TicketsFeb. 2, 2006
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GAME FACTS
UC vs. West Virginia
Date: Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006
Time: 12:00 noon EST
Site: WVU Coliseum (14,000), Morgantown, West Virginia
Records:
Cincinnati : 15-7, 4-4 BIG EAST
West Virginia11/11: 16-4, 7-0 BIG EAST
TV: ERT/WXIX-TV 19 (Don Criqui, Bob Valvano)
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, 7.3 reb, 1.0 ast
F 14 Eric Hicks 6-6 Sr. Greensboro, N.C. 14.4 pts, 9.5 reb, 3.6 blk
F 23 Ronald Allen 6-9 Jr. Los Angeles, Calif 3.0 pts, 1.8 reb, 0.2 blk
G 21 James White 6-7 Sr. Washington, D.C. 16.5 pts, 4.8 reb, 2.1 ast
G 13 Jihad Muhammad 5-11 Sr. Plainfield, N.J. 8.3 pts, 2.5 reb, 1.6 ast
WEST VIRGINIA PROBABLE STARTERS 2005-06 Statistics
F 21 Frank Young 6-5 Jr. Tallahassee, Fla. 8.4 pts, 3.4 reb, 2.1 ast
F 20 Mike Gansey 6-4 Sr. Olmsted Falls, Ohio 18.8 pts, 5.4 reb, 2.3 ast
C 34 Kevin Pittsnogle 6-11 Sr. Martinsburg, W.Va. 19.9 pts, 6.3 reb, 1.4 ast
G 5 Johannes Herber 6-6 Sr. Darmstadt, Germany 9.2 pts, 3.7 reb, 5.1 ast
G 1 J.D. Collins 5-11 Sr. Houston, Texas 4.3 pts, 1.7 reb, 3.7 ast
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati faces BIG EAST Conference leader West Virginia on Saturday, Feb. 4 at the WVU Coliseum. The 12 noon EST contest will be televised regionally by ESPN Regional Television and aired in Cincinnati by WXIX-TV 19. The Bearcats, 15-7 overall, enter the contest with a 4-4 league ledger, having snapped a two-game losing streak with a 73-60 win over USF on Tuesday. West Virginia, 16-4 overall and ranked No. 11 in both polls, is a perfect 7-0 in the BIG EAST following Wednesday's 71-60 win over Notre Dame.
STORY LINES:
Saturday's contest will mark Cincinnati's first visit to WVU Coliseum in 27 years and only the second game in that span. The teams last met in the second round of the NCAA West Regional in Boise, Idaho in 1998 when WVU upset UC, 75-74.
The Mountaineers are 10-1 in WVU Coliseum this season and have won 31 of their last 39 games in the building, where they have an all-time record of 389-118.
Cincinnati and West Virginia are linked in terms of former coaches. Gale Catlett, who won more games than any other coach (439) at West Virginia, made his head coaching debut at Cincinnati, serving the Bearcats for six seasons before moving to WVU in 1978. Bob Huggins, who won more games (399) than any coach at Cincinnati, was a Mountaineer player and launched his coaching career as a graduate assistant at WVU.
Saturday's game features two of the top teams in the nation at taking care of the basketball. West Virginia is ranked second nationally in fewest turnovers per game, averaging 8.9. Cincinnati is ranked No. 7 nationally (11.3).
Cincinnati and West Virginia have played four common opponents this season with both teams posting 3-1 records vs. those foes.
Eric Hicks, the leading shot blocker in the BIG EAST Conference, enters the game with 79 blocks, the fourth-highest single season total by a Bearcat. Hicks needs four more blocks to surpass the third place single season total of 83 set by Kenyon Martin in 1997-98.
James White, who enters the game with 1,097 career points, will be out to top the 1,100-point mark.
UC-WVU: Saturday's game will be the first between the two as members of the BIG EAST Conference, and only the second in the last 27 seasons. Cincinnati holds a 6-4 lead in the all-time series.
LAST MEETING: Jarrod West hit a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds to play to lift West Virginia to a 75-74 win over Cincinnati in the second round of the NCAA West Regional on March 14, 1998 in Boise, Idaho. West's trey spoiled the heroics of D'Juan Baker, who hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute to rally the Bearcats from a four-point deficit. Baker's second basket gave UC a 74-72 lead with 7.1 to play. Baker and Ruben Patterson each scored 25 for UC. West, with 15 points, led five Mountaineer double-figure scorers.
LAST TIME IN MORGANTOWN: Pat Cummings scored 20 points and David Duarte added 18 to pace Cincinnati to a 79-65 win over West Virginia on Jan. 24, 1979 at the WVU Coliseum. The Bearcats, who shot .565 from the field to WVU's .388, built a 10-point lead in the first half. Dana Perno, with 22 points, led WVU.
COMPUTERS LIKE THE CATS: The Bearcats have been a Top 20 team most of the season in the computer ratings. UC was ranked No. 26 in the Sagarin Index and No. 27 in the RPI following Wednesday's games.
TOUGH SCHEDULE: One reason for Cincinnati's lofty rankings in the Sagrin and RPI is the team's demanding schedule. The Bearcats were rated No. 9 in the RPI's strength of schedule rankings following Wednesday's games. The slate does not get any easier as four of the remaining eight regular season opponents are ranked in this week's Top 25.
NOTES FROM THE USF GAME:
Cedric McGowan scored a career-high 18 points and recorded his second career double-double with 14 rebounds.
Eric Hicks, with 13 points and 11 rebounds, notched his ninth double-double of the season, his seventh in the last 10 games, and the 22nd of his career.
