TicketsJan. 23, 2007
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SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati plays host to BIG EAST Conference leader and Top 10-ranked Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Jan. 24 in an 8 p.m. contest at Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats, 10-8 overall, enter the fray on the momentum of Saturday's 96-83 overtime victory over West Virginia, their first conference win of the season. The Panthers, ranked No