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GAME FACTS
Date: Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005
Time: 10:30 p.m. EST
Site: Valley Sports Complex (2,500), Las Vegas, Nevada
Records:
Cincinnati - 7-2
Dayton - 8-3
TV: None
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock).
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2005-06 Statistics
F 30 Cedric McGowan......... 6-6 Jr. Miami, Fla.......................... 9.1 pts, 7.3 reb, 0.9 ast
F 33 Armein Kirkland........... 6-8 Sr. Tyler, Texas....................... 9.2 pts, 3.0 reb, 2.2 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks................... 6-6 Sr. Greensboro, N.C............... 13.2 pts, 8.7 reb, 2.8 blk
G 21 James White.............. 6-7 Sr. Washington, D.C............... 18.1 pts, 5.8 reb, 2.2 ast
G 3 Devan Downey........... 5-10 Fr. Chester, S.C.................... 14.4 pts, 2.6 reb, 3.3 ast
DAYTON PROBABLE STARTERS 2005-06 Statistics
F 1 Monty Scott................ 6-6 Sr. Reynoldsburg, Ohio........... 11.7 pts, 4.5 reb, 0.5 ast
F 21 Norman Plummer......... 6-7 So. Fairfield, Ohio..................... 9.0 pts, 6.6 reb, 0.9 stl
C 32 Chris Alverez............... 6-8 So. Miami, Fla.......................... 4.7 pts, 5.6 reb, 1.0 blk
G 2 Brian Roberts.............. 6-2 So. Toledo, Ohio..................... 16.5 pts, 3.0 reb, 3.5 ast
G 15 Logan White................ 6-4 Sr. Cleveland, Ohio.................. 3.3 pts, 1.6 reb, 0.9 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: Revenge will be on the Bearcats minds when they face the Dayton Flyers in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic on Thursday (Dec. 22) at the Valley Sports Complex. Cincinnati brings a 7-2 record in the 10:30 p.m. EST contest, but Dayton is responsible for one of those losses. The Flyers beat the Bearcats, 75-66, at Fifth Third Arena. Since that Nov. 29 setback, Cincinnati had a hard-fought loss to then No. 9 Memphis, and has since reeled off four straight wins, the most recent an 84-63 win over Arkansas-Monticello on Monday. Dayton has carved out an 8-3 ledger, defeating Florida A&M, 73-48, on Monday. Both schools are 2-0 in the LVHC.
THE LAS VEGAS HOLIDAY CLASSIC: The Las Vegas Holiday Classic is an exempt tournament played in a round-robin format with opponents pre-determined. UC defeated Tennessee Tech, 105-62, and Arkansas-Monticello, 84-63, last Saturday and Monday in its first two games, which the Bearcats hosted. All teams move to Las Vegas for the final two rounds. After their Thursday game vs. Dayton, Cincinnati will play LSU on Friday at 10:30 p.m. EST. This is UC's third LVHC appearance. The Bearcats went 4-0 to win the tourney in 2000-01, and last year UC was 3-1 in the tournament, losing to No. 1 Illinois in the title game.
UC VS. UD: Cincinnati and Dayton have met 88 times--the series is UC's second-oldest rivalry--with the Bearcats holding a 58-30 lead in the series. The teams have clashed once already this year with Dayton taking a 75-66 victory on Nov. 29 in Cincinnati, UD's first win in the Queen City since 1970. Cincinnati has a 2-0 record in games played on neutral sites.
LAST MEETING: Brian Roberts tallied 24 points and James Cripe scored a career-high 14 points to lead Dayton to a 75-66 win over Cincinnati on Nov. 29, 2005 in Cincinnati. The Flyers built a 43-35 lead by halftime, but the Bearcats cut that margin to three points midway through the second half. Dayton regained command with a 10-3 scoring run. Eric Hicks led UC with 18 points and James White added 15.
STORY LINES:
Cincinnati and Dayton have played Tennessee Tech and Arkansas- Monticello as common opponents. The Bearcats recorded wins of 105-62 over Tennessee Tech and 84-63 over Arkansas-Monticello. Dayton defeated Tennessee Tech, 81-60, and had a 63-46 victory over the Boll Weevils.
James White will be seeking his 900th career point in Thursday's contest. The senior enters the contest with 896 points. The game will be the 100th of White's career.
The Bearcats have scored 80 or more points in each of their last four games. The last time UC had a longer streak of 80-plus point games occurred in December of the 1996-97 season when Cincinnati top the 80 mark six straight times.
Cincinnati has a 4-1 record at the Valley Sports Complex.
STREAK BUSTERS: Cincinnati has ended modest win streaks of its three recent opponents. UC stopped Vanderbilt's unbeaten start at five games with a 92-83 win over the Commodores on Dec. 10. The Bearcats also snapped Vandy's 28-game home non-conference win streak. Cincinnati halted Ohio's 4-0 start with an 86-58 win on Dec. 14. On Dec. 17, UC ended Tennessee Tech's six-game win streak with a 105-62 victory.
COMPUTERS LIKE THE CATS: Though receiving votes to rank No. 38 in this week's Associated Press poll and No. 46 in the ESPN/USA Today poll, Cincinnati is attracting greater notice in the computer rankings. The Bearcats were ranked No. 3 in the RPI and are No. 13 in the Sagarin Index following Monday's games.
