TicketsBearcats, Cardinals Vie for First Place
C-USA race is on the line when UC and UofL clash on Wednesday.
Contact: Brian Teter
1/31/2005
Roy Bright has been providing valuable depth to the front line. |
CINCINNATI vs. LOUISVILLE
GAME FACTS
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2005
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
Site: Freedom Hall (18,865), Louisville, Kentucky
Records:
Cincinnati (20USA/21AP): 17-3, 6-1 C-USA (tie-1st)
Louisville (12USA/12AP): 18-3, 6-1 C-USA (tie-1st)
TV: ESPN (Brent Musburger, Steve Lavin, Erin Andrews).
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock).
Tickets: Sold out.
Series: Louisville leads, 48-37.
First Meeting This Year: Jan. 15 at Cincinnati; Louisville 69, Cincinnati 66.
The Coaches:
? BOB HUGGINS (West Virginia ?77)
At Cincinnati: 16th year, 391-122 (.762)
Overall: 24th year, 559-194 (.742)
Huggins is the nation?s sixth-winningest active coach and is 11th in victories. He is 15-9 vs. Louisville.
? RICK PITINO (Massachusetts ?74)
At UofL: 4th year, 82-33 (.713)
Overall: 19th year, 434-157 (.734)
Pitino has taken teams to the NCAA Final Four four times. He is 6-5 vs. Cincinnati, 4-4 as Louisville?s coach.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 21 James White, 6-7 Jr., Kensington, Md........10.3 pts, 4.8 reb, 2.9 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks, 6-6 Jr., Greensboro, N.C........13.0 pts, 8.8 reb, 2.5 blk
F 54 Jason Maxiell, 6-7 Sr., Carrollton, Texas...15.1 pts, 8.0 reb, 3.3 blk
G 5 Nick Williams, 6-3 Sr., Arlington, Texas.....8.1 pts, 2.2 reb, 1.7 ast
G 13 Jihad Muhammad, 5-11 Jr., Plainfield, N.J...10.6 pts, 3.3 reb, 3.0 ast
LOUISVILLE PROBABLE STARTERS 2004-05 Statistics
F 3 Juan Palacios, 6-8 Fr., Medellin, Columbia..10.9 pts, 6.6 reb, 1.3 stl
F 32 Francisco Garcia, 6-7 Jr., Bronx, N.Y.......16.8 pts, 5.0 reb, 4.2 ast
C 2 Ellis Myles, 6-8 Sr., Compton, Calif........10.1 pts, 9.4 reb, 2.8 ast
G 34 Larry O?Bannon, 6-4 Sr., Louisville, Ky.....14.6 pts, 3.1 reb, 2.0 ast
G 5 Taquan Dean, 6-3 Jr., Neptune, N.J..........14.3 pts, 3.6 reb, 2.8 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: Sole possession of first place in Conference USA will be at stake, not to mention national rankings, when Cincinnati and Louisville meet at Freedom Hall on Wednesday. The 7 p.m. EST contest will be televised nationally by ESPN. The two rivals, who will be meeting for the 86th time, are tied for the league lead with 6-1 records. Cincinnati, No. 20 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and No. 21 by the Associated Press, is 17-3. UC captured contests over USF and Houston last week by an average margin of 22.5 points. The Cardinals, 12th in both polls, are 18-3 after winning two games last week by an average margin of 41.5 points.
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. 13 in the Sagarin Index (1/31/05) and No. 27 in the RPI (1/31/05).
LAST TIME VS. LOUISVILLE: Louisville overcame a 17-point first half deficit to edge Cincinnati, 69-66, at Fifth Third Arena on Jan. 15. The Cardinals completed their comeback with an 11-0 run between the 8:18 and 5:09 marks of the second half. Taquan Dean led UofL with 25 points. Nick Williams came off the bench to score 18 points, sinking six of eight 3-point shots, to pace the Bearcats.
LAST TIME AT FREEDOM HALL: Taquan Dean and Francisco Garcia combined for 40 points to spark Louisville?s 93-66 rout of Cincinnati on Jan. 21, 2004. The Cardinals blew open a four-point lead with an 18-4 run midway through the second half. Jason Maxiell led UC with 14 points.
STORY LINES:
? Wednesday?s game will showcase two of the nation?s winningest active head coaches. Cincinnati?s Bob Huggins ranks sixth among active coaches with a 558-194 record for a .742 winning percentage. Louisville?s Rick Pitino is ninth at 434-157 for a .734 percentage.
? The Cincinnati-Louisville series is Conference USA?s longest-running rivalry. The two teams have met 85 times. Louisville holds a 48-37 lead in the series, but Cincinnati has won 13 of the last 20 games.
? Cincinnati and Louisville have been rivals in three conferences, the Missouri Valley (1964-70), Metro (1975-91) and Conference USA (1995-present). Next year the two teams will move to the BIG EAST.
? The UC-UofL contest will pit Conference USA?s top shooting team against the league?s top team at defending the shot. Louisville, which leads C-USA in scoring offense (85.6), boasts the league?s top field goal percentage (.480). Cincinnati is ranked first in C-USA and second nationally in field goal percentage defense (.357). ? Francisco Garcia, who had scored 55 points in his previous two games vs. Cincinnati and had averaged 21.2 points in the five games he had played vs. UC, was held to seven points in the team?s first meeting this season.
? Eric Hicks has averaged 2.3 blocks vs. UofL during his career.
