 215-29 (.881) at Fifth Third Arena since the building opened in 1989-90.
? Cincinnati and Xavier have played two common opponents, LaSalle and Miami (Ohio). Cincinnati defeated LaSalle, 84-63, and Miami, 77-53 Xavier beat LaSalle, 62-50, but lost to Miami, 66-54.
? The Cincinnati-Xavier game has not been kind to coaches who were in their first years at their schools. The last two ?rookie? mentors for each team, Bob Huggins and Tony Yates at UC and Thad Matta and Skip Prosser at XU, lost while making their Crosstown Shootout debuts. In the history of the series, new head coaches at Cincinnati have a 5-4 record while their Xavier counterparts are 4-8.
? Jason Maxiell needs three more points to move into 13th place on Cincinnati?s career scoring list. Maxiell enters Thursday?s game with 1,388 points. Paul Hogue (1960-62) is 13th with 1,391.
? Armein Kirkland needs one point to reach the 500 mark in career scoring.
? Eric Hicks recorded his career high for blocked shots in last year?s UC-XU game. Hicks rejected eight Musketeer shots.
? David Fluker, who joined the University of Cincinnati as athletic trainer for the men?s basketball team in 2003, held the same position at Xavier for the previous seven years.
? Xavier athletics director Dawn Rogers served on the Cincinnati athletic department staff for the 1987-88 academic year.
? This marks the seventh straight year that the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout receives national television exposure from ESPN or ESPN2.
BEARCATS IN THE POLLS: Cincinnati was No. 17 in last week?s ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 18 in the Associated Press poll. In the computer ratings, UC is No. 15 in the Sagarin Index (2/7/05) and No. 23 in the RPI (2/7/05).
RECAPPING THE CHARLOTTE GAME:
? The loss was Cincinnati?s first setback to an unranked opponent this season.
? Eric Hicks made his first five field goal attempts of the game to extend his string of consecutive made baskets to 14. Hicks, who was 8-of-12 for 20 points vs. Charlotte, had made his last nine shots in a 9-of-10 shooting performance when he tallied 21 points in the previous contest vs. Louisville (2/2/05).
? Though Charlotte shot .415 from the field, becoming just the seventh opponent this season to shoot .400 or better vs. UC, that percentage was still well below the 49ers? .441 season percentage.
? Charlotte made 25 of 28 free throws for a .893 percentage, all three figures season highs by a UC opponent.
? It was the first time since the 1987-88 season that a Cincinnati team scored 90 points in a regular season game and lost.
BEARCAT BITES:
? Cincinnati has posted victory margins of 10 or more points in 15 of its 17 wins and has beaten 14 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 15 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 12 games this season. Five players have reached double digits in two games and six reached the twins mark in two other contests.
? UC has five players averaging in double figures scoring: Jason Maxiell (14.9), Eric Hicks (13.7), Armein Kirkland (11.9), James White (10.6) and Jihad Muhammad (10.3). In Conference USA play, the Bearcats have five players currently tallying double digits scoring (Maxiell, Hicks, Kirkland, White, Nick Williams).
? Cincinnati is ranked No. 1 nationally in field goal percentage defense (.362) and No. 2 in blocked shots (7.5).
? The Bearcats have won 19 of 24 jump balls, with Jason Maxiell doing all of the jumping. UC has taken the opening tip in 17 of its 22 contests and won both overtime period jump balls.
? UC has made more free throws (424) than its opponents have attempted (396).
? Thirteen of UC?s 22 opponents appeared in postseason play in 2003-04.
? Four of the Bearcats five losses were to ranked teams: No. 1 (Illinois), No. 3 (Wake Forest), No. 9 (Louisville) and No. 18 (Louisville) at the time the Bearcats played them, and including the one-point loss at 15-4 Charlotte, the combined record of the four teams to beat the Bearcats is 77-10.
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 117-32 ledger (.790) in C-USA play, winning or sharing the regular season crown in all but one of those years. The Bearcats have posted a 251-67 (.789) 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 A HERO: Eric Hicks has been one of Cincinnati?s most productive players in recent games:
? Hicks has been the team?s leading scorer over the past eight games (14.4).
? The 6-6 junior has averaged 17.8 points over the last five games, shooting .554 (31-of-56) from the field.
? Hicks has scored 41 points over his last two games, highlighted by a career high-tying 21 points vs. Louisville (2/2/05), and has shot .773 (17-of-22) during that span.
? Hicks has averaged 3.0 blocks over his last seven games, to rank third in C-USA and 26th nationally in rejections (2.52).
? His defensive performance was credited with the effort that limited C-USA scoring leader Quemont Greer to 12 points, 10 under his average, in the Jan. 6 win over DePaul.
? Hicks held USF?s Terrence Leather, C-USA?s No. 3 scorer, scoreless in the Jan. 27 win over the Bulls.
WILLIAMS ON A ROLL: Nick Williams has been Cincinnati?s top long-distance scoring threat recently. Over the past seven games, the 6-3 senior has averaged 13.6 points, shooting .476 (23-of-48) 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 30 of his last 33 free throw attempts.
MAX?S MILESTONES: Jason Maxiell continues to rack up milestones:
? The 6-7 senior is in 14th place on UC?s career scoring list with 1,388 points, needing three to reach 13th place.
? Max has played in 118 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in Cincinnati history.
? Maxiell?s 229 career blocks ranks second at UC to Kenyon Martin and fourth in C-USA.
? He ranks sixth in C-USA in career rebounds with 828.
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 3.7 assists, and only 1.1 turnovers, over his last eight games, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.3:1. Muhammad dished out a career-high seven assists vs. East Carolina on Jan. 12 and had six assists in two other games. Muhammad leads the team with 41 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 six games ago. Kirkland has shown signs of getting his coach?s message. The 6-8 junior has averaged 6.2 rebounds over his last five games. Against then-No. 3 Wake Forest, Kirkland also passed out a career-high eight assists.
BLOCK PARTY: Cincinnati leads Conference USA and is ranked second nationally in blocked shots (7.5). Jason Maxiell leads C-USA and is sixth nationally in blocks (3.1), with Eric Hicks (2.5) third 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 six other occasions. Maxiell has had five or more rejections in six games this year, highlighted by a career-high eight blocks vs. Houston on Jan. 29.
MAXIELL?S AWARDS LIST: 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. Additionally, the 6-7 senior from Carrollton, Texas is one of 30 college basketball seniors nominated for the fourth annual Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award, honoring the nation?s top senior player. Maxiell was named to the Conference USA preseason all-league team for the third straight year.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats hit the road again on Saturday, Feb. 12 for a regionally-televised ABC game at DePaul. Tipoff is at 3:30 p.m. EST. UC returns for three straight home games, beginning Feb. 16 when the Bearcats host Southern Miss. Game time has been changed to 7 p.m.