TicketsDec. 27, 2005
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GAME FACTS
UC vs. Miami (Ohio)
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005
Time: 8:00 p.m. EST
Site: U.S. Bank Arena (16,200), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records:
Cincinnati: 9-2
Miami (Ohio): 4-4
TV: WXIX-TV 19 (Jeff Piecoro, Anthony Buford)
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard, Chuck Machock)
CINCINNATI PROBABLE STARTERS 2005-06 Statistics
F 30 Cedric McGowan 6-6 Jr. Miami, Fla. 8.5 pts, 6.6 reb, 0.9 ast
F 33 Armein Kirkland 6-8 Sr. Tyler, Texas 9.5 pts, 3.4 reb, 2.2 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks 6-6 Sr. Greensboro, N.C. 13.6 pts, 8.0 reb, 2.7 blk
G 21 James White 6-7 Sr. Washington, D.C. 18.3 pts, 5.6 reb, 1.8 ast
G 3 Devan Downey 5-10 Fr. Chester, S.C. 14.7 pts, 2.4 reb, 3.7 ast
MIAMI PROBABLE STARTERS 2005-06 Statistics
F 24 Michael Bramos 6-5 Fr. Harper Woods, Mich. 7.5 pts, 3.3 reb, 1.3 ast
C 22 Nate VanderSluis 6-11 Sr. Oak Harbor, Ohio 6.5 pts, 5.1 reb, 1.1 blk
G 1 Doug Penno 6-5 Jr. Kettering, Ohio 7.4 pts, 1.4 reb, 1.6 ast
G 3 Josh Hausfeld 6-3 Sr. Cincinnati, Ohio 2.8 pts, 0.0 reb, 0.8 ast
G 25 William Hatcher 6-2 Sr. Flint, Mich. 12.9 pts, 3.6 reb, 4.8 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati will try to extend its win current win streak to seven and its recent string of wins over rival Miami (Ohio) to eight when the Bearcats battle the RedHawks at U.S. Bank Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 28. The Bearcats enter the 8 p.m. contest with a 9-2 ledger, boosted by wins over Dayton and LSU last Thursday and Friday which gave them the co-championship of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. Miami enters the game with a 4-4 ledger, and will be out to snap a three-game losing skid. MU lost at Michigan, 87-80, on Dec. 22, its most recent outing.
OLDEST, LONGEST RIVALRY RENEWED: The oldest and longest-running rivalry for both schools will be renewed on Wednesday when Cincinnati plays Miami. The two schools have faced off 141 times, with UC holding an 88-53 lead in the series. UCi has a 6-2 edge in games vs. Miami played at U.S. Bank Arena, site of the last three contests. The Bearcats have won seven straight over Miami.
UC AT U.S. BANK ARENA: Wednesday's game brings Cincinnati back to one of its former home courts. The Bearcats played at U.S. Bank Arena, then known as Riverfront Coliseum, from 1976-87. UC has compiled a record of 113-50 (.693) in games played in the building, which includes championships of the Conference USA Tournaments played there in 2002 and 2004. The Bearcats have won nine straight games at U.S. Bank Arena.
STORY LINES:
The Bearcats enter Wednesday's game with a six-game winning streak. That's UC's longest win streak since the Bearcats won the last six regular season games of the 2004-05 season.
The RedHawks have three players on their roster from the Greater Cincinnati area; Tyler Dierkers (Moeller High), Josh Hausfeld (Roger Bacon), and Monty St. Clair (Roger Bacon).
Miami's Josh Hausfeld is the nephew of former Cincinnati offensive lineman Bob Hausfeld, who played offensive tackle on the 1987 and 1988 Bearcat teams.
Armein Kirkland will be seeking his 700th career point and 300th rebound. The senior enters Wednesday's game with totals of 685 and 297, respectively.
COMPUTERS LIKE THE CATS: Though receiving votes to rank No. 36 in this week's Associated Press poll and No. 43 in the ESPN/USA Today poll, Cincinnati is attracting greater notice in the computer rankings. The Bearcats entered the week ranked No. 5 in the RPI and were No. 13 in the Sagarin Index.
BEARCATS ARE PLAYING THE BEST: One reason for Cincinnati's lofty rankings in the computer indexes is the team's schedule. UC entered the week with the No. 5 strength of schedule ranking in the RPI.
NOTES FROM THE LSU GAME:
The Bearcats had their streak of games in which they scored 80 or more points snapped at five, the longest since UC put together a streak of six straight games in December of the 1996-97 season.
Eric Hicks, with three blocks, extended his streak of games in which he has recorded a blocked shot to 10.
Armein Kirkland's 36 minutes played was a career high for the senior.
Devan Downey had his streak of games in which he came up with a steal ended at nine. The 5-10 freshman had eight assists, one shy of his career high.
The tournament title was the Bearcats' first in-season crown since they won the Las Vegas Classic in December, 2001.
Eric Hicks and James White were named to the all-tournament team.
One game after shooting a season-low .118 from 3-point range, Cincinnati shot a season-high .474. The Bearcats' previous season high was .444 vs. Arkansas-Monticello, the game prior to their season low.
One game after shooting a season-high .926 from the foul line, UC shot a season-low .667.
NOTES ON THE SIX-GAME WIN STREAK: The Bearcats' success in their win streak is measurable in the statistics from the last six contests:
UC has averaged 87.1 points and has posted an average victory margin of 20.3 points.
UC has shot .483 from the field, including a season-high .563 vs. Tennessee Tech on Dec. 17.
UC has averaged just 10.0 turnovers and has had an average turnover margin of +9.2.
UC has averaged 8.8 steals.
The six opponents were a combined 34-8 at the time they played the Bearcats.
DOWNEY PLAYING A BIG ROLE: Devan Downey, the Bearcats' 5-10 freshman point guard, has played a large role in Cincinnati's six-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 vs. Ohio, 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 vs. Tennessee Tech, he tallied 16 points while posting career highs with seven rebounds and nine assists.
On Dec. 22 vs. Dayton, he recorded a game-high 21 points and three assists.
On Dec. 23 vs. LSU, he recorded eight assists and 11 points.
Downey's six-game statistics feature a 17.2 scoring average, a .500 field goal percentage, and averages of 5.0 assists and 2.2 steals.
Downey is UC's second-leading scorer, averaging 14.7 points. He leads the Bearcats in assists (3.7) and steals (2.2).
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 eight games, he has tallied 18 points four times and 19 points four times. White has scored in double digits in all 11 games this season while shooting .528 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 has topped the 900-point mark in career scoring (934).
HICKS HAVING A BLOCK-FEST: Eric Hicks has blocked 18 shots in his last five 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 173, trailing Kenyon Martin (292) and Jason Maxiell (254). Hicks has blocked at least one shot in 41 of his last 43 games, and has a current string of 10 games with at least one rejection. The 6-6 senior opened last season with a streak of 20 games with a blocked shot.
DOWNEY TAKES BIG EAST ROOKIE HONORS: Devan Downey earned the BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Week in back-to-back weeks. Downey captured the 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. He was chosen after keying the Dec. 10 win over Vanderbilt with 18 points and four steals.
STREAK BUSTERS: Cincinnati ended modest win streaks of 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.
OTHER BEARCAT BITS:
Cincinnati has shot .464 from the field in its eight victories and .380 in its two defeats.
Cincinnati has held five opponents under the .400 mark in field goal percentage, including two 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), and tied a season high in steals (14).
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.
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 on Dec. 17 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 .790 at the foul line over its first 11 games. James White leads UC's free throw marksmen with his .897 percentage. Devan Downey is shooting .837. Even Eric Hicks is getting into the act. A .569 career foul shooter, Hicks has shot .750 this season.
DePAUL GAME TIME CHANGED: The starting time of the Jan. 4 home game vs. DePaul has been moved up one hour, to 7 p.m., to minimize conflict with the Rose Bowl BCS national championship football game between Southern California and Texas.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats will conclude their non-conference home schedule on Friday night, Dec. 30 hosting North Carolina A&T at Fifth Third Arena. Game time is 7 p.m. UC opens BIG EAST Conference play next Wednesday, Jan 4 hosting DePaul at 7 p.m.