? Wednesday?s game will be the 13th time that Cincinnati (20th ESPN/USA Today, No. 21 AP) and Louisville (12th both polls) have squared off when each team has been ranked in the Top 25. The high-watermark of these ranked clashes occurred last season when the Bearcats, No. 5 in the coaches poll and No. 6 by AP, and the Cardinals, No. 5 in the AP poll and No. 6 by the coaches, met on Jan. 21 in Louisville.
? Cincinnati is 13-24 vs. Louisville in Freedom Hall. The Bearcats are 25-39 in all appearances in the building. UC won the 1962 NCAA championship and the 1976 Metro Conference Tournament at Freedom Hall.
? Louisville is 24-3 at Freedom Hall over the last two seasons and has an all-time record of 597-125 (.827) in the building.
? Louisville?s 93-66 win over Cincinnati last season matched the worst margin of defeat suffered by UC under Bob Huggins. North Carolina defeated UC by 27 points in 1993-94.
? Cincinnati and Louisville have played two common opponents. Both teams defeated East Carolina, UC by an 84-78 score and UofL with a 92-41 rout. The Bearcats defeated Houston, 87-68, last Saturday while the Cardinals were upset by the Cougars, 70-67, in the C-USA season opener.
RECAPPING THE HOUSTON GAME:
? James White scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and second of his career.
? Jason Maxiell blocked a career-high eight shots and moved into fourth place in C-USA in career blocks with 227.
? Maxiell, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, posted his 18th career double-double and fourth of this season.
? Cincinnati had four players (White, Maxiell, Nick Williams with 14 points and Eric Hicks with 11 points) reach double figures in scoring, the 11th game in which four or more Bearcats reached double digits this season.
? Houston, which was limited to a .329 field goal percentage, became the 15th foe held to sub-.400 shooting this season.
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 11 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 (.357) and No. 3 in blocked shots (7.8).
? The Bearcats have won 18 of 22 jump balls. UC has taken the opening tip in 16 of its 20 contests and won both overtime period jump balls. Jason Maxiell has been the jumper on all occasions.
? Eleven of UC?s 20 opponents appeared in postseason play in 2003-04.
? The Bearcats three losses were to teams ranked No. 1 (Illinois), No. 3 (Wake Forest) and No. 18 (Louisville) at the time the Bearcats played them.
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.
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 117-30 ledger (.796) in C-USA play, winning or sharing the regular season crown in all but one of those years. The Bearcats have posted a 251-65 (.794) 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 HERO NOTES: Eric Hicks has been one of Cincinnati?s most productive players in recent games:
? The 6-6 junior has averaged 16.0 points over the last three games.
? He has averaged 9.8 rebounds over his last four contests to move into third place on the C-USA rebounding listing with his 8.8 season average.
? Hicks has averaged 3.2 blocks over his last five games, to rank fourth 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.
? He has also been a model of endurance on the court, averaging 34.8 minutes of playing time over his last four contests.
WILLIAMS ON A ROLL: Nick Williams has been Cincinnati?s top long-distance scoring threat recently. Over the past five games, the 6-3 senior has averaged 13.6 points, shooting .528 (19-of-38) 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 23 of his last 25 free throw attempts.
MAX?S MILESTONES: Jason Maxiell continues to rack up milestones:
? The 6-7 senior is in 15th place on UC?s career scoring list with 1,362 points.
? Max has played in 116 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in Cincinnati history.
? Maxiell?s 227 career blocks ranks second at UC to Kenyon Martin and fourth in C-USA.
? He ranks sixth in C-USA in career rebounds with 814.
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 4.3 assists, and only 0.9 turnovers, over his last seven games, an assists-to-turnovers ratio of 5:1. Muhammad dished out a career-high seven assists vs. East Carolina on Jan. 12 and had six assists in two other games. As well as leading the Bearcats in assists (3.0), Muhammad leads the team with 40 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 four games ago. Kirkland has shown signs of getting his coach?s message. The 6-8 junior has averaged 6.0 rebounds over his last four 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 third nationally in blocked shots (7.8). Jason Maxiell leads C-USA and is seventh nationally in blocks (3.3), with Eric Hicks (2.5) fourth 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 was named to the Conference USA preseason all-league team for the third straight year.
KIRKLAND EARNS C-USA HONORS: Armein Kirkland became the first Bearcat to earn Conference USA Player of the Week honors (Jan. 10) after averaging 20.0 points in leading Cincinnati to a pair of C-USA victories over DePaul and Saint Louis. Kirkland scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds in the Jan. 6 win over DePaul, and tallied 22 points in the Jan. 8 win over Saint Louis. Kirkland shot .593 from the field and averaged 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists during the two games.
BEARCAT BALANCE: UC has five players averaging in double figures scoring: Jason Maxiell (15.1), Eric Hicks (13.0), Armein Kirkland (12.3), Jihad Muhammad (10.6) and James White (10.3). In Conference USA play, the Bearcats have five players currently tallying double digits scoring (Maxiell, Hicks, Kirkland, White, Nick Williams), while the sixth (Muhammad) is at 9.6.
GAME TIME CHANGE: UC?s Feb. 16 game at Fifth Third Arena vs. Southern Miss has been moved up an hour and will now tip off at 7 p.m. The C-USA contest will be carried in Greater Cincinnati on WXIX-TV 19, while the rest of the nation will see it on ESPN2.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats are at Charlotte on Saturday (Feb. 5) for a 4 p.m. game which will air on ESPN. UC returns to Fifth Third Arena to host Xavier in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout on Feb. 10 (9 p.m., ESPN2).