BEARCATS ARE PLAYING THE BEST: One reason for Cincinnati's lofty rankings in the computer indexes is the team's schedule. UC had the No. 2 strength of schedule ranking in the RPI following Monday's games. The nine opponents UC has faced to date had a combined won-loss record of 53-21 (.716) following Monday's games. Things will not get any easier in the near or far futures. The Bearcats' next three foes had a combined record of 18-7 (.720) following Monday's play.
NOTES FROM THE ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO GAME:
Cincinnati shot a season-high .444 from 3-point range and .857 at the foul line.
The Bearcats posted season highs with 12 3-point field goals and 27 trey attempts.
UC committed a season-low 11 personal fouls.
Cedric McGowan grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds.
Jihad Muhammad scored 15 points on a season-best five treys.
NOTES ON THE FOUR-GAME WIN STREAK: The Bearcats' success in their win streak is measurable in the statistics from the last four contests:
UC has shot .498 from the field, including a season-high .563 vs. Tennessee Tech on Dec. 17.
UC has averaged 91.8 points and won by an average margin of 25.3 points.
UC has averaged 16.3 assists, and has had an assist on 65 of its 131 baskets.
UC has averaged 9.8 turnovers and has had an average turnover margin of +8.3.
UC has averaged 11.3 steals.
The four opponents were a combined 19-3 at the time they played the Bearcats.
DOWNEY REPEATS AS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Devan Downey earned the BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Week award for the second straight week after averaging 20.0 points, 7.0 assists and 3.5 steals in UC's wins over Ohio (12/14/05) and Tennessee Tech (12/17/05). The 5-10 freshman from Chester, S.C. scored a career high 24 points and matched a personal best with four steals vs. Ohio, and tallied 16 points and recorded career highs of nine assists and seven rebounds vs. Tennessee Tech.
DOWNEY PLAYING A BIG ROLE: Devan Downey, the Bearcats' 5-10 freshman point guard, has played a large role in Cincinnati's four-game winning streak.
On Dec. 10, Downey keyed UC's 92-83 win over Vanderbilt by scoring 18 points, 16 in the second half, and recording four steals and a pair of assists, earning BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Week honors.
On Dec. 14, Downey scored a career-high 24 points--a Bearcat high for the 2005-06 season--shooting 10-of-16 from the field, and had five assists and four steals.
On Dec. 17, he tallied 16 points while posting career highs with seven rebounds and nine assists.
Downey's four-game statistics feature a 17.8 scoring average, a .521 field goal percentage, and averages of 4.8 assists and 3.0 steals.
Downey is UC's second-leading scorer, averaging 14.4 points. He leads the Bearcats in assists (3.3) and steals (2.6).
OTHER BEARCAT BITS:
The Bearcats have topped the 80-point mark in each of their last four games, the longest streak of 80-plus points games since December of the 2003-04 season.
Cincinnati has shot .468 from the field in its seven victories and .380 in its two defeats.
Cincinnati has held five opponents under the .400 mark in field goal percentage, including two of the last three under 33 percent.. UC has posted sub-.400 defensive field goal percentages in six of the last eight seasons, and has limited foes to .390 shooting this year.
UC's win over Tennessee Tech on Dec. 17 produced a number of season milestones. The Bearcats achieved season highs in points (105), rebounds (44), rebound margin (+9), and assists (22), tied a season high in steals (14) and committed a season-low nine turnovers.
In the Tennessee Tech victory, UC topped the century mark in scoring for the first time since a 102-63 win over Elon on Dec. 30, 2003. The 105 points was the most by the Bearcats since their 105-57 win over Tulane on Jan. 29, 2001.
WHITE'S SCORING CONSISTENT: James White not only leads Cincinnati in scoring, but he is tops in scoring consistency. The 6-7 senior has scored as many as 21 points in one game and has had lows of 15 and 17 points in two others. In the remaining six games, he has tallied 18 points four times and 19 points twice. White has scored in double digits in all nine games this season while shooting .539 from the field. 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. White is approaching the 900-point mark in career scoring.
HICKS HAVING A BLOCK-FEST: Eric Hicks has blocked 13 shots in his last three games. The 6-6 senior had back-to-back five-block games vs. Ohio and Tennessee Tech. Hicks has moved into third place at Cincinnati in career blocks with 168, trailing Kenyon Martin (292) and Jason Maxiell (254). Hicks has blocked at least one shot in 39 of his last 41 games. The 6-6 senior had a shot rejection in his first 20 games last season.
CHADD's BACK: Chadd Moore returned to action for the first time since Feb. 24 last season when he played 22 minutes in the Dec. 10 victory over Vanderbilt. Moore played 19 minutes in the Dec. 14 win over Ohio, and last Saturday started in the win over Tennessee Tech. The Bearcat senior guard gave up basketball late last season due to chronic back problems, but made significant recovery over the summer to give the sport one more try. Moore, who scored nine points vs. Vanderbilt and six vs. Ohio, has been credited with his defensive play. Moore, who because he was not expecting to play again at UC, played on a summer basketball league team while on medical hardship, was required to sit out the first five games of the season.
FOUL PLAY: Cincinnati has shot .782 at the foul line over its first nine games. James White leads UC's free throw marksmen with his .909 percentage. Devan Downey is shooting .810. Even Eric Hicks is getting into the act. A .569 career foul shooter, Hicks has shot .744 this season.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats will face LSU in Friday's final round of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. Game time is 10:30 p.m. EST. Following a brief break for Christmas, Cincinnati will return to host Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at U.S. Bank Arena. Game time is at 8 p.m.