TicketsDec. 14, 2006
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SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati faces its first Top 25-ranked foe of the season when the Bearcats clash with No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday at the John Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis, Ind. The 3:45 contest at Conseco Fieldhouse, which will be televised regionally by CBS Sports, will feature the first game between the two schools since their NCAA Championship Game showdown in 1962 and the first regular season contest in 85 years.
FOR THE RECORDS: Cincinnati enters the game with a 7-2 record following Wednesday's 67-57 win over crosstown rival Xavier. The Bearcats' two losses were by a combined total of three points. Ohio State is 8-1. The Buckeyes have been idle since last Saturday's 78-57 win over Cleveland State.
ABOUT THE WOODEN TRADITION: Founded in 2000, the John R. Wooden Tradition is an annual tribute to the legendary coach. Butler and Purdue will play at 1 p.m., followed by the Cincinnati-Ohio State clash at approximately 3:45.
THIRD WOODEN APPEARANCE FOR UC: Cincinnati is making its third appearance in the John Wooden Tradition. The Bearcats have split their previous encounters. UC was beaten by Notre Dame, 69-51, in 2000 and defeated Purdue, 79-59, in 2004.
STORY LINES:
Cincinnati and Ohio State last paired off in the championship game of the 1962 NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats won that contest played in Louisville, 71-59. It was the second straight year the two teams advanced to the NCAA title game. UC won the 1961 game, 70-65 in overtime.
The last UC-OSU meeting in regular season took place on Dec. 10, 1921, with Cincinnati capturing a 33-17 decision in Columbus.
OSU head coach Thad Matta is no stranger to the Bearcats, having served as head coach at Xavier for three seasons before taking the Ohio State job. Matta coached Xavier to a pair of wins in three tries vs. UC.
Ohio State assistant coach Dan Peters previously served on the Cincinnati staff as assistant and later associate head coach for five years.
Saturday's game will be a Homecoming of sorts for Cincinnati freshman Deonta Vaughn. The 6-1 guard was an All-Indiana selection for two seasons at Arlington High. He helped lead the school to a 23-1 record and the Indiana Public School Athletic Conference title in 2005.
The game will be only Cincinnati`s second of the season played outside of Fifth Third Arena. UC defeated Temple, 80-71, last Saturday in the Lenape Trail Classic in Atlantic City, N.J.
Ohio State, ranked No. 4 in both polls, is the first Top 25-ranked foe that Cincinnati will face this season. The Bearcats were 1-8 vs. Top 25-ranked teams last year.
NOTING THE XAVIER GAME: Jamual Warren recorded career highs with five assists and four steals. His four steals tied for the second-highest steal total in the UC-XU contest. Warren extended his streak of games with at least one steal to nine.
Cincinnati committed just eight turnovers, the second-fewest this season. UC made only seven miscues in the season-opener vs. Howard. The Bearcats have averaged 10.7 turnovers over their last three games.
The Bearcats held two of Xavier's top scorers to a total of 17.9 points below their combined averages. UC limited Justin Doellman, who entered the game averaging 10.1 points, to four points and held Stanley Burrell (11.8) scoreless.
With the win, Bearcats mentor Mick Cronin snapped a streak of six losses by first year head coaches in their initial Cincinnati-Xavier games.
SO CLOSE: Cincinnati, at 7-2, is separated by a mere three points from an unblemished 9-0 ledger. The Bearcats dropped a 91-90 decision to Wofford on Nov. 21 and suffered a 59-57 setback to UAB on Dec. 2. In both games, the winning points were scored on free throws in the final seven seconds and in both cases UC had a shot at the buzzer bounce off the rim.
VAUGHN MAKING AN IMPACT: Deonta Vaughn has averaged 21.0 points over his last six games, production which has corresponded with his promotion to the starting lineup. The 6-1 freshman was the offensive spark of Wednesday's 67-57 win over Xavier, scoring 24 points. Vaughn tallied a UC freshman single-game scoring record 33 points vs. Wofford on Nov. 21, with the aid of nine 3-pointers, second-most in UC history. He was the BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Week for Nov. 20-26.
Vaughn's 33-point game vs. Wofford is the top individual game performance this season in the BIG EAST Conference as is his nine 3-point field goals. He enters the weekend leading all BIG EAST freshmen in scoring with his 16.6-point average.
Vaughn has dished out five or more assists in six games and leads the squad with a 4.4 average.
WILLIAMSON HITS THE BOARDS: John Williamson has averaged 9.3 rebounds over his last four games to boost his team-leading rebounding average to 8.1. He enters the weekend ranked eighth in the BIG EAST Conference in rebounding. Williamson, who gathered a career-high 13 rebounds in last Saturday's win over Temple, leads UC in field goal percentage (.568) and 3-point field goal percentage (.526).
McGOWAN TRIPLES IN WIN: Cedric McGowan picked an opportune time to come out of his 3-point shooting slump. The 6-7 senior, who opened the season going 0-for-13 from behind the arc and entered Wednesday's contest vs. Xavier a mere 1-of-15 in 3-point field goals, missed his first three trey tries. In the final 1:20 of the first half, he sank a pair of 3s, the second with 10 seconds to play putting UC in the lead for good.
IT TAKES A THIEF: Jamual Warren continues to serve as Cincinnati's defensive spark. The 6-2 junior has had at least one steal in every game and has had multiple steals in all but two contests to lead the Bearcats with his 2.2 average. Warren set a new career high when he recorded four steals in Wednesday's win over Xavier.
CRONIN OFF TO FAST START: Mick Cronin is off to one of the best starts of any first-year head coach in Cincinnati history. Cronin's 7-2 ledger is the second-best among new Bearcats coaches of the modern era (post World War II), trailing only the 8-1 record compiled by Tay Baker in 1965-66.
BEARCATS DATA:
After shooting just .567 (38-of-67) at the foul line over their first four games, the Bearcats have shot a .742 percentage (72-of-97) over their last four contests.
Cincinnati has had a double digit rebounder in five of its nine games. Marvin Gentry collected 10 rebounds in the opener vs. Howard, Marcus Sikes collected 10 boards vs. Tennessee-Martin, Cedric McGowan had 12 rebounds vs. High Point and John Williamson had 11 vs. Wofford and 13 vs. Temple.
UC's 17 3-point field goals vs. Wofford (11/21/06) was the third-highest single game total while its 32 attempts was fifth-most. Half of UC's baskets were from behind the arc.
The Bearcats have had four double-double performances this season. Marcus Sikes had 18 points and 10 rebounds vs. Tennessee-Martin (11/11/06), Cedric McGowan recorded 13 points and 12 rebounds vs. High Point (11/12/06) and John Williamson totalled 19 points and 11 rebounds vs. Wofford (11/21/06) and 15 points and 13 rebounds vs. Temple (12/9/06).
Cincinnati has held four of its foes to 51 or fewer points. The Bearcats limited Howard to 39 points in the season opener, the fewest allowed by the Bearcats since an 89-37 victory over Southern Miss. on Feb. 15, 2002.
Cincinnati opened the season with three straight victories to win the Jim Thorpe Association Classic on Nov. 10-12. John Williamson was named tournament most outstanding player and Marcus Sikes was elected to the all-tournament team.
Sikes celebrated his 22nd birthday by recording the Bearcats' first double-double of the season in the win over Tennessee-Martin on Nov. 11. The 6-8 junior had 18 points and 10 rebounds vs. the Skyhawks. He was 3-of-6 from 3-point range and is UC's top 3-point shooter, sinking 5-of-8 from behind the arc.
Mick Cronin became the 18th UC head coach out of 26 to record a victory in his Bearcats coaching debut.
Cincinnati notched its 40th consecutive victory in home openers and upped its record to 86-19 in season home openers.
The Bearcats upped their record in season openers to 87-19. UC has won 25 of its last 26 season openers.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats will be idle for a week. Cincinnati will return to action on Dec. 23, hosting North Carolina State. Tipoff at Fifth Third Arena is 4 p.m.