TicketsJan. 11, 2006
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GAME FACTS
UC vs. Syracuse Date: Saturday, Jan. 14, 2006
Time: 8:00 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records: Cincinnati (25 in AP): 13-3, 2-1 BIG EAST
Syracuse: 14-2, 2-0 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, 7.1 reb, 0.8 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks 6-6 Sr. Greensboro, N.C. 15.1 pts, 9.1 reb, 3.7 blk
G 21 James White 6-7 Sr. Washington, D.C. 17.6 pts, 5.4 reb, 2.2 ast
G 3 Devan Downey 5-10 Fr. Chester, S.C. 13.3 pts, 2.3 reb, 4.0 ast
G 1 Chadd Moore 6-2 Sr. Huntsville, Ala. 2.6 pts, 1.5 reb, 1.5 ast
SYRACUSE PROBABLE STARTERS 2005-06 Statistics
F 33 Terrence Roberts 6-9 Jr. Jersey City, N.J. 11.8 pts, 8.6 reb, 1.8 blk
F 34 Demetrius Nichols 6-8 Jr. Boston, Mass. 15.3 pts, 6.2 reb, 1.7 ast
C 13 Darryl Watkins 6-11 Jr. Paterson, N.J. 6.4 pts, 7.3 reb, 3.0 blk
G 3 Gerry McNamara 6-2 Sr. Scranton, Pa. 17.1 pts, 2.9 reb, 6.4 ast
G 23 Eric Devendorf 6-4 Fr. Bay City, Mich. 10.5 pts, 2.1 reb, 2.4 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati will try to rebound from Monday's loss at No. 4 Connecticut when the Bearcats host Syracuse on Saturday at Fifth Third Arena. Tipoff is 8 p.m. EST. Monday's setback, which ended Cincinnati's 10-game winning streak, was caused in part by the Huskies' size advantage, which they used to score 34 points in the paint in the 70-59 win. The Bearcats, 13-3 overall and 2-1 in the BIG EAST, will face a similarly sized team when they take on Syracuse. The Orange, ranked No. 24 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, are 14-2 and 2-0 in the BIG EAST following Wednesday's 88-82 win at Notre Dame, which extended their winning streak to 11 games.
STORY LINES:
Saturday's game will be a battle of two teams trying to climb the Top 25 rankings. Cincinnati is No. 25 in the Associated Press poll, and just outside the ESPN/USA Today rankings at No. 26. Syarcuse is No. 24 in the ESPN rankings and is 29th in the AP poll.
The Bearcats will be without senior Armein Kirkland, who suffered a torn ACL in Monday's loss at No. 4 Connecticut and will miss the remainder of the season.
Cincinnati, which was out-rebounded by 20 in its loss on Monday at UConn and its front line of 6-11, 6-10 and 6-9, will face a Syracuse front court that measures 6-11, 6-9 and 6-8.
For the second straight game, the Bearcats will face one of the nation's top shot blocking teams. Syracuse was ranked No. 5 in the most recent NCAA statistics (Monday's foe Connecticut was No. 2) and averages 7.4 rejections per game. Cincinnati is No. 13 nationally (6.4), with Eric Hicks ranked fifth individually (3.7). Eric Hicks is approaching his 1,000th career point. The 6-6 senior enters Saturday's game with 961 points.
For the second straight game, the Bearcats will be facing a Hall of Fame coach. Both Connecticut's Jim Calhoun and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last summer.
CINCINNATI VS. SYRACUSE: Saturday's game will be the first-ever meeting between Cincinnati and Syracuse in men's basketball.
PLAY IT AGAIN: Syracuse is one of three "mirror opponents" in the BIG EAST Conference that Cincinnati will play twice this season. The Orange will visit Fifth Third Arena on Feb. 15. In the current BIG EAST scheduling format, each team plays 13 of the 15 possible league opponents once and has three opponents that it plays twice on a home-and-home basis. UC's other mirror foes are No. 10 Louisville and No. 16 West Virginia.
BEARCATS MOVE INTO TOP 25: Cincinnati made its first appearance of the season in the Top 25 with a No. 25 ranking in this week's Associated Press poll. It is the 176th time in the last 244 polls that the Bearcats have been ranked.
COMPUTERS LIKE THE CATS: The Bearcats have been a Top 20 team most of the season in the computer ratings. UC was ranked No. 11 in the Sagarin Index and No. 15 in the RPI following Tueday's games.
BEARCATS STRONG IN 5/3 ARENA: Cincinnati is in its 17th season in Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center, and has compiled a 228-31 record, a .880 winning percentage.
TICKET UPDATE: Saturday's home game vs. Syracuse, along with the Feb. 6 contest vs. rival Louisville, are sold out. The only opportunity for the general public to purchase tickets for these games would occur if the UC students do not pick up all of their allotment of tickets. Tickets for the remaining home games can be purchased on-line at www.UCBearcats.com, by phone (513-556-CATS) using a major credit card, or in person at the UC Athletic Ticket Office at One Edwards Center, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
NOTES FROM THE CONNECTICUT GAME:
Eric Hicks notched his fourth straight double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, the sixth of the season and the 19th of his career. He topped the 700 plateau in career rebounding, now with 704. He also surpassed the 200 mark in blocked shots and now has 202.
