TicketsUC Tries To Regroup When Facing USM
Bearcats want to avert fourth straight C-USA loss.
Contact: Brian Teter
2/14/2005
UC head coach Bob Huggins will try to get the Bearcats to end a three-game C-USA losing skid. |
CINCINNATI vs. SOUTHERN MISS
GAME FACTS
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records:
Cincinnati (20USA/21AP): 18-6, 6-4 C-USA (tie-5th)
Southern Miss: 10-13, 1-10 C-USA (14th)
TV: ESPN2 (Dave O?Brien, Jimmy Dykes); 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, 16-13.
Last Meeting: Jan. 24, 2004 in Hattiesburg, Miss.; UC 83, USM 47.
The Coaches:
? BOB HUGGINS (West Virginia ?77)
At Cincinnati: 16th year, 392-125 (.758)
Overall: 24th year, 560-197 (.740)
Huggins is the nation?s eighth-winningest active coach and is 11th in victories. He is 10-4 vs. Southern Miss.
? LARRY EUSTACHY (Long Beach St. ?79)
At USM: 1st year, 10-13 (.435)
Overall: 14th year, 270-158 (.631)
Eustachy earned national Coach of the Year honors in 1999-00 after directing Iowa State to the Elite Eight. He is 0-2 vs. Cincinnati.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 33 Armein Kirkland, 6-8 Jr., Tyler, Texas......11.3 pts, 4.4 reb, 2.2 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C........14.2 pts, 8.7 reb, 2.4 blk
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas...15.0 pts, 7.6 reb, 3.0 blk
G 5 Nick Williams, 6-3 Sr., Arlington, Texas.....8.1 pts, 2.3 reb, 1.6 ast
G 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md........10.5 pts, 4.3 reb, 3.1 ast
SOUTHERN MISS PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 00 Jason Forte, 6-5 Jr., Bay Springs, Miss......6.4 pts, 4.0 reb, 0.5 blk
F 1 David Haywood, 6-4 Sr., Natchez, Miss........5.8 pts, 3.3 reb, 1.0 ast
C 4 Mildon Ambres, 6-6 So, Opelousas, La.........7.5 pts, 5.5 reb, 0.8 blk
G 2 Rashaad Carruth, 6-3 Jr., College Park, Ga..12.7 pts, 3.0 reb, 1.0 ast
G 3 Michael Ford, 6-1 Jr., Macon, Ga............10.2 pts, 3.0 reb, 3.0 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati will try to turn around its basketball fortunes for the stretch run of the 2004-05 season when the Bearcats host Southern Miss on Wednesday. UC, 18-6 overall, will be out to snap a three-game Conference USA losing streak in the 7 p.m. contest, which will be televised nationally by ESPN2 and locally on WXIX-TV 19. The Bearcats, No. 20 in last week?s ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 21 in the Associated Press rankings, suffered an 85-66 loss at DePaul on Saturday. Southern Miss, 10-13, will be out to snap a five-game losing skid. The Golden Eagles, losers of 11 of the last 12 contests, are last in C-USA at 1-10.
BEARCATS IN THE POLLS: Cincinnati was No. 20 in last week?s ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 21 in the Associated Press poll. In the computer ratings, UC is No. 19 in the Sagarin Index (2/14/05) and No. 23 in the RPI (2/14/05).
LAST TIME VS. SOUTHERN MISS: Tony Bobbitt scored 19 points and Jason Maxiell added 17 as Cincinnati routed Southern Miss, 83-47, on Jan. 24, 2004 in Hattiesburg, Miss., the Golden Eagles? worst loss in Reed Green Coliseum. UC scored the game?s first seven points and never looked back. The Bearcats held USM to .233 shooting, a season low by the UC defense. Jasper Johnson scored 13 points for USM.
LAST TIME IN CINCINNATI: Steve Logan scored 41 points?more than the entire Southern Miss team?to lead an 89-37 romp over the Golden Eagles on Feb. 15, 2002. Logan was 12-of-18 from the field, 8-of-13 from 3-point range. UC outscored USM, 31-0, during a 9:13 period in the second half. Southern Miss, led by Elvin Mims? 11 points, shot just .242.
STORY LINES:
? The Bearcats will hope that the return to the friendly confines of Fifth Third Arena will help them break out of their long-distance shooting slump. Over the past six games, four of which were played on the road, UC has shot .294 from 3-point range, lowering their season percentage from .360 to .345. Cincinnati has also misfired at the free throw line during this span, shooting .636 to drop its season percentage from .709 to .689. UC plays four of its final six regular season games at home.
