TicketsBearcats Try To Get Back Into Race at DePaul
UC takes on second-place Blue Demons and C-USA's No. 2 scorer Greer
Contact: Brian Teter
2/11/2005
Armein Kirkland returned to the starting lineup for Thursday's win over Xavier. |
CINCINNATI vs. DePAUL
GAME FACTS
Date: Saturday, Feb. 12, 2005
Time: 3:30 p.m. EST
Site: Allstate Arena (17,500), Rosemont, Illinois
Records:
Cincinnati (20USA/21AP): 18-5, 6-3 C-USA (tie-5th)
DePaul: 15-5, 7-2 C-USA (tie-2nd)
TV: ABC (Terry Gannon, Jimmy Dykes).
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock).
Tickets: Available at site.
Series: Cincinnati leads, 28-11
First Meeting This Year: Jan. 6, 2005 in Cincinnati; Cincinnati 83, DePaul 54.
The Coaches:
? BOB HUGGINS (West Virginia ?77)
At Cincinnati: 16th year, 392-124 (.760)
Overall: 24th year, 560-196 (.741)
Huggins is the nation?s seventh-winningest active coach and is 11th in victories. He is 26-6 vs. DePaul.
? DAVE LEITAO (Northeastern ?83)
At DePaul: 3rd year, 46-26 (.639)
Overall: 5th year, 68-61 (.527)
Leitao coached DePaul to its first second straight postseason appearance in 2003-04, guiding the Blue Demons to the NCAA Tournament second round. He is 2-4 vs. Cincinnati.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 33 Armein Kirkland, 6-8 Jr., Tyler, Texas......11.9 pts, 4.5 reb, 2.3 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C........13.8 pts, 8.8 reb, 2.5 blk
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas...14.9 pts, 7.8 reb, 3.1 blk
G 5 Nick Williams, 6-3 Sr., Arlington, Texas.....8.4 pts, 2.3 reb, 1.6 ast
G 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md........10.3 pts, 4.9 reb, 3.0 ast
DePAUL PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 44 Marlon Brumfield, 6-9 Jr., Chicago, Ill......4.2 pts, 6.4 reb, 0.7 stl
F 45 Quemont Greer, 6-7 Sr., Milwaukee, Wis......19.7 pts, 7.6 reb, 0.8 blk
G 11 Sammy Mejia, 6-6 So., Bronx, N.Y............12.4 pts, 4.8 reb, 2.7 ast
G 3 LeVar Seals, 6-5 Sr., Chicago, Ill...........9.1 pts, 3.3 reb, 2.0 ast
G 33 Drake Diener, 6-5 Sr., Fond du Lac, Wis.....11.5 pts, 3.1 reb, 2.9 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati faces another crucial Conference USA challenge when the Bearcats visit DePaul on Saturday in a 3:30 p.m. EST game which will be televised regionally by ABC. The Bearcats (No. 20 ESPN/USA Today, No. 21 AP), have a chance to climb back into the thick of the C-USA race with a win over the 15-5 Blue Demons, who are tied for second place with Charlotte with a 7-2 league slate. Cincinnati, 18-5 overall, is tied for fifth place with a 6-3 record. UC defeated crosstown rival Xavier, 65-54, on Thursday, but has dropped its last two C-USA contests to Louisville and Charlotte, both on the road. DePaul, idle since last Sunday?s 56-53 win at Saint Louis, has a three-game winning streak.
BEARCATS IN THE POLLS: Cincinnati was 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. 17 in the Sagarin Index (2/11/05) and No. 23 in the RPI (2/11/05).
LAST TIME VS. DePAUL: Jason Maxiell led four Bearcat double-figure scorers with 19 points as Cincinnati won its 10th straight C-USA opener with an 83-54 defeat of DePaul on Jan. 6, 2005. The Bearcats dominated the game, shooting .508 from the floor and outrebounding the Blue Demons by 12. Armein Kirkland was runner-up to Maxiell for UC scoring honors with 18 points and gathered a career-high nine rebounds. Quemont Greer led DePaul with 12 points.
LAST TIME AT ALLSTATE ARENA: Delonte Holland and Drake Diener each scored 17 points to lead DePaul to a 68-65 upset of No. 10 Cincinnati on March 4, 2004. UC took a 42-39 lead with 13:13 to play, but the Blue Demons followed with a 10-0 scoring run to take a lead they would not relinquish. DePaul outrebounded UC, 36-27. Field Williams led UC with 14 points.
STORY LINES:
? This is the final regular season matchup of Cincinnati and DePaul in Conference USA. The teams will continue their rivalry next season as members of the BIG EAST Conference. The two schools became conference foes when both helped found the Great Midwest Conference, which launched play in 1991-92, and in 1995-96, when both moved to the new Conference USA.
? The Bearcats are 69-31 under Bob Huggins in games played on two-days rest (i.e. Saturday games following Thursday games).
