TicketsNov. 28, 2005
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CINCINNATI vs. DAYTON
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2005
Time: 8:00 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records:
Cincinnati .............................................. 3-0
Dayton:.................................................. 2-2
TV: WXIX-TV 19 (Jeff Piecoro, Anthony Buford).
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock).
THE COACHES
Andy Kennedy (UAB '91)
At Cincinnati: ........... 3-0, 1st year
Overall: ................... 3-0, 1st year
Brian Gregory (Oakland '90)
At Dayton: ............. 44-22, 3 years
Overall: ................. 44-22, 3 years
SERIES: Cincinnati 58, Dayton 29
LAST MEETING: Dec. 4, 2004 in Dayton; Cincinnati 65, Dayton 55.
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2005-06 Statistics
F 30 Cedric McGowan......... 6-6 Jr. Miami, Fla.......................... 7.3 pts, 6.7 reb, 1.3 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks................... 6-6 Sr. Greensboro, N.C............... 10.3 pts, 8.7 reb, 2.0 blk
F-G 33 Armein Kirkland........... 6-8 Sr. Tyler, Texas....................... 7.7 pts, 2.7 reb, 1.3 ast
G 21 James White.............. 6-7 Sr. Washington, D.C............... 19.3 pts, 4.7 reb, 2.0 ast
G 3 Devan Downey........... 5-10 Fr. Chester, S.C.................... 12.3 pts, 2.3 reb, 3.0 ast
DAYTON PROBABLE STARTERS 2005-06 Statistics
F 1 Monty Scott................ 6-6 Sr. Reynoldsburg, Ohio........... 14.0 pts, 7.3 reb, 0.8 blk
F 21 Norman Plummer......... 6-7 So. Fairfield, Ohio..................... 7.5 pts, 6.3 reb, 1.3 stl
C 44 James Cripe.............. 6-11 Jr. Loveland, Ohio................... 2.5 pts, 2.0 reb, 0.5 stl
G 2 Brian Roberts.............. 6-2 So. Toledo, Ohio..................... 20.3 pts, 2.8 reb, 2.5 ast
G 11 Warren Williams........... 6-0 Sr. Gaithersburg, Md................ 6.0 pts, 3.8 reb, 6.0 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati renews its area rivalry with the University of Dayton on Tuesday when the two teams meet at Fifth Third Arena. The 8 p.m. contest will be televised locally into both the Cincinnati and Dayton markets. Cincinnati brings a 3-0 slate into the contest. The Bearcats defeated Holy Cross, 77-55, on Nov. 25 in their most recent outing. Dayton is 2-2, after Saturday's 91-90 double overtime loss at Creighton.
THE RIVALRY: Tuesday's game will be the 88th meeting between Cincinnati and Dayton. The Bearcats hold a 58-29 lead in the series, and are 38-10 in games played in Cincinnati, including a 6-0 mark in Fifth Third Arena. UC has won 13 of the last 14 clashes, including last year's 65-55 win at Dayton.
STORY LINES:
Tuesday's game will be the first of two Cincinnati-Dayton clashes in the next 24 days. The two teams will meet again on Dec. 22 at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic in Las Vegas.
The rivalry with Dayton is Cincinnati's second-most played series. The two schools have met 87 times, second only to the UC-Miami series which includes 141 contests.
James White will be out to top the 800-point plateau in career scoring. The Bearcat senior has 791 points. White, who transferred to UC after playing his freshman season at Florida, has scored 509 points as a Bearcat.
Eric Hicks is closing in on his 600th career rebound. He enters Tuesday's game with 585. The senior has had double digit rebounding performances in two of his first three games.
Tuesday's game will complete a slate in which the Bearcats played four games in 10 days to open the 2005-06 season.
OTHER NOTES ON THE SEASON:
The Bearcats have gotten 60 points from their bench over the past two games. The UC subs scored 36 in the Nov. 23 win over Illinois State and 24 vs. Holy Cross.
After not recording a blocked shot in their season opener, ending a streak of 86 games with at least one rejection, the Bearcats have blocked seven shots in each of the last two games.
UC has held all three of its 2005-06 opponents to sub-.400 field goal shooting. The Bearcats have posted sub-.400 defensive field goal percentages in eight of the past 10 seasons.
Cincinnati has had a 20-point scorer in two of its first three games. James White tallied 21 in the season opener vs. Murray State and freshman Devan Downey reached the same scoring figure in the Nov. 22 win over Illinois State.
