TicketsBearcats Open C-USA Tourney vs. USF
UC begins quest of third league tourney title.
Contact: Brian Teter
3/10/2005
Eric Hicks posted 19 points and 11 rebounds in UC's regular season win over USF. |
CINCINNATI vs. USF
GAME FACTS
Date: Thursday, March 10, 2005
Time: 9:30 p.m. EST
Site: FedEx Forum (18,400), Memphis, Tennessee
Records:
Cincinnati (20USA/21AP): 24-6, 12-4 C-USA (tie-2nd)
USF: 13-15, 5-11 C-USA (11th)
TV: ESPN Plus, WXIX-TV 19 (Lou Canellis, Charles Davis).
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock).
Tickets: Available.
Series: Cincinnati leads, 18-3
This Season: The teams met once, on Jan. 27 in Tampa; UC 74, USF 48.
The Coaches:
? BOB HUGGINS (West Virginia ?77)
At Cincinnati: 16th year, 398-125 (.761)
Overall: 24th year, 566-197 (.742)
Huggins is the nation?s seventh-winningest active coach and is 11th in victories. He is 14-0 vs. USF.
? ROBERT McCULLUM
(Birmingham Southern ?76)
At USF: 2nd year, 20-35 (.364)
Overall: 4th year, 64-80 (.444)
McCullum directed Western Michigan to an NIT berth during his three seasons prior to taking over at USF. He is 0-2 vs. Cincinnati.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE
STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 33 Armein Kirkland, 6-8 Jr., Tyler, Texas 11.0 pts, 4.5 reb, 2.4 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C. 13.7 pts, 9.0 reb, 2.3 blk
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas 15.1 pts, 7.6 reb, 2.7 blk
G 5 Nick Williams, 6-3 Sr., Arlington, Texas 8.6 pts, 2.3 reb, 1.8 ast
G 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md. 10.3 pts, 4.8 reb, 3.2 ast
USF PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 21 Terrence Leather, 6-9 Sr., Tampa, Fla. 18.1 pts, 9.3 reb, 1.4 ast
F 1 Marlyn Bryant, 6-3 Sr., Leesburg, Fla. 7.7 pts, 5.1 reb, 1.7 ast
C 33 Konimba Diarra, 6-10 So., Mali, W. Africa 1.3 pts, 1.7 reb, 0.4 blk
G 3 Brian Swift, 5-10 Sr., Warrensville, Ohio 15.8 pts, 3.2 reb, 5.5 ast
G 5 Marius Prekevicius, 6-5 So., Garzdai, Lith. 5.8 pts, 1.2 reb, 1.6 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: Cincinnati opens play in the 2005 Kelly Tires Conference USA Men?s Basketball Tournament facing USF in Thursday?s quarterfinals at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn. The Bulls, the No. 11 seed in the tourney, defeated Houston, 69-64, in Wednesday?s opening round of play to up their season record to 13-15. The Bearcats, 24-6, received a first round bye as the No. 3 seed. Cincinnati, which finished in a tie for second place in the C-USA regular season race with a 12-4 ledger, bring a six-game winning streak into the tourney.
BEARCATS IN THE POLLS: Cincinnati is No. 20 in this week?s ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 21 in the Associated Press poll, the 15th straight week UC has been ranked this season. In the computer ratings, UC is No. 17 in the Sagarin Index (3/9/05) and No. 20 in the RPI (3/9/05).
FIRST MEETING YEAR: Cincinnati defeated USF, 74-48, on Jan. 27 in Tampa. UC took an early double-digit lead with a 16-3 scoring run and was never threatened. UC held USF to .259 shooting and leading scorer Terrence Leather scoreless. Eric Hicks led UC with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
UC VS. USF: This will be the third meeting between Cincinnati and USF in tournament play. The Bearcats have won the previous two matchups, 76-56 in 1999 and 79-57 in 2002. UC is 12-0 vs. the USF since they became foes in Conference USA and have a 14-game win streak in the series, which they lead, 18-3.
STORY LINES:
? With one more victory, Cincinnati will to reach the 25-win mark for the ninth time in the past 10 seasons.
? Bob Huggins enters the C-USA tourney with 398 victories in his 16 seasons at Cincinnati and will be seeking milestone win No. 400 this week.
? Huggins, who ranks seventh among active coaches in winning percentage (566-197, .742) and 11th in victories, is tied for the 34th spot in career victories among all Division I coaches, active and retired, sharing the spot with Davey Whitney, formerly of Texas Southern and Alcorn State. He needs two more victories to reach 33rd place.
? Jason Maxiell, with 883 career rebounds, needs five more to move into ninth place on the UC career chart, currently held by George Wilson (1961-64).
? Cincinnati and USF have played 12 common opponents, all in C-USA. Cincinnati is 11-4 vs. those teams while USF is 5-10.
A LOOK AT THE BRACKET: For the ninth time in the 10-year history of Conference USA, Cincinnati has earned a bye from the first round of play. A Cincinnati win on Thursday will advance the Bearcats to Friday?s semifinals. Playing opposite UC in the bracket is No. 2 seed Charlotte (21-6, 12-4), which will face No. 7 Memphis (17-14, 9-7) on Thursday.
For Friday?s semifinal round, the highest-seeded remaining team will play at 3:30 p.m. followed by the other semifinal game at 6 p.m. Saturday?s championship game will tip off at 10:35 a.m. CST.
UC C-USA TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCES:
? Eric Hicks averaged 7.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in the 2004 C-USA tourney.
? Armein Kirkland was the hero of the 64-62 win over Louisville in the 2004 C-USA Tournament, scoring the game-winning basket with 16.9 seconds remaining. He finished with 12 points and a then-career-high seven assists.
? Jason Maxiell averaged 9.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in earning a spot on the 2004 C-USA All-Tournament team. Maxiell scored 15 points in the quarterfinal win over Louisville, and passed for the assist on Kirkland?s game-winning basket.
? Maxiell recorded 17 points and 12 rebounds in the 2003 first round tourney game vs. Southern Miss, also blocking three shots. He averaged 9.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in the 2002 C-USA tourney as a freshman.
? James White averaged 6.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the 2004 tournament.
? Nick Williams averaged 5.7 points, shooting .571 from 3-point range, in the 2004 tourney. He hit a key 3-pointer late in the second half of UC?s quarterfinal win over Louisville and had 11 points, making 3-of-5 treys, in the semifinal win over Saint Louis.
LAST TIME IN THE C-USA TOURNAMENT: Seeded No. 3 in the 2004 C-USA Tournament, the Bearcats defeated Louisville (64-62), Saint Louis (66-46) and DePaul (55-50) in succession to capture their fourth Conference USA tourney crown at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. Tony Bobbitt was named tourney MVP after averaging 12.7 points in the three games, with Jason Maxiell earning a spot on the all-tourney team.
LAST TIME C-USA TOURNEY IN MEMPHIS: In one of the most heart-wrenching moments in Cincinnati basketball history, consensus national Player of the Year Kenyon Martin suffered a leg fracture four minutes into the Bearcats? quarterfinal game vs. Saint Louis and No. 1-ranked UC fell to the Billikens, 68-58.
LUCKY 3? UC, the No. 3 seed in this year?s tourney, won the tourney title last year in Cincinnati as the No. 3 seed. As a matter of fact, in the first nine Conference USA tourneys, the No. 3 seed has made it to the title game six times, and won it three of the last four years.
TOURNEY TESTED: Cincinnati has won four of the nine previous C-USA tournament titles, capturing crowns in 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2004. The 1998, 2002 and 2004 C-USA tourneys were played in Cincinnati. The Bearcats are 16-5 in C-USA Tournament play and have a 37-18 mark in all conference postseason tournaments.
MEMPHIS MOSTLY GOOD TO UC: Cincinnati has found success in previous tournaments played in Memphis. The Bearcats captured the initial C-USA tourney in 1996 and won the 1993 Great Midwest Tournament, both played in The Pyramid. The building was also the site of one of UC?s biggest tournament heartbreaks, when Kenyon Martin, the consensus national Player of the Year, suffered a broken leg in Cincinnati?s quarterfinal contest, which gave UC an early tourney departure and thwarted the national title hopes of the Bearcats.
UC-MEMPHIS GAME RECAP:
? The victory gave UC a 11-5 record in regular season-ending games under Bob Huggins.
? UC outrebounded Memphis, 53-37. The Bearcats gathered 24 offensive rebounds to the Tigers? 23 defensive rebounds.
? James White tied a career high with 11 rebounds. With 11 points to go with those rebounds, he recorded his second double-double of the season and the third of his career.
? Eric Hicks, with 12 points and 11 rebounds, notched his ninth double-double of the season and 12th of his career.
BEARCAT BITES:
? Cincinnati has posted victory margins of 10 or more points in 20 of its 24 wins and has beaten 16 of those foes by at least 16 points. UC is second in C-USA and 12th nationally in average scoring margin.
? After shooting .786 at the foul line the previous four games, UC has shot just .525 at the charity stripe in its final two regular season games, going 32-of-61.
