TicketsJan. 20, 2006
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GAME FACTS
UC vs. Rutgers
Date: Sunday, Jan. 22, 2006
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Site: Fifth Third Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records:
Cincinnati : 13-5, 2-2 BIG EAST
Rutgers: 12-5, 2-2 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. 8.7 pts, 7.1 reb, 0.9 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks 6-6 Sr. Greensboro, N.C. 14.6 pts, 8.9 reb, 3.7 blk
G 21 James White 6-7 Sr. Washington, D.C. 17.4 pts, 5.2 reb, 2.2 ast
G 1 Chadd Moore 6-2 Sr. Huntsville, Ala. 2.5 pts, 1.5 reb, 1.4 ast
G 3 Devan Downey 5-10 Fr. Chester, S.C. 13.6 pts, 2.4 reb, 4.0 ast
RUTGERS PROBABLE STARTERS 2005-06 Statistics
F 1 Marquis Webb 6-5, Jr. Paterson, N.J. 9.1 pts, 3.1 reb, 2.8 ast
F 15 JR Inman 6-9 Fr. Pomona, N.Y. 8.2 pts, 5.2 reb, 1.8 blk
C 21 Byron Joynes 6-9 Jr. Baltimore, Md. 3.5 pts, 5.2 reb, 0.8 blk
G 2 Anthony Farmer 6-1 Fr. Millville, N.J. 9.1 pts, 2.8 reb, 3.8 ast
G 5 Quincy Douby 6-3 Jr. Brooklyn, N.Y. 23.5 pts, 4.4 reb, 2.6 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati will try to snap out of its three-game losing streak when the Bearcats host Rutgers on Sunday, Jan. 22 at Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats enter the 2 p.m. contest with a 13-5 record, and 2-2 in BIG EAST Conference play. UC stepped out of league play to face crosstown rival Xavier on Thursday and dropped a 73-71 overtime decision. Rutgers, 12-5, is also 2-2 in BIG EAST play following Wednesday's 78-68 loss to No. 9 Pittsburgh.
STORY LINES:
Cincinnati will seek a repeat of history when hosting Rutgers on Sunday. The last time the two teams met, on Nov. 30, 1996, the Bearcats were coming off a painful 71-69 loss to Xavier which knocked UC from the No. 1 ranking. The Bearcats rebounded from that setback with a convincing 105-65 victory over Rutgers.
UC will be trying to avert its first four-game losing skid since the 1987-88 season when the Bearcats lost four games in a row in mid-February.
The Bearcats, who faced the BIG EAST Conference's No. 1 and No. 5 ranked offensive teams in their last two league games (Connecticut, Syracuse), will have the challenge of stopping the conference's top individual scorer. Rutgers junior Quincy Douby is leading the BIG EAST with his 23.5-point average. In the Scarlet Knights' four BIG EAST games, he has averaged 26.0 points. Douby is not just a scorer, as evidenced by his leading the conference in steals (2.36).
Cincinnati and Rutgers have played one common opponent, DePaul. Cincinnati defeated the Blue Demons, 82-60, at UC on Jan. 4. Rutgers scored a 78-68 overtime win at DePaul on Jan. 15.
Eric Hicks, with 982 career points, will try to become the 43rd member of UC's 1,000 Point Club.
Cincinnati has compiled a 228-32 record, a .877 winning percentage, in its 17 seasons in Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center.
CINCINNATI VS. RUTGERS: The two teams have played seven previous contests, the most recent in 1996-97. UC has won six of those games.
LAST TIME VS. RUTGERS: Cincinnati's last meeting with Rutgers, on Nov. 30, 1996, followed a loss to Xavier. In that contest, the Bearcats took out their frustrations for the 71-69 upset by the Musketeers, which knocked them from the No. 1 ranking, with a 105-65 rout of the Scarlet Knights. Danny Fortson led four UC double figure scorers with 24 points.
BEARCATS IN THE POLLS: One week after making its first appearance of the season in the Top 25, and its 176th in the last 244 polls, Cincinnati fell out of the rankings, to the 36th spot in the Associated Press poll and No. 37 in the ESPN/USA Today rankings.