The Bearcats extended their streak of consecutive home season-opening victories to 40 when they defeated Murray State in the Nov. 19 opener. Cincinnati is 85-19 in home openers.
WHITE'S SCORING CONSISTENT: James White not only leads Cincinnati in scoring, but he is tops in scoring consistency. The 6-7 senior has tallied 21, 18 and 19 points in UC's first three games for a 19.3 season average. The production is a significant boost for White, who averaged 10.2 points last season and entered the campaign with an 8.1 career scoring average.
FRESHMAN BREAKS THE LINEUP: Devan Downey broke into the starting lineup for Friday's win over Holy Cross, becoming the first freshman starter since Roy Bright last season (Dec. 27, 2004 vs. Miami, Ohio), and the first frosh to start in the backcourt since Chadd Moore on Jan. 2, 2003 vs. Chattanooga. Downey responded to the promotion with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals. He vaulted into second place on the team scoring chart, averaging 12.3 points, and is second in assists, averaging 3.0.
MORE ASSISTS FOR MUHAMMAD: Jihad Muhammad's responsibilities for handling the ball have been reduced for the senior this season, who is spending more time at shooting guard, contrary to last season when he was utilized at point guard. As a result of the move, the 5-11 senior has become a more effective passer and is leading the team in assists, averaging 3.3 per game.
CLOSE SHAVES THE NORM FOR COACHING DEBUTS: The overtime victory over Murray State in Andy Kennedy's debut as head coach should not have been a total surprise. Each of Cincinnati's previous two head coaches had similar nerve-racking beginnings. After trailing the entire contest, UC rallied in the final minute and a half to defeat Eastern Kentucky, 68-65, in Tony Yates' first game as the Bearcats' head coach in 1983-84. Bob Huggins' first game at UC, in 1989-90, was turned into a victory when Minnesota turned the ball over with 0.9 seconds remaining and Steve Sanders hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 66-64 victory.
CHANGES IN THE ARENA: Fans attending Cincinnati home games will see some major changes in Fifth Third Arena. The a new scoreboard/videoboard has been hung over center court. The video display area is nearly 50 percent greater than that of the old unit. New video boards have been installed at each end of the arena. There are new courtside tables with video displays. The court has been resurfaced and contains the new UC and BIG EAST logos. Operationally, the game clock will be started and stopped by the officials via the Precision Timing system, and LED lighting behind the backboards will help signal the end of periods.
NINTH-WINNINGEST PROGRAM: Cincinnati has been college basketball's ninth-winningest program since the turn of the century. Over the past six years, the Bearcats have compiled a 152-45 record for an .772 percentage.
Cincinnati's 152 wins are the ninth-most among Division I teams over this period.
Cincinnati has won 25 or more games nine of the last 10 seasons.
The Bearcats have won a conference regular season and/or tournament title in 12 of the past 14 seasons, and six times during this period have claimed both during the same season.
UC's 14 straight NCAA Tournament appearances is the third-longest active streak in Division I, trailing only Arizona (21) and Kansas (17).
ERIC'S SUMMER TRIP: Eric Hicks did not have your typical summer vacation. The Bearcats' senior forward helped the United States to the Gold Medal at the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey. Hicks was one of 15 players invited to the USA Basketball Trials in Colorado Springs to participate in tryouts for the team in late July. He made the 12-player roster for the games and travelled to Turkey in August. Hicks averaged 6.6 points and 3.1 rebounds at the games, shooting .576 from the field. He had a team-leading 24 points in the 117-61 win over China.
105th CAMPAIGN: The 2005-06 season is Cincinnati's 105th year of basketball competition. The school has compiled a 1,502-855 record for a .637 percentage.
BEARCATS STRONG IN 5/3 ARENA: Cincinnati is in its 17th season in Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center, and has compiled a 223-29 record a .884 winning percentage. UC is 59-6 in Fifth Third over the last five seasons, and compiled a 73-7 mark vs. Conference USA teams during its 10 years in that league.
UC'S DEFENSIVE REPUTATION: Cincinnati teams have earned a reputation for their defense and rebounding emphasis, and the success of last year's team is evidence of this. UC held its foes to a .373 field goal percentage to rank second in the nation. The Bearcats have held their opponents to sub-.400 shooting in eight of the past 10 seasons and have been annually ranked among the nation's teams in fewest points allowed.
LOOKING AHEAD: An old rival comes to town as the Bearcats host No. 11 Memphis on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 3 p.m. at Fifth Third Arena. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN.