TicketsDec. 26, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
UC vs. Miami University
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2006
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
Site: U.S. Bank Arena (13,176), Cincinnati, Ohio
Records:
Cincinnati: 8-3
Miami: 4-7
TV: WXIX-TV 19 (Jeff Piecoro, Anthony Buford)
Radio: WLW-AM 700 (Dan Hoard and Chuck Machock), also on XM 173
SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati and Miami University renew their century-old basketball rivalry on Wednesday, Dec. 27 at U.S. Bank Arena. The 7 p.m. contest will be the 143rd meeting of the two schools and the fifth straight played at U.S. Bank Arena. The Bearcats, who will be out to extend their streak of wins over the RedHawks to nine, enter the contest with an 8-3 record and the momentum of Saturday's 80-71 win over North Carolina State. Miami, 4-7, has lost four of its last five games, the most recent a 56-54 setback to Dayton on Dec. 20.
OLDEST, LONGEST RIVALRY RENEWED: The oldest and longest-running rivalry for both schools will be renewed on Wednesday when Cincinnati plays Miami. The two schools have faced off 142 times, with UC holding an 89-53 lead in the series. UC has a 7-2 edge in games vs. Miami played at U.S. Bank Arena, site of the last four contests. The Bearcats have won eight straight over Miami.
UC AT U.S. BANK ARENA: Wednesday's game brings Cincinnati back to one of its former home courts. The Bearcats played at U.S. Bank Arena, then known as Riverfront Coliseum, from 1976-87. UC has compiled a record of 114-50 (.695) in games played in the building, which includes championships of the Conference USA Tournaments played there in 2002 and 2004. The Bearcats have won 10 consecutive games at U.S. Bank Arena.
STORY LINES:
The teams have played two common opponents--Xavier and Oakland. Cincinnati is 2-0 vs. those teams with wins of 67-57 over Xavier and 68-61 over Oakland. Miami lost to Xavier, 68-53, but defeated Oakland, 72-46.
The RedHawks have three players on their roster from the Greater Cincinnati area; Tyler Dierkers (Moeller High), Steve Pogue (Oak Hills), and Monty St. Clair (Roger Bacon).
Cincinnati is 185-115 vs. teams that currently make up the Mid-American Conference. The Bearcats have played every current team except Central Michigan. UC will face Ohio on Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio.
NOTING THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE GAME:
Deonta Vaughn had career highs with nine assists and six steals. The assist total was the most by a Bearcat since Devan Downey's 11 vs. North Carolina A&T last season (12/30/05). His six steals tied him with 12 other Bearcats for the third-best single game total and was the most since Tony Bobbitt set the record of eight vs. Coppin State in the 2003-04 season (11/29/03). Vaughn's 25 points was his third 20-plus game of the season and the second in the last three games.
The Bearcats forced a season-high 32 turnovers, three shy of the school record. They had forced 18 turnovers in three other contests this season (Central Michigan, Oakland, Xavier). UC scored 32 points off Wolfpack turnovers.
Cincinnati recorded a season-high 13 steals, the most since UC had 14 steals vs. Tennessee Tech last season (12/17/05).
Jamual Warren (one steal) extended his streak of games with a steal to 11.
John Williamson's three steals was a career high.
Walk-on Walter Lewis made his first appearance as a Bearcat.
The victory was UC's seventh in its last 10 games vs. Atlantic Coast Conference teams.
WILLIAMSON WINNING PRAISE: John Williamson continues to draw attention for his play. The 6-6 junior and newcomer from the junior college ranks earned BIG EAST Conference Honor Roll honors for his play the week of Dec. 11-17, during which he averaged 17.5 points and 12.0 rebounds.
Williamson grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, the most by a Bearcat and the second-most this season in the BIG EAST Conference, vs. No. 4 Ohio State on Dec. 16. He has averaged 10.3 rebounds over his last four games and is ranked in the top seven in the BIG EAST ranking of rebounders with his 8.9 average.
Williamson scored 17 points vs. Ohio State for his third double-double of the season.
VAUGHN MAKING AN IMPACT: A frequent observation made of Deonta Vaughn is that he does not play like a freshman. That certainly has held true in Cincinnati's last two victories. In the 67-57 win over Xavier on Dec. 13, the 6-1 guard led all scorers with 24 points. Against North Carolina State on Dec. 23, Vaughn scored 25 points and achieved career highs with nine assists and six steals.
Since his promotion to the starting lineup in the fourth game of the season, Vaughn has averaged 19.5 points. He 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 week as the leading freshman scorer in the BIG EAST with his 16.3-point average.
Vaughn has dished out five or more assists in seven games, with a single-game high of nine, and leads the squad with a 4.5 average.
Vaughn has the second-best scoring average at the 11-game mark of the season of any Cincinnati freshman.
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 three contests to lead the Bearcats with his 2.2 average. Warren has made eight steals over his last three games. He set a new career high when he recorded four steals in the Dec. 13 win over Xavier.
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 the Dec. 13 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.
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 8-3 ledger is tied for the third-best start at the 10-game mark among new Bearcats coaches of the modern era (post World War II).
SO CLOSE: Cincinnati is 8-3 but is separated by a mere three points from a 10-1 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.
BEARCATS DATA:
Cincinnati, which gathered a season-high 13 steals in Saturday's win over North Carolina State, has made 30 steals over its last three games. During that same time, UC has committed just 29 turnovers.
After shooting just .567 (38-of-67) at the foul line over their first four games, the Bearcats have shot a .731 percentage (95-of-130) over their last seven contests.
Cincinnati has had a double digit rebounder in six of its 11 games. John Williamson has reached double digits in three games--11 vs. Wofford, 13 vs. Temple and 16 vs. Ohio State. Marvin Gentry collected 10 rebounds in the opener vs. Howard, Marcus Sikes grabbed 10 boards vs. Tennessee-Martin and Cedric McGowan had 12 rebounds vs. High Point.
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 five double-double performances this season. John Williamson owns three of those twin doubles, having totalled 19 points and 11 rebounds vs. Wofford (11/21/06), 15 points and 13 rebounds vs. Temple (12/9/06) and 17 points and 16 rebounds vs. Ohio State (12/16/06). Marcus Sikes had 18 points and 10 rebounds vs. Tennessee-Martin (11/11/06) while Cedric McGowan recorded 13 points and 12 rebounds vs. High Point (11/12/06).
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. 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.
106th CAMPAIGN: The 2006-07 season is Cincinnati's 106th year of basketball competition. The school has compiled a 1,529-870 record for a .637 percentage.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats travel to Cleveland to meet Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday, Dec. 30. Tip-off is 6 p.m. Cincinnati closes the non-conference part of its schedule with a Jan. 4 visit to Memphis.