TicketsUC Tries to Keep Pace in C-USA at TCU
Bearcats tied for third in C-USA.
Contact: Brian Teter
2/25/2005
Nick Williams is one of four Texas natives returning to his home state this weekend. |
CINCINNATI vs. TCU
Date: Saturday, Feb. 26, 2005
Time: 3:00 p.m. EST
Site: Daniel Meyer Coliseum (7,200)
Fort Worth, Texas
Records:
Cincinnati (22USA/24AP): 21-6, 9-4 C-USA (tie-3rd)
TCU: ..... 17-10, 7-6 C-USA (tie-7th)
TV: ESPN Plus, WXIX-TV 19 in Cincinnati (John Rooney, Charles Davis).
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock).
Tickets: Available at the site.
Series: Cincinnati leads, 4-0.
Last Meeting: Jan. 17, 2004 in Cincinnati; Cincinnati 85, TCU 57.
The Coaches:
? BOB HUGGINS (West Virginia ?77)
At Cincinnati: 16th year, 395-125 (.760)
Overall: 24th year, 563-197 (.741)
Huggins is the nation?s eighth-winningest active coach and is 11th in victories. He is 2-0 vs. TCU.
? NEIL DOUGHERTY (Cameron ?84)
At TCU: 3rd year, 38-46 (.452)
Overall: 3rd year, 38-46 (.452)
As an assistant at Kansas for seven years, Dougherty helped the Jayhawks to four conference titles. He is 0-2 vs. Cincinnati.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics F 33 Armein Kirkland, 6-8 Jr., Tyler, Texas........... 11.2 pts, 4.6 reb, 2.3 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C............. 14.2 pts, 9.0 reb, 2.3 blk
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas....... 15.4 pts, 7.7 reb, 2.8 blk
G 5 Nick Williams, 6-3 Sr., Arlington, Texas.......... 8.5 pts, 2.4 reb, 1.7 ast
G 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md.......... 10.2 pts, 4.6 reb, 3.2 ast
TCU PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 4 Nile Murry, 6-4 Jr., Houston, Texas.............. 12.6 pts, 3.9 reb, 2.0 ast
F 32 Marcus Sloan, 6-9 Sr., Houston, Texas.......... 3.9 pts, 5.0 reb, 1.0 stl
C 12 Femi Ibikunle, 6-9 So., Lagos, Nigeria............ 5.0 pts, 5.7 reb, 0.4 blk
G 3 Corey Santee, 6-2 Sr., Flint, Mich................. 14.2 pts, 2.9 reb, 3.8 ast
G 10 Marcus Shropshire, 6-0 Sr., Grand Prairie, Texas 11.8 pts, 2.7 reb, 2.1 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati tries to keep pace in the Conference USA race when visiting TCU on Saturday for a 3 p.m. EST contest. The Bearcats (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 24 AP), 21-6 overall, are in a three-way tie for third place in C-USA with DePaul and Memphis and trail co-leaders Louisville and Charlotte by two games. UC won its third straight game, defeating Marquette, 80-68, on Thursday. TCU, 17-10 overall, is tied for seventh place with a 7-6 league ledger. The Horned Frogs downed Tulane, 77-63, on Wednesday.
BEARCATS IN THE POLLS: Cincinnati is No. 22 in this week?s ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 24 in the Associated Press poll, the 13th straight week UC has been ranked this season. In the computer ratings, UC is No. 19 in the Sagarin Index (2/25/05) and No. 21 in the RPI (2/25/05).
LAST TIME VS. TCU: Tony Bobbitt?s 16 points topped four double-figure scoring Bearcats in Cincinnati?s 85-57 win over TCU on Jan. 17, 2004 at Fifth Third Arena. UC closed the first half with a 23-11 run and opened the second half with a 17-4 blitz. The Bearcats held the Horned Frogs to .385 shooting, .300 in the second half. Nucleus Smith and Marcus Shropshire each scored 11 for TCU.
LAST TIME IN FORT WORTH: Leonard Stokes keyed a late-game rally to boost Cincinnati to an 83-72 win over TCU on Jan. 11, 2003. Stokes scored 10 of his 20 points in the final 7:02 to lift UC from a two-point deficit. The Bearcats shot .517 from the field. A pair of Bearcat Texans topped the 20-point mark?Field Williams with 24 and Jason Maxiell with a then-career high 22. Bingo Merriex had 18 for TCU.
STORY LINES:
? Saturday?s game will be a homecoming of sorts for four Bearcats who are natives of the Lone Star State, and two others who have ties to Texas. Senior forward Jason Maxiell was a first team all-state pick at Carrollton?s Newman Smith High. Senior guard Nick Williams earned district offensive player of the year honors at Arlington?s Mansfield High. Junior forward Armein Kirkland earned All-Eastern Texas recognition as a senior at Tyler?s Lee High. Senior guard Jamaal Lucas earned all-region honors as a senior at Roy Miller High in Corpus Christi. Junior guard Jihad Muhammad played two years at San Jacinto Junior College while sophomore walk-on Erick Murray was born in Dallas.
? TCU is 13-2 this season in games played at Daniel Meyer Coliseum. In 41 seasons in the playing venue, the Horned Frogs have a 369-213 ledger.
? Cincinnati and TCU have played nine common opponents. Cincinnati is 8-4 vs. those teams while TCU is 4-6.
? The Bearcats are 69-32 under Bob Huggins in the second game of contests played on two-days rest (i.e. Thursday-Saturday). Cincinnati is 4-2 in such games this season. In both losses, UC?s opponent had five or more days rest.