Hicks extended his streak of games with at least one blocked shot to 15. He has rejected 47 shots over his last 10 games and has 24 blocks over his last six contests.
Armein Kirkland reached double figures in scoring for the sixth time in the last nine games.
James White scored his 1,000th career point and finished the game with 1,114. The Florida transfer has scored 832 as a Bearcat.
HICKS IS HOT: Eric Hicks is one of the hottest players in the BIG EAST Conference. The 6-6 senior is averaging a double-double over his last six games (18.7 points, 10.8 rebounds). Last week Hicks averaged 21.0 points, 13.5 rebounds and 5.5 blocks in a pair of victories to earn BIG EAST co-Player of the Week honors. A highlight of his recent performance was a triple double, consisting of 22 points, 12 rebounds and a school record-tying 10 blocked shots in a victory over Marquette (1/7/06). It was the 15th triple-double in UC history. Oscar Robertson had 10, Kenyon Martin two and Rick Roberson and Kenny Satterfield one each. Hicks has topped the 20-point mark in four of his last six contests.
HICKS HAVING A BLOCK-FEST: Eric Hicks, who blocked a school record-tying 10 shots in the Jan. 7 win over Marquette, has blocked 47 shots in his last 10 games, and 25 shots over his last four contests. He enters Saturday's game with a streak of 15 games with at least one block, and a rejection in 46 of his last 48 games. The 6-6 senior was ranked fifth nationally in blocks prior to his 10-block performance. Hicks has moved into third place at Cincinnati in career blocks with 202, trailing Kenyon Martin (292) and Jason Maxiell (254).
DOWNEY NOT PLAYING LIKE A FRESHMAN: Devan Downey is attracting attention for Freshman of the Year honors, primarily because he is not playing like one. The Bearcats' 5-10 point guard, has had the following noteworthy performances:
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 averaged 14.7 points, 5.1 assists and 2.1 steals during UC's recent 10-game winning streak.
Downey is UC's third-leading scorer, averaging 13.3 points. He leads the Bearcats in assists (4.0) and steals (2.1).
WHITE'S SCORING CONSISTENT: James White not only leads Cincinnati in scoring with his 17.6 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, 12, 15 and a pair of 17-point performances in four others. In the remaining nine games, he has tallied 18 points five times and 19 points four times. White has scored in double digits in all 16 games this season while shooting .505 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.
KENNEDY HAS SECOND-BEST START: Andy Kennedy has the second-best start of any first-year Cincinnati head coach. The Bearcats' 13-3 record is the second-best, after 16 games, to the 14-2 mark UC recorded in 1965-66 in Tay Baker's debut.
OTHER BEARCAT BITS:
Prior to Monday's game vs. Connecticut, in which Cincinnati was out-rebounded, 52-32, the Bearcats had been a dominant team on the boards. UC averaged 45.0 rebounds over the previous three games and out-rebounded its previous three foes by an average margin of +9.7.
Cincinnati set a school record with 18 blocked shots in the Jan. 7 win at Marquette, topping the old mark of 15 set by the 1999-00 team vs. Iowa State. Eric Hicks tied a UC record with 10 blocks and James White had a career-best four rejections.
Since surrendering a season-high .528 field goal percentage to LSU on Dec. 23, Cincinnati has held its last five foes to .380 shooting.
Cincinnati has held eight 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.
The Bearcats have scored 80 or more points in eight games this season, topping the 100-point mark twice. UC tallied 105 points vs. Tennessee Tech on Dec. 17, then matched that with 105 points vs. North Carolina A&T on Dec. 30.
UC shot a season-high .563 vs. Tennessee Tech on Dec. 17 and a .552 effort vs. North Carolina A&T on Dec. 30.
Cincinnati has had at least five double-figure scorers in five of the last eight games, and seven times during the course of the season. Six Bearcats reached double figures in scoring in the Dec. 30 win over North Carolina A&T.
UC recorded a season-high 25 assists vs. North Carolina A&T on Dec. 30.
In their 10-game winning streak, the Bearcats averaged 85.5 points, posted an average victory margin of 19.4 points and shot .483 from the field.
The Bearcats set season highs for rebounds (53) and rebounding margin (+18) in the Jan. 4 game vs. DePaul, while committing a season-low six turnovers.
FOUL PLAY: Cincinnati has shot .786 at the foul line this season, and has moved up to No. 3 in the national rankings. James White leads UC's free throw marksmen with his .875 percentage. Devan Downey is shooting .831. Even Eric Hicks is getting into the act. A .569 career foul shooter, Hicks has shot .721 this season. UC has made almost as many free throws (283) as its opponents have attempted (299).
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, who is this week's co-Player of the Week, won honor roll honors on Dec. 5 and Jan. 2.
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. UC 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. UC's win at Marquette on Jan. 7 snapped MU's home winning streak at seven and overall win streak at five.
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.
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. 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 1975-76, the regular season and tournament titles 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).
LOOKING AHEAD: Cincinnati will take a break from BIG EAST Conference play to face Xavier in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout on Jan. 19 at XU's Cintas Center. The 9 p.m. EST game will be televised on ESPN. UC returns to Fifth Third Arena to host Rutgers on Sunday, Jan. 22 in a 2 p.m. EST contest.