COMPUTERS LIKE THE CATS: The Bearcats have been a Top 20 team most of the season in the computer ratings. UC was ranked No. 14 in the Sagarin Index and No. 20 in the RPI following Thursday's games. Cincinnati was No. 6 in the RPI strength of schedule rankings.
NOTES FROM THE XAVIER GAME:
James White, with 16 points, extended his streak of double-digit scoring games to 18.
Eric Hicks recorded seven blocked shots, and closed his career with 17 blocks in four games vs. Xavier.
UC had season lows in free throws (5) and free throw attempts (11) and finished with a season-low .455 percentage. The Bearcats didn't shoot their first field goal in the game until 8:51 remaining in the second half.
UC lost for the first time this year when leading at halftime (37-30).
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 eight games (16.6 points, 10.1 rebounds). 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 on Jan. 9. 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 54 shots in his last 12 games, and 24 shots over his last four contests. He has blocked at least one shot in 47 of his last 50 games. The 6-6 senior is ranked sixth nationally in blocks. Hicks has moved into third place at Cincinnati in career blocks with 209, 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 added another stellar performance to his season accomplishments on Thursday when he exploded for 22 points vs. Xavier. Downey, who made a career-high four 3-pointers, drilled a trey to help UC overcome a six-point deficit in the final 30 seconds of regulation. He also had five rebounds, five assists and three steals, the eighth time this season he has had three or more steals. He has also 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 13.6 points. He leads the Bearcats in assists (4.0) and steals (2.2).
WHITE'S SCORING CONSISTENT: James White not only leads Cincinnati in scoring with his 17.4 average, but he is tops in scoring consistency. He has scored 17, 18 or 19 points in 11 of his 17 games this season. White has scored in double digits in all 18 games this season while shooting .488 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.
BENCH GETS A BOOST: Cincinnati has gotten a recent boost to its bench with the addition of three walk-ons. Two members of the Bearcats' football program, Connor Barwin and Angelo Craig, joined the team as walk-ons on Jan. 11. Barwin has appeared in the last two contests. Scott Benken, who was a non-scholarship player on the 2002-03 and 2003-04 Wake Forest teams prior to transferring to UC to pursue his pharmacy degree, joined the program on Jan. 17.
OTHER BEARCAT BITS:
During their three-game losing streak, the Bearcats have shot .356 from the field and have been outrebounded by an average margin of -19.7. By comparison, UC shot .483 from the field during its 10-game winning streak and had out-rebounded its previous three foes by an average margin of +9.7.
Cincinnati set a school and BIG EAST Conference 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 six foes to .393 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 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.
The Bearcats set season highs for rebounds (53) and rebounding margin (+18) in the Jan. 4 win vs. DePaul, while committing a season-low six turnovers.
Senior forward Armein Kirkland suffered a season-ending knee injury vs. UConn on Jan. 9, and had successful surgery on Jan. 13.
BEARCATS TAKE LEAGUE HONORS:
Eric Hicks was named BIG EAST co-Player of the Week on Jan. 9 after averaging 21.0 points, 13.5 rebounds and 5.5 blocks in wins over DePaul and Marquette. Hicks previously earned BIG EAST Honor Roll recognition on Dec. 5 and Jan. 2.
Devan Downey earned the BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Week in back-to-back weeks (Dec. 10, Dec. 17).
James White was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll on Dec. 19 and Dec. 26.
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).br>
BEARCATS STRONG IN 5/3 ARENA: Cincinnati is in its 17th season in Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center, and has compiled a 228-32 record, a .877 winning percentage.
105th CAMPAIGN: The 2005-06 season is Cincinnati's 105th year of basketball competition. The school has compiled a 1,512-860 record (.638).
TICKET UPDATE: Cincinnati's Feb. 6 home contest vs. rival Louisville is a sellout. The only opportunity for the general public to purchase tickets for this game 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.
LOOKING AHEAD: Cincinnati visits No. 15 Louisville on Jan. 25, for the beginning of a two-game road trip. The Bearcats play at Georgetown on Jan. 28. before returning to Fifth Third Arena for a Jan. 31 game vs. USF.