TicketsJan. 3, 2006
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GAME FACTS
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records:
Cincinnati: 11-2, 0-0 BIG EAST
DePaul: 7-4, 0-0 BIG EAST
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. 8.8 pts, 6.5 reb, 0.8 ast
F 33 Armein Kirkland 6-8 Sr. Tyler, Texas 9.6 pts, 3.5 reb, 2.2 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks 6-6 Sr. Greensboro, N.C. 14.2 pts, 8.2 reb, 3.2 blk
G 21 James White 6-7 Sr. Washington, D.C. 18.0 pts, 5.4 reb, 1.9 ast
G 3 Devan Downey 5-10 Fr. Chester, S.C. 14.9 pts, 2.3 reb, 4.2 ast
DePAUL PROBABLE STARTERS 2005-06 Statistics
F 22 Wilson Chandler 6-8 Fr. Benton Harbor, Mich. 7.2 pts, 7.5 reb, 1.5 blk
F 5 Karron Clarke 6-6 So. Brooklyn, N.Y. 9.8 pts, 4.9 reb, 1.1 ast
C 44 Marlon Brumfield 6-9 Sr. Chicago, Ill. 2.5 pts, 3.3 reb, 0.3 blk
G 1 Jabari Currie 6-4 Fr. Detroit, Mich. 7.8 pts, 2.5 reb, 2.3 ast
G 11 Sammy Mejia 6-6 Jr. Bronx, N.Y. 15.7 pts, 4.7 reb, 2.5 astbr>
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati will play its first-ever game in the BIG EAST Conference against an old, familiar foe when the Bearcats host DePaul on Wednesday, Jan. 4 at Fifth Third Arena at 7 p.m. EST. UC and DePaul are both newcomers in the BIG EAST this season after facing each other at least twice a year over the past 14 seasons in the Great Midwest Conference and Conference USA. Cincinnati, 11-2, brings an eight-game winning streak into the contest. The Bearcats defeated North Carolina A&T, 105-69, in their most recent outing on Dec. 30. DePaul, 7-4, has a two-game winning streak, which includes a 72-60 win over Florida International on Dec. 31.
STORY LINES:
The Bearcats enter Wednesday's game with an eight-game winning streak. That's UC's longest win streak since the Bearcats won the first 11 games of the 2004-05 season.
Cincinnati has won its last 11 conference opening games, 10 in Conference USA and one in the Great Midwest Conference. UC has won 14 of its last 15 league openers.
Jerry Wainwright is in his first season as head coach at DePaul, but is no stranger to Cincinnati. Wainwright began his college coaching career in Cincinnati as an assistant at Xavier under Bob Staak in 1984-85. Wainwright later served as head coach at North Carolina-Wilmington, where his teams visited the Bearcats three times, with UC winning all three contests.
There may not be many chances for rebounds when foul shots are attempted in Wednesday's game. The Bearcats are ranked seventh nationally in free throw percentage (.794) while the Blue Demons are No. 41 (.710).
Cincinnati enters the week No. 15 in the RPI, with its strength of schedule rated No. 16. DePaul is No. 19 in the RPI with its strength of schedule at No. 10.
The Bearcats have a 227-31 record (.880) in 17 seasons in Fifth Third Arena. UC is 14-1 vs. DePaul over that span.
CINCINNATI VS. DePAUL: The Bearcats and Blue Demons will be meeting for the 41st time and the 33rd contest over the past 15 seasons. Cincinnati holds a 28-12 lead in the all-time series, courtesy of a 16-game winning streak from the 1991-92 to the 1998-99 seasons. UC has won 26 of the last 30 meetings, but the teams have split their regular season series in each of the last three seasons, the home teams claiming victories on each occasion.
LAST MEETING: Quemont Greer scored 25 points and Drake Diener added 22 to lead DePaul to an 85-66 win over Cincinnati on Feb. 12, 2005 at Allstate Arena. The Blue Demons erased an early lead with an 18-2 scoring run in the first half. DePaul sank 11 treys and won the rebounding battle, 39-28. Eric Hicks scored 22 points to lead UC.
LAST TIME IN CINCINNATI: Jason Maxiell, with 19 points, led four Bearcat double-figure scorers as Cincinnati downed DePaul, 83-54, on Jan. 6, 2005 in Fifth Third Arena in the C-USA opener for both teams. Aided by a 16-3 scoring run, UC took a 26-point lead in the first half. The Bearcats shot .508 from the field and held the Blue Demons to .303 shooting.
UC ENDS PRE-CONFERENCE WITH 11 WINS: Cincinnati topped the 11-win mark in November-December play for the fifth time in school history with its 11-2 mark. The 1998-99 and 2001-02 teams each posted 12 victories while UC recorded 11 pre-conference victories in 2004-05 and 1999-00.
NOTES FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA A&T GAME:
Eric Hicks tallied a career-high 24 points, and with 10 rebounds, notched his third double-double of the season and the 16th of his career. Hicks blocked a season-high seven shots to extend his blocks streak to 12 games.
James White's season-high 23 points extended his streak of double figure scoring games to 13. He also matched career highs for steals with four and treys with four.
Devan Downey dished out a career-high 11 assists, and with 13 points, recorded his first career double-double.
Six Bearcats reached double figures in scoring for the first time this season. It marked the seventh game this season, and the fifth time in the past six games, that at least five Bearcats reached double digits.
Cincinnati recorded a season-high 25 assists.
UC extended its current win streak to eight games, the longest since last year's Bearcats opened the 2004-05 season with 11 straight victories.
Cincinnati topped the century mark in scoring for the second time this season, matching the 105 points scored in the Dec. 17 win over Tennessee Tech.
NOTES ON THE EIGHT-GAME WIN STREAK: The Bearcats' success in their win streak is measurable in the statistics from the last eight contests:
UC has averaged 87.9 points and has posted an average victory margin of 19.8 points.
UC has shot .492 from the field, including a season-high .563 vs. Tennessee Tech on Dec. 17 and a .552 effort vs. North Carolina A&T.
UC has averaged 10.9 turnovers and has had an average turnover margin of +8.0.
UC has averaged 8.8 steals.
The eight opponents were a combined 38-21 at the time they played the Bearcats, including an 0-9 team in that number.
DOWNEY PLAYING A BIG ROLE: Devan Downey, the Bearcats' 5-10 freshman point guard, has played a large role in Cincinnati's eight-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 recorded 16 points and nine assists while posting a career-high seven rebounds.
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.
On Dec. 28 vs. Miami, he tallied 19 points, on 4-of-7 shooting.
On Dec. 30 vs. North Carolina A&T, he passed for a career-high 11 assists and scored 13 points for his first career double-double.
Downey's eight-game statistics during the streak feature a 16.0 scoring average, a .495 field goal percentage, and averages of 5.4 assists and 2.0 steals.
Downey is UC's second-leading scorer, averaging 14.9 points. He leads the Bearcats in assists (4.2) and steals (2.1).
WHITE'S SCORING CONSISTENT: James White not only leads Cincinnati in scoring with his 18.0 average, but he is tops in scoring consistency. The 6-7 senior has recorded game highs of 23 and 21 points and has had lows of 10, 15 and 17 points in three 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 13 games this season while shooting .521 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 closing in on his 1,000th career point, entering Wednesday's game with 967.
HICKS HAVING A BLOCK-FEST: Eric Hicks, who blocked a season-high seven shots--one shy of his career high--vs. North Carolina A&T on Dec. 30, has blocked 29 shots in his last seven 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 184, trailing Kenyon Martin (292) and Jason Maxiell (254). Hicks has blocked at least one shot in 42 of his last 44 games, and has a current string of 12 games with at least one rejection. The 6-6 senior opened last season with a streak of 20 games with a blocked shot.
TREYS ARE FALLING: The Bearcats have recorded their top three 3-point shooting percentages over their past three contests. UC shot a season high .474 vs. LSU on Dec. 23, then topped that with a best of .545 vs. Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 28 and had a .455 percentage vs. North Carolina A&T on Dec. 30. Over the last three games, UC has shot .481 (25-of-52) from behind the arc.
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.
MORE LEAGUE HONORS: Seniors James White and Eric Hicks have also been recognized by the BIG EAST this season. White was named to the weekly honor roll twice (Dec. 19, Dec. 26), while Hicks was named to the honor roll Dec. 5.
STREAK BUSTERS: Cincinnati ended modest win streaks of three 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 .474 from the field in its 11 victories and .380 in its two defeats.
Cincinnati has held six 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 .404 shooting.
UC's win over Tennessee Tech on Dec. 17 produced season highs in points (105), rebounds (44), rebound margin (+9), and tied a season high in steals (14).
FOUL PLAY: Cincinnati has shot .794 at the foul line over its first 13 games. James White leads UC's free throw marksmen with his .887 percentage. Devan Downey is shooting .848. Even Eric Hicks is getting into the act. A .569 career foul shooter, Hicks has shot .731 this season. UC has made as many free throws (251) as its opponents have attempted (251).
BLOUNT RETURNS: Corie Blount, the starting center on the University of Cincinnati basketball teams which reached the NCAA Final Four in 1992 and Elite Eight in 1993, returned to the Bearcat bench as interim assistant coach in early December. A first round draft pick by the Chicago Bulls following his UC career, Blount is an 11-year veteran of the National Basketball Association. Blount averaged 9.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots during his two seasons as a Bearcat.
UC IN THE BIG EAST: Cincinnati makes its debut as a member of the expanded BIG EAST Conference this season after playing the past 10 years in Conference USA. In the preseason polls of both the league's coaches and media, the Bearcats were picked to finish ninth among the 16 teams. Senior Eric Hicks was an honorable mention selection to the BIG EAST preseason all-league team. The Bearcats have compiled a record of 131-96 for a .577 winning percentage against the current BIG EAST membership.
CONFERENCE DEBUTS GOOD FOR UC: The Bearcats can expect to enjoy success in their inaugural season in the BIG EAST, if the past is any precursor. Every time Cincinnati has begun play in a new conference, it has claimed the championship in that initial year. UC captured the Buckeye Athletic Association title in 1925-26, the Mid-American Conference championship in 1946-47, the Missouri Valley Conference crown in 1957-58, the Metro Conference Tournament championship in the league's first season of play in 1975-76, the regular season and tournament title in the Great Midwest Conference in 1991-92, and the regular season and tourney championships of Conference USA in 1995-96.
BEARCATS NO. 1 AMONG CONFERENCE RULERS: Cincinnati shares with Valparaiso the distinction of having won the most conference regular season championships over the last 11 seasons. The Bearcats have been regular season champions nine times in the past 11 seasons, eight in Conference USA and once in the Great Midwest Conference.
NINTH-WINNINGEST PROGRAM: Entering the 2005-06 season, 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 a .772 percentage.
Cincinnati's 152 wins are the ninth-most among Division I teams.
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).
105th CAMPAIGN: The 2005-06 season is Cincinnati's 105th year of basketball competition. The school has compiled a 1,510-857 record (.638).
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats make their first BIG EAST Conference road trip. Cincinnati visits Marquette, another longtime rival that joined the BIG EAST this season, for a 12 noon EST contest on Saturday, Jan. 7. The Bearcats will travel to Hartford, Conn. for their BIG EAST Big Monday ESPN debut vs. No. 2 UConn on Jan. 9. UC will return home to host Syracuse on Jan. 14.