? Cincinnati has won five straight games over Southern Miss in Fifth Third Arena after losing to the Golden Eagles in 1989-90, the building?s first season. UC is 69-7 in Fifth Third Arena in C-USA play and has an all-time record of 216-29 (.882) in the venue.
? The Bearcats have an all-time record of 710-189 (.790) in games played on its campus. Cincinnati compiled a 247-29 (.894) record in Armory Fieldhouse, which borders the north wall of Fifth Third Arena, and was 247-131 in other gyms.
? Cincinnati has won 10 of the last 11 meetings vs. Southern Miss but the Bearcats remember that lone loss, which occurred in the first round of the 2003 Conference USA Tournament. It was UC?s only first round game in the tourney?s history.
? Cincinnati and Southern Miss have played five common opponents. UC is 4-3 vs. those foes while USM is 0-6.
? UC has posted an average scoring margin of +17.4 points in games after losses this season. The Bearcats are 4-1 in those contests. Beginning with the 1995-96 season, Cincinnati has a +13.7 scoring margin in games after losses.
? Jason Maxiell, who enters Wednesday?s game with 1,421 career points, needs 30 points to reach 12th place on Cincinnati?s career scoring list.
RECAPPING THE DePAUL GAME:
? Eric Hicks scored a career-high 22 points. The junior was 10-of-11 from the field. His .909 shooting percentage tied the third-highest single game mark in UC history (minimum 10 field goals made).
? The Bearcats shot .510 from the field, their first game over the .500 mark since their Jan. 6 win over DePaul (.508) and third-highest of the season. Cincinnati made just two 3-point field goals, tying a season-low which it set in its previous contest vs. Xavier.
? DePaul?s 30 field goals and 21 assists were both season highs by UC opponents.
? The loss was Cincinnati?s third in a row at DePaul. It was also UC?s third straight C-USA loss, the third time that the Bearcats have lost three or more consecutive C-USA games (others occurred in 1998-99 (three) and a five-game skid in 2002-03).
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.
? Cincinnati is ranked No. 1 nationally in field goal percentage defense (.364) and No. 2 in blocked shots (7.3).
? The Bearcats have won 21 of 26 jump balls, with Jason Maxiell doing all of the jumping. UC has taken the opening tip in 19 of its 24 contests and won both overtime period jump balls.
? UC has made more free throws (453) than its opponents have attempted (437).
? Fifteen of UC?s 24 opponents appeared in postseason play in 2003-04.
? Four of the Bearcats 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 17-4 Charlotte, and the loss to 16-5 DePaul, the combined record of the five teams to beat the Bearcats is 116-21.
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 117-33 ledger (.780) in C-USA play, winning or sharing the regular season crown in all but one of those years. The Bearcats have posted a 252-68 (.788) 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 weeks:
? Hicks has been the team?s leading scorer over the past nine games (15.5).
? The 6-6 junior has averaged 18.1 points over the last seven games, shooting .580 (47-of-81) from the field.
? Hicks has scored at a 19.8 clip over his last four games, highlighted by a career high 22 points vs. DePaul (2/12/05), and has shot .702 (33-of-47) during that span.
? Hicks ranks third in C-USA and 26th nationally in rejections (2.4).
? 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.
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 1,421 points and 15th on the all-time C-USA list.
? Max has played in 120 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 834.
UC?S POINT FORWARD: James White, a forward by trade, is Cincinnati?s assist leader. The 6-6 junior has averaged 4.2 assists over his last five games to boost his season average to 3.1. White has also been a productive scorer, averaging 14.4 points over his last four games while shooting .564 (22-of-39) from the field and .615 (8-of-13) from 3-point range.
BLOCK PARTY: Cincinnati leads Conference USA and is ranked second nationally in blocked shots (7.3). Jason Maxiell leads C-USA and is eighth nationally in blocks (3.0), with Eric Hicks (2.4) 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 has started new lineups in each of its last two games. Against DePaul on Saturday, Chadd Moore made his first start in 11 games, joining Eric Hicks, Jason Maxiell, James White and Nick Williams in the starting quintet, UC?s ninth different five. UC debuted its eighth different starting lineup vs. Xavier (2/10/05) 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 are home for the next two contests. Cincinnati hosts UAB on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. (ESPN) and Marquette on Feb. 24 at 9 p.m. (ESPN2).