Hicks, with six blocks, upped his season total to 79, surpassing Kenyon Martin's 1998-99 total of 78 for the fourth-highest single season total.
Hicks moved into 40th place in career scoring with 1,036 points, passing former teammate Field Williams (1,030 points, 2000-04).
In the showdown of the BIG EAST Conference's blocks leaders, Eric Hicks, who tops the league in rejections, had six blocks to USF's Solomon Jones' two. Jones is second in the conference.
Chadd Moore dished out a season-high six assists.
UC committed eight turnovers, the fifth time in the last six games and the eighth time this season in which the Bearcats have committed fewer than 10 turnovers.
The Bearcats changed the starting lineup for the second straight game, with junior Ronald Allen making his first career start and Devan Downey going to the bench after starting the previous 18 games. UC has used five different lineups this season, including the last three games.
HICKS DOUBLES UP: Eric Hicks is averaging a double-double (15.6 points, 10.8 rebounds) over his last 12 games. The 6-6 senior has posted seven double-doubles in his last 10 games. Hicks turned in his ninth double-double of the season and 22nd of his career when he posted 13 points and 11 rebounds vs. USF on Wednesday (1/31/06). 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. Hicks notched a triple double with 22 points, 12 rebounds and a school record-tying 10 blocked shots in a victory over Marquette (1/7/06). Hicks' rebounding and shot-blocking prowess make him a candidate for BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors.
HICKS MOVING UP BLOCKS LIST: Eric Hicks, with 79 blocks this season, has already eclipsed his last season's total of 72 and now has the fourth-highest single season blocks total. He can move into third place with four more rejections. Hicks has moved into third place at Cincinnati in career blocks with 222, trailing Kenyon Martin (292) and Jason Maxiell (254). Hicks, who blocked a school record-tying 10 shots in the Jan. 7 win over Marquette, has blocked 37 shots in his last eight games. He has blocked at least one shot in 51 of his last 54 games. Hicks is ranked fifth nationally in blocks in the most recent NCAA statistics.
WHITE CELEBRATES HOMECOMING: James White, a native of the Washington, D.C. area, celebrated his return home by scoring 22 points in the Bearcats' loss last Saturday. The 6-7 senior meshed 8-of-9 free throws and had four dunks. White, who has scored in double figures in all but two games this season, leads UC in scoring with his 16.5-point average. He has also been tops in scoring consistency, tallying 17, 18 or 19 points in 11 of his 21. 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 played just 16 minutes vs. USF after spraining his right ankle, and was limited to just six points.
HICKS BEGINS SCORING ASCENT: Eric Hicks, who recently became the 43rd player in University of Cincinnati history to top the 1,000-point mark in career scoring, has begun his ascent of UC's career scoring chart. The senior is currently No. 40 with 1,036 points, 17 points out of 39th place.
DOWNEY PLAYS BIG FOR THE BEARCATS: Devan Downey is attracting attention for Freshman All-American honors, primarily because he is not playing like one. The Bearcats' 5-10 point guard leads the team in assists (3.9) and steals (2.2) and is third in scoring (12.7). Downey ranks 44th nationally in steals and has recorded three or more steals in 10 different games. He 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, shooting 10-of-16 from the field, and had five assists and four steals.
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.
On Jan. 19 vs. Xavier, he scored 22 points and drilled a clutch 3-pointer in the final 30 seconds which helped send the game into overtime. He also had five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
On Jan. 22, Downey keyed the win over Rutgers with 21 points, four assists and four steals.
On Jan. 31, Downey came off the bench to score 12 points, grab six rebounds, nad hand out three assists in win over USF.
Downey averaged 14.7 points, 5.1 assists and 2.1 steals during UC's 10-game winning streak.
OTHER BEARCAT BITS:
Cincinnati has committed 12 turnovers over its last two games and has had single digit turnovers in five of its last six games. The lone double-digit miscue game was a season-high 25 turnovers vs. Louisville on Jan. 25, which was sandwiched between UC's two low turnover games of five vs. Rutgers and four vs. Georgetown. The Bearcats have averaged 59.0 points and shot .344 from the field in their last five losses.
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 vs. Marquette.
Cincinnati has held nine 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 just six turnovers.
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.
MORE TROUBLE FOR BENCH: The depth-challenged Bearcats received another blow when Scott Benken suffered an elbow injury in practice requiring surgery that will sideline him for the remainder of the season. Benken, a non-scholarship player at Wake Forest in 2002-03 and 2003-04 prior to transferring to UC to pursue his pharmacy degree, joined the Bearcats as a walk-on on Jan. 17. Two members of the Bearcats' football program, Connor Barwin and Angelo Craig, joined the team as walk-ons on Jan. 11. Barwin, a tight end in football, has been the most productive in games to date. The 6-4 true freshman has averaged 10.7 minutes over the last three games and had four points and four rebounds vs. Rutgers (1/22/06).
SAAC WINTER CLOTHING DRIVE: The University of Cincinnati's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will host a winter clothing drive in conjunction with the Bearcats' men's basketball game vs. Louisville on Monday, Feb. 6. Members of SAAC will be accepting new and/or gently used winter clothing items throughout Fifth Third Arena, beginning at 5:45 p.m. and extending through tip-off at 7 p.m. The student-athletes will also be accepting cash donations. Proceeds will benefit The Drop Inn Center of Cincinnati and St. George's Food Pantry, located on Dennis and Calhoun Streets near campus.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats return to Fifth Third Arena to host Louisville on Monday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. (ESPN2). UC visits No. 9 Pittsburgh on Sunday, Feb. 12 for a 2 p.m. contest.