TicketsDec. 29, 2006
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The University of Cincinnati will seek to extend its winning streak to three games when the Bearcats take on Ohio University on Saturday, Dec. 30 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. UC enters the 6 p.m. contest with a 9-3 ledger and has won its last two contests, the most recent a 60-52 win over Miami University on Wednesday. Ohio, 8-3, also has a two-game winning streak following Wednesday's 97-69 victory over Rhode Island.
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Saturday's game will be the 77th meeting between Cincinnati and Ohio but only the second since 1973-74. The Bearcats and Bobcats played regularly from 1919-20 through 1952-53, usually meeting twice a year, as members of the Buckeye Athletic Association, and later, the Mid-American Conference. UC owns a 39-37 lead, having won the last five meetings.
The teams met last season in Cincinnati (Dec. 14), with the Bearcats winning by an 86-58 margin. UC broke a 40-all tie early in the second half with a 24-5 scoring run. The Bearcats shot .507 from the field while holding the Bobcats to a .323 percentage and forcing 18 turnovers.
The contest will be Cincinnati's third this season against a Mid-American Conference opponent. The Bearcats have defeated Central Michigan, 60-50, on Nov. 25 and downed Miami, 60-52, on Wednesday.
Both teams have won four of their last five games and six of their last eight contests.
Ohio boasts a probable starting lineup of five players averaging double digits in scoring. The Bobcats are averaging 80.9 points and shooting .500 from the field.
Saturday's game will be Cincinnati's eighth appearance in Quicken Loans Arena, formerly known as Gund Arena. The Bearcats have won six of their seven previous appearances, all of which took place in as part of the Rock-N-Roll Shootout event.
NOTING THE MIAMI GAME:
Marcus Sikes equaled his career high with 10 rebounds and with 15 points recorded his second double-double as a Bearcat.
Deonta Vaughn had three steals to give him nine over his last three games.
Jamual Warren extended his streak of games with at least one steal to 12. Warren also had his second-highest scoring game at UC with 15 points. The junior college transfer scored 16 points vs. Temple on Dec. 9.
UC's .481 field goal percentage was its second-best shooting mark of the season, trailing only the .540 posted vs. Wofford on Nov. 21.
Cincinnati extended its winning streak in games played in U.S. Bank Arena to 11. UC also boosted its win streak over Miami to nine.
MORE HONORS FOR VAUGHN: Deonta Vaughn earned BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Week honors for the second time this season for his performance in the Dec. 23 win over North Carolina State. Vaughn scored 25 points and reached career highs with nine assists and six steals in that victory.
VAUGHN MORE THAN A SCORER: Throughout his debut season, Deonta Vaughn has shown that he is more than just a scorer. The 6-1 freshman has ramped up the other facets of his game in recent contests. Vaughn has averaged 8.0 assists and 4.5 steals over his last two games. He dished out nine assists vs. North Carolina State on Dec. 23, the most by a Bearcat since Devan Downey's 11 vs. North Carolina A&T last season (12/30/05), and recorded six steals, which tied the third-highest single game mark by a Bearcat.
VAUGHN MAKING AN IMPACT: Deonta Vaughn has ranked among the top freshmen scorers in the BIG EAST throughout the season. Vaughn is Cincinnati's leading scorer with his 15.4-point average.
Vaughn has shown that he does not play like a freshman when the stakes are large. In the 67-57 win over crosstown rival 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.
Vaughn tallied a UC freshman single-game scoring record of 33 points vs. Wofford on Nov. 21. Vaughn connected on nine 3-pointers, the second most by any Bearcat in UC history. His 33-point effort is the second-highest scoring performance by any BIG EAST Conference player this season.
Since his promotion to the starting lineup in the fourth game of the season, Vaughn has averaged 18.0 points.
Vaughn has dished out five or more assists in eight games, with a single-game high of nine, and leads the squad with a 4.7 average.
Vaughn has the second-best scoring average at the 12-game mark of the season of any Cincinnati freshman.
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 is ranked sixth in the BIG EAST in rebounding with his 8.2 average.
Williamson scored 17 points vs. Ohio State for his third double-double of the season.
A STEAL IN TIME: Jamual Warren picked a timely moment to extend his streak of games with a steal during Wednesday's win over Miami. After sinking a short jumper to give UC a 54-52 lead with 2:14 to play, Warren stole the ball and dunked on a break-away layup to present the Bearcats with an insurmountable lead. The 6-2 junior finished with 15 points.
Warren, who has had at least one steal in every game and has had multiple steals in all but four contests, leads the Bearcats with his 2.1 average. Warren has made nine steals over his last four 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 9-3 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 9-3 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 has turned on the pressure defense and has come up with 37 steals over the last four games. UC gathered a season-high 13 steals in the Dec. 23 win over North Carolina State.
The Bearcats forced a season-high 32 turnovers, three shy of the school record, in their Dec. 23 win over North Carolina State. UC scored 32 points off Wolfpack turnovers.
After shooting just .567 (38-of-67) at the foul line over their first four games, the Bearcats have shot a .722 percentage (104-of-144) over their last eight contests.
Cincinnati has had a double digit rebounder in seven of its 12 games. John Williamson has reached double digits in three games--11 vs. Wofford, 13 vs. Temple and 16 vs. Ohio State. Marcus Sikes has a pair of double-digit performances, gathering 10 rebounds vs. Tennessee-Martin (11/11/06) and 10 vs. Miami (12/27/06). Marvin Gentry collected 10 rebounds in the opener vs. Howard 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 six 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 has a pair with 18 points and 10 rebounds vs. Tennessee-Martin (11/11/06) and 15 points and 10 rebounds vs. Miami (12/27/06). Cedric McGowan recorded 13 points and 12 rebounds vs. High Point (11/12/06).
Cincinnati has held five of its foes to 52 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.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats play their first true road game of the season when they visit No. 22 Memphis on Jan. 4. The game against the longtime rival Tigers will cap the non-conference portion of Cincinnati's schedule. UC will open BIG EAST Conference play on Jan. 7 with a home game vs. Rutgers.