? Jason Maxiell, with 1,477 career points, needs 22 to reach 11th place on the Cincinnati career scoring list, held by Robert Miller, who scored 1,499 points from 1975-78. Maxiell is seven rebounds away from Bearcat great Kenyon Martin?s 869 career total, which ranks 14th in C-USA.
? Nick Williams, with 699 career points, will be seeking to top the 700-point plateau.
? Barring a matchup in the C-USA tourney, Saturday?s game could be the last Cincinnati-TCU meeting for some time. Next year, the Bearcats move to the BIG EAST Conference and TCU will go to the Mountain West.
RECAPPING THE MARQUETTE GAME:
? After committing a season-high 22 turnovers in last Saturday?s win over UAB, Cincinnati had just 10 turnovers vs. Marquette, and five of those were made in the final 3:44.
? After outrebounding its previous two opponents by a combined total of 49 rebounds, the Bearcats had a nine-rebound deficit in the battle of the boards, 45-36.
? Marquette became the 18th opponent that the Bearcats held to sub-.400 shooting when the Golden Eagles were held to a .368 field goal percentage.
? Freshman walk-on Ryan Patzwald came off the bench in the first half when other Bearcat perimeter players were in foul trouble and tied his career scoring high with five points.
? Jason Maxiell, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, notched his second straight double-double, his sixth of the season and 20th of his career.
? Jamaal Lucas posted career highs of six points, going 6-of-6 at the foul line, and five assists.
TERRIFIC 20?S: The Bearcats have clinched their 14th 20-win season in the last 16 campaigns and their 27th 20-win season in school history. Since 1955, UC has advanced to postseason play in every season in which it reached or exceeded the 20-win mark, appearing in 21 NCAA Tournaments and three NITs.
BEARCAT BITES:
? Cincinnati has posted victory margins of 10 or more points in 18 of its 21 wins and has beaten 15 of those foes by at least 16 points. UC is second in C-USA and 11th nationally in average scoring margin.
? After suffering a slight slump, during which they shot .657 at the foul line over a five-game period, the Bearcats have posted a free throw percentage of .786 in their last three games, all wins.
? The Bearcats have held 18 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 13 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 (.368) and No. 3 in blocked shots (7.0).
? The Bearcats have won 24 of 29 jump balls, with Jason Maxiell doing all of the jumping. UC has taken the opening tip in 22 of its 27 contests and won both overtime period jump balls.
? UC has made more free throws (519) than its opponents have attempted (484).
? Seventeen of UC?s 27 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 now No. 21 Charlotte, and the loss to 16-7 DePaul, the combined record of the five teams to beat the Bearcats is 120-20.
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 120-33 ledger (.784) in C-USA play, winning or sharing the regular season crown in all but one of those years. The Bearcats have posted a 255-68 (.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.
HICKS A HERO: Eric Hicks has been one of Cincinnati?s most productive players in recent weeks:
? The 6-6 junior has averaged 17.6 points and 9.7 rebounds over the last seven games, shooting .622 (51-of-82) from the field.
? His streak of double-digit scoring games was snapped at eight when he managed nine points vs. UAB last Saturday (2/19/05) while suffering through a case of the flu, but still gathered 13 rebounds, his third double figure rebounding performance in the past four contests.
? Hicks ranks third in C-USA and 27th nationally in rejections (2.3).
? He ranks third in C-USA and 29th nationally in rebounds (9.0).
? 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:
? Maxiell has averaged 17.7 points over his last six games, shooting .607 from the field.
? He has reached double figures in rebounding in each of his last two contests.
? The 6-7 senior is in 12th place on UC?s career scoring list with 1,477 points and 15th on the all-time C-USA list.
? Max has played in 123 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in Cincinnati history.
? Maxiell?s 236 career blocks ranks second at UC to Kenyon Martin and fourth in C-USA.
? He ranks fifth in C-USA in career rebounds with 862, needing seven to move into the No. 4 spot in league history, currently held by Bearcat great Kenyon Martin (869).
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 six games to boost his season average to 3.2. White ranks eighth in C-USA in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.69:1).
BLOCK PARTY: Cincinnati leads Conference USA and is ranked third nationally in blocked shots (7.0). Jason Maxiell leads C-USA and is 15th nationally in blocks (2.8), with Eric Hicks (2.3) third in C-USA and 27th 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. As a team, UC has 190 rejections while opponents have just 55.
DIFFERENT LOOK: UC has started new lineups in each of its last six games and has now used 11 different lineups this season. Jason Maxiell, Eric Hicks and Nick Williams have been staples in the lineup during the recent changes. Others who have rotated into the starting five are Armein Kirkland, James White, Jihad Muhammad, Chadd Moore and Jamaal Lucas.
MAXIELL, HICKS EARN ALL-DISTRICT HONORS: Jason Maxiell was named to the All-District 10 team for the second straight year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. He is one of 10 Conference USA players to earn all-district recognition this season. UC?s Eric Hicks was selected to the District 10 second team.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats return to Fifth Third Arena for their final home game of the season on Wednesday, March 2, hosting Tulane at 8 p.m. EST. UC?s four seniors will be recognized in special pregame ceremonies. The game will be televised in Cincinnati by WXIX-TV 19 and to New Orleans by ESPN Plus. Cincinnati closes regular season play on Saturday, March 5 at Memphis (4 p.m. EST, ESPN).