TicketsJan. 5, 2007
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SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati opens BIG EAST Conference play on Sunday, hosting Rutgers in a 2 p.m. contest at Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats, 9-5, will be out to end a two-game losing streak. UC lost to Ohio, 79-66, on Dec. 30 and was beaten at Memphis, 88-55, on Thursday. Rutgers is 7-7 overall. The Scarlet Knights opened BIG EAST play on Wednesday with a 77-72 loss to Seton Hall. Rutgers has won six of its last eight contests.
STORY LINES:
Sunday's game matches two teams who are seeking offensive success. Cincinnati is ranked 15th in the BIG EAST Conference in offense (66.6) while Rutgers is 16th (62.4). The Scarlet Knights are also last in field goal percentage (.413), with the Bearcats one notch ahead (.420). UC is last in 3-point field goal percentage (.289) while Rutgers is 14th (.306).
Cincinnati brings a streak of 12 consecutive victories in conference season opening games. The Bearcats last dropped a league opener in 1993-94 when UAB edged UC, 67-65, to open the Great Midwest Conference season.
Cincinnati and Rutgers have played one common opponent. Both have defeated Miami University. UC defeated the RedHawks, 60-52, on Dec. 28 at U.S. Bank Arena while the Scarlet Knights fell to Miami, 57-44, on Nov. 25.
Rutgers is one of the three "mirror" opponents--foes that UC will play on a home-and-home basis this season--on Cincinnati's BIG EAST schedule. The Bearcats will visit the Scarlet Knights on Feb. 10. UC also has home-and-home league games vs. Georgetown (Jan. 27 away, Feb. 21 home) and West Virginia (Jan. 20 home, Mar. 3 away).
LAST SEASON: Devan Downey scored 21 points and Chadd Moore came up with a game-saving steal and clinching free throws in the final seconds to lift Cincinnati to a 71-66 win in Cincinnati on Jan. 22. Rutgers overcame a 12-point second-half deficit to take a 59-58 lead with 4:44 to play. James White hit a trey to regain the lead for UC, which built a 69-66 margin prior to Moore's heroics in the final 17 seconds. Quincy Douby led Rutgers with 19 points.
NOTING THE MEMPHIS GAME:
Cedric McGowan's 20 points tied his career high. The senior tallied 20 vs. Charlotte last season in the NIT.
Branden Miller played 15 minutes, a career high.
Jamual Warren extended his streak of consecutive games with a steal to 14.
Memphis' 33-point victory margin was the largest of the series. It was Cincinnati's largest margin of defeat since the Bearcats' 101-68 loss at Florida State on Feb. 6, 1988.
Cincinnati's 23 rebounds was a season-low.
Memphis' 32 field goals and 42 rebounds were season highs by a UC opponent and its 12 3-pointers tied a season-high.
WARREN ON A ROLL: Jamual Warren, who tallied 15 points in the Dec. 30 setback to Ohio, has scored in double figures in five of his last seven games. The 6-2 junior has averaged 12.3 points during that span. Warren has achieved career highs in four categories during his last seven contests, recording personal bests for points (16 vs. Temple), rebounds (7 vs. Temple), assists (5 vs. Xavier) and steals (4 vs. Xavier).
WILLIAMSON WINNING PRAISE: John Williamson continues to draw attention for his play. The 6-6 junior and newcomer from the junior college tallied 15 points in vs. Ohio on Dec. 30 and narrowly missed his fourth double-double when he finished with nine rebounds.
Williamson, who ranks fifth in the BIG EAST Conference in rebounding with his 8.1 average, has averaged 8.7 rebounds over his last seven games. He grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, the most by a Bearcat and the fourth-most this season in the BIG EAST Conference, vs. No. 4 Ohio State on Dec. 16, and with 17 points, recorded his third double-double of the season.
Williamson 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.
VAUGHN MAKING AN IMPACT: Deonta Vaughn has twice earned BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Week honors. He was recognized most recently for his performance in Cincinnati's victory over North Carolina State on Dec. 23, in which he scored 25 points and reached career highs with nine assists and six steals.
Vaughn has ranked among the top freshmen scorers in the BIG EAST throughout the season. He is Cincinnati's second-leading scorer with his 14.1-point average.
Vaughn has shown that he does not play like a freshman when the stakes are high. 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 third-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 16.6 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 4.5 average.
Vaughn has the third-best scoring average at the 14-game mark of the season of any Cincinnati freshman.
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 4.1 assists and 3.0 steals over his last four games. He dished out nine assists vs. North Carolina State on Dec. 23, the most by a Bearcat this season, and recorded six steals, which tied the third-highest single game mark by a Bearcat.
A STEAL IN TIME: Jamual Warren picked a timely moment to extend his streak of games with a steal during the Dec. 27 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 five contests, leads the Bearcats with his 2.1 average. Warren set a new career high when he recorded four steals in the Dec. 13 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 9-5 ledger is tied for the fifth-best start at the 14-game mark among new Bearcats coaches of the modern era (post World War II).
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.
McGowan tied his career scoring high with 20 points in the Jan. 4 loss at Memphis, going 7-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from 3-point range.
BEARCATS DATA:
Cincinnati has turned on the pressure defense and has come up with 53 steals over the last six 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 .721 percentage (124-of-172) over their last eight contests. UC shot a season-high .800 vs. Ohio in its last outing.
Cincinnati has had a double digit rebounder in seven 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.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats have a week off before playing their first BIG EAST road game. Cincinnati visits USF on Jan. 14. UC has a Jan. 17 date at Syracuse before returning home to host West Virginia on Jan. 20.