TicketsJan. 18, 2007
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SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati hopes that the friendly confines of Fifth Third Arena will help snap a five-game losing streak when the Bearcats host West Virginia on Saturday, Jan. 20 at noon. UC enters the game with a 9-8 record, having dropped three of its last four contests on the road, most recently a 77-76 setback at Syracuse on Wednesday. The Mountaineers, 14-3, are one of the surprise stories in the BIG EAST. Despite losing five of last year's top six players, WVU has jumped out to a 4-2 mark in league play. West Virginia topped USF, 69-58, on Wednesday.
STORY LINES:
The Bearcats will be taking on one of the top defensive teams in the country on Saturday. West Virginia leads the BIG EAST and is third nationally in scoring defense (53.9). The Mountaineers are also first in the league in turnover margin.
Cincinnati and West Virginia have played two common opponents--North Carolina State and USF. The Bearcats defeated N.C. State, 80-71, on Dec. 23 but lost to USF, 74-59, on Jan. 14. The Mountaineers defeated N.C. State, 71-60, on Dec. 6 and topped USF, 69-58, on Jan. 17.
UC is 4-1 vs. West Virginia in games played in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati has a 242-37 record in its 17-plus seasons in Fifth Third Arena. Only once during that span has UC suffered consecutive losses in Fifth Third Arena. (last season).
LAST SEASON: The teams split their home-and-home regular season series with the home team winning on each occasion.
Eric Hicks' double-double (22 points, 10 rebounds) was not enough for Cincinnati as the Bearcats fell to the Mountaineers at Morgantown, 66-57, on Feb. 4. UC held a 33-30 lead at intermission but West Virginia, led by Mike Gansey's 14 points, took command with a 13-3 scoring run early in the second half.
In the rematch in Cincinnati on March 4, Hicks, with 18 points, led four Cincinnati double-digit scorers as the Bearcats upset the No. 16 Mountaineers, 78-75. UC opened up a 13-point lead in the second half but WVU cut that margin to one point in the final seconds. Devan Downey clinched the game with a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds to play.
NOTING THE SYRACUSE GAME:
Marcus Sikes' 24 points was a career high. His eight 3-point field goals put the junior into a tie for the fourth-highest single game total by a Bearcat.
Jamual Warren's five steals was a career high, bettering his previous best of four set vs. Xavier (12/13/06).
Marvin Gentry's four steals tied his career high.
The Bearcats' 12 steals were the second-most this season--UC made 13 thefts vs. North Carolina State on Dec. 23--and marked the fourth time the team has finished with double digit steals.
Deonta Vaughn achieved a career high with eight rebounds.
SIKES FINDS HIS RANGE: Marcus Sikes is a perimeter performer in a big man's role. The 6-8 junior, who has been forced to play inside due to Cincinnati's lack of size, showed what he could do outside in Wednesday's loss at Syracuse. Sikes stepped outside to make eight 3-point field goals in 12 tries and finished with 24 points. He has been UC's second-most productive scorer from 3-point range--his 26 treys trails only Deonta Vaughn's 32--and he has a .464 percentage from beyond the arc.
WARREN PICKING UP THE TEMPO: Jamual Warren has averaged 11.2 points along with 4.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.1 steals over his last 10 games. He achieved a career high with six assists vs. Rutgers (1/7/07) and had a personal-best five steals vs. Syracuse (1/17/07). Warren continues to be a factor on the defensive end. The 6-2 junior leads the team in steals (2.1), having made at least one steal in all but one game this season and posting multiple steals 11 times.
WILLIAMSON ON THE BOARDS: John Williamson continues to be one of the most effective rebounders in the BIG EAST Conference, particularly under the offensive glass. The 6-6 junior is ranked seventh in the league in rebounding with his 7.8 average. He is second in offensive rebounding, averaging 3.5.
Williamson 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 accolaes for his play the week of Dec. 11-17, during which he averaged 17.5 points and 12.0 rebounds.
VAUGHN BACK ON TRACK: Deonta Vaughn has snapped a recent scoring slump to average 17.0 points over his last two games. Vaughn broke a string of four single-digit scoring games with a 21-point effort in the Jan. 14 game at USF, also contributing three steals. In Wednesday's contest at Syracuse, Vaughn tallied 13 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds.
Vaughn, who has taken over the Bearcats' team scoring lead (13.7), has ranked among the top freshmen scorers in the BIG EAST Conference throughout the season. He is currently second to Eugene Harvey (16.1 points) of Seton Hall.
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 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. He 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.
Vaughn has dished out five or more assists in eight games, with a single-game high of nine, and leads the squad with a 3.8 average.
A STEAL IN TIME: Jamual Warren has had at least one steal in all but one game this season and has had multiple steals in all but six contests. The 6-2 junior, who had a streak of 15 games with a steal, leads the Bearcats with his 2.1 average. Warren set a career high with five steals in the Jan. 17 USF contest.
Perhaps no steal was more timely than the one in which Warren made to extend his streak 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.
McGOWAN MAKING GOOD: Cedric McGowan tied his career scoring high with 20 points vs. No. 22 Memphis, going 7-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from 3-point range.
In the Dec. 13 contest vs. Xavier, McGowan picked an opportune time to come out of his 3-point shooting slump. In the final 1:20 of the first half, McGowan, who was a mere 1-of-18 in 3-point field goals on the season, sank a pair of 3s, the second with 10 seconds to play putting UC in the lead for good.
COMEBACK CATS: The Bearcats have fought back from sizeable deficits in each of their last two games. in Wednesday's loss at Syracuse, UC overcame a 19-point margin to take a three-point lead with 46 seconds to play in the game, which the Orange came back to win, 77-76. In UC's previous outing vs. USF, the Bearcats cut a 25-point deficit to nine points in the second half before losing, 74-59. On Dec. 9, UC overcame a 16-point deficit to defeat Temple, 80-71.
FIRST HALF ROUGH FOR UC: Cincinnati has been experiencing problems getting off to a good start in recent games. UC has averaged 25.4 points in the first half of its last five contests, boosted by the 34-point first half in Wednesday's game vs. Syracuse which found the Bearcats trailing by 14. Over the same span, UC has averaged 34.2 points in the second half.
BEARCATS DATA:
The Bearcats have shot .323 (20 of 62) from 3-point range over their last two games, an improvement over the .188 percentage the team had over its previous six contests.
UC has been outscored by an average of 10.0 points at the foul line in its eight losses.
Cincinnati has made 22 steals over its last two games.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats are back at Fifth Third Arena on Wednesday (Jan. 24) to host No. 6 Pittsburgh at 7 p.m. Cincinnati plays at Georgetown on Jan. 27.