? Cincinnati has compiled a 7-7 record in all appearances in Allstate Arena. The Bearcats are 6-5 vs. DePaul, 1-1 vs. Loyola of Chicago and 0-1 vs. Illinois. UC has lost in its last two visits to the Blue Demons. DePaul is 260-84 since moving its home games to the building, formerly known as the Rosemont Horizon, in 1980-81 and is 11-1 at home this season.
? DePaul is one of the three ?mirror? Conference USA opponents which Cincinnati plays twice this season. UC?s other mirror foes were Charlotte, with whom the Bearcats split (80-58 win in Cincinnati, 91-90 loss in Charlotte), and Louisville, which beat UC twice (69-66 in Cincinnati, 77-70 in Louisville).
? Cincinnati and DePaul have played four common opponents. Both are 4-0 vs. those foes.
? Cincinnati and DePaul met in the championship game of last year?s Conference USA Tournament, played at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. UC won by a 55-50 count to claim its fourth C-USA tourney crown.
? Armein Kirkland grabbed a career-high nine rebounds in the UC-DePaul game played in Cincinnati earlier this season. He also had 18 points in that contest and went on to earn C-USA Player of the Week honors.
? Jason Maxiell recorded his career high of four steals in the DePaul game played at the United Center his freshman season (2001-02).
? Cincinnati is 12-3 in games played following its crosstown rivalry showdown with Xavier and is 26-16 since the teams resumed play on a once-a-year basis.
RECAPPING THE XAVIER GAME:
? Eric Hicks, with 16 points and 14 rebounds, recorded his ninth career double-double and his sixth of the season.
? UC held Xavier to a .298 field goal percentage, a season-low for the Musketeers. Xavier became the 16th opponent which UC has held to a sub-.400 field goal percentage.
? Jason Maxiell, with 15 points, topped the 1,400 mark in career scoring and moved into 13th place on UC?s all-time scoring list with 1,403 points.
? Armein Kirkland, with 12 points, topped the 500-point mark (511) in career scoring.
? Cincinnati opened a 21-point lead midway through the second half but made just two of eight free throw attempts in the final 2:29 as Xavier closed the gap.
? The victory was Bob Huggins? 560th, tying him with retired Charleston mentor John Kresse for 37th place on the NCAA Division I wins list.
BEARCAT BITES:
? Cincinnati has posted victory margins of 10 or more points in 16 of its 18 wins and has beaten 14 of those foes by at least 16 points. UC is second in C-USA and 13th nationally in average scoring margin.
? The Bearcats have held 16 opponents to sub-.400 shooting, nine to 32 percent or less. UC has held five opponents, Detroit (.293), Jackson State (.239), Charlotte (.295), USF (.259) and Xavier (.298) 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 (13.8), Armein Kirkland (11.9), James White (10.3) and Jihad Muhammad (10.1). 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 (.360) and No. 2 in blocked shots (7.5).
? The Bearcats have won 20 of 25 jump balls, with Jason Maxiell doing all of the jumping. UC has taken the opening tip in 18 of its 23 contests and won both overtime period jump balls.
? UC has made more free throws (439) than its opponents have attempted (421).
? Fourteen of UC?s 23 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 78-11.
HICKS A HERO: Eric Hicks has been one of Cincinnati?s most productive players in recent weeks:
? Hicks has been the team?s leading scorer over the past nine games (14.8).
? The 6-6 junior has averaged 17.5 points over the last six games, shooting .529 (37-of-70) from the field.
? Hicks scored at a 19.0 clip over his last three games, highlighted by a career high-tying 21 points vs. Louisville (2/2/05), and has shot .639 (23-of-36) during that span.
? Hicks ranks third in C-USA and 26th nationally in rejections (2.5).
? 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. Since moving into the starting lineup seven games ago, the 6-3 senior has averaged 11.7 points, shooting .462 (24-of-52) 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 13th place on UC?s career scoring list with 1,403 points and 15th on the all-time C-USA lis.
? Max has played in 119 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in Cincinnati history.
? Maxiell?s 232 career blocks ranks second at UC to Kenyon Martin and fourth in C-USA.
? He ranks sixth in C-USA in career rebounds with 830.
UC?S POINT FORWARD: James White, a forward by trade, is Cincinnati?s assist leader. The 6-6 junior has averaged 4.0 assists over his last eight games to boost his season average to 3.1. White has also been a productive scorer, averaging 14.5 points over his last four games while shooting .531 (17-of-32) from the field and .600 (6-of-10) from 3-point range.
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 5.7 rebounds over his last seven 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 eighth 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.
DIFFERENT LOOK: UC started its eighth different starting lineup on Thursday vs. Xavier as Armein Kirkland got the call in place of Jihad Muhammad. James White took care of most of the ball-handling responsibilities in the first half before Muhammad and Chadd Moore came into the game.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats return to the friendly confines of Fifth Third Arena for three straight home games, beginning Wednesday, Feb. 16 when they host Southern Miss. The game time for this contest has been changed to 7 p.m. EST to accommodate a national telecast by ESPN2 and it will also be aired in Cincinnati by WXIX-TV 19. UC hosts UAB on Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. (ESPN) and Marquette on Feb. 24 at 9 p.m. (ESPN2).