? UC has averaged 17.3 assists over its last three games. The Bearcats have had an assist on 52 of their 78 field goals during this span, a .667 percentage.
? The Bearcats have held 21 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 14 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 (.368) and No. 3 in blocked shots (6.9).
? The Bearcats? 206 blocks is the second highest season total in school history. The 1999-00 team set the record of 223. Jason Maxiell?s 81 blocks is the third-highest single season total for rejections.
? UC has posted an average rebounding margin of +13.3 during its six-game win streak, and a +17.5 margin in its last two contests. Cincinnati is third in C-USA in rebounding margin (+5.3).
? UC has five players averaging double figures in scoring for all games (Maxiell, Hicks, Kirkland, Muhammad, White), and in C-USA games (Maxiell, Hicks, Williams, White, Muhammad).
? The Bearcats have won 26 of 32 jump balls, with Jason Maxiell doing all of the jumping. UC has taken the opening tip in 24 of its 30 contests and won both overtime period jump balls.
? UC has made more free throws (569) than its opponents have attempted (535).
? Eighteen of UC?s 30 foes 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. 18 Charlotte, and the loss to 18-9 DePaul, the combined record of the five teams to beat the Bearcats is 120-24.
MARCH MADNESS: Over the past 13 years, Cincinnati has posted a 58-25 record during the month of March, underscoring the Bearcats? reputation as a team which is primed for postseason. Since the 1957-58 season, when UC first qualified for the NCAA Tournament, Cincinnati has compiled a 118-60 (.663) ledger in games played in the month of March.
BEARCATS TIE FOR SECOND: For only the second time in the league?s 10-year history, Cincinnati did not win or tie for the regular season Conference USA championship. The Bearcats finished in a tie with Charlotte for second place. UC has claimed all or a share of 26 conference basketball titles in its history, the seventh-most of Division I institutions.
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.
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 123-33 ledger (.788) in C-USA play, winning or sharing the regular season crown in all but two of those years. The Bearcats have posted a 258-68 (.791) 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.
MOORE LEAVES TEAM: Junior guard Chadd Moore announced that he was leaving the basketball team for health reasons on Feb. 28, effective immediately. Bothered by a back injury the past two seasons, Moore saw action in 24 of the Bearcats? first 28 games, making five starts. He averaged 3.3 points and 2.5 assists, to go along with 21 steals and 10 blocked shots, while averaging 15 minutes per game. He will remain at UC on scholarship and complete his degree next year.
MAX?S MILESTONES: Jason Maxiell continues to rack up milestones:
? Maxiell has averaged 15.9 points over his last seven games, shooting .556 from the field.
? Has averaged 8.4 rebounds over his last five contests, reaching double figures three times.
? The 6-7 senior is in 11th place on UC?s career scoring list with 1,514 points and 13th on the all-time C-USA list.
? Max has played in 126 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in Cincinnati history. The record is 131 set by Keith Gregor (1992-96).
? Maxiell?s 242 career blocks ranks second at UC to Kenyon Martin and fourth in C-USA.
? He ranks fourth in C-USA in career rebounds with 883, 10th on the UC career rebounding list.
HICKS A HERO: Eric Hicks has been one of Cincinnati?s most productive players in recent weeks:
? The 6-6 junior has averaged 15.1 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last 10 games, shooting .585 from the field.
? Has reached double digits in rebounding in five of his last eight games, averaging 10.0 rebounds for that span.
? Has scored in double figures 21 times, including 11 of his last 13 games.
? Hicks ranks third in C-USA and 28th nationally in rejections (2.3).
? He ranks fourth in C-USA and 36th nationally in rebounds (9.0).
? His defensive performance was credited with the effort that limited then-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.
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 nine games to boost his season average to 3.2. White ranks ninth in C-USA in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.60:1).
BLOCK PARTY: Cincinnati leads Conference USA and is ranked third nationally in blocked shots (7.0). Jason Maxiell is second in C-USA and 16th nationally in blocks (2.7), with Eric Hicks (2.3) third in C-USA and 28th nationally. The Bearcats recorded a season-high 13 blocks in their Dec. 27 win over Miami (Ohio) and have had 10 or more blocks in eight games this season. 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 207 rejections, while opponents have only 65.
UC?s 207 blocks is the second-highest total recorded by a Bearcat team to the 223 which the 1999-00 squad amassed. Maxiell?s 81 blocks ranks third on the season list, three away from second place, while Hicks? 66 is tied for the sixth highest season individual total.
DIFFERENT LOOK: UC has started new lineups in eight of its last nine games and has used 13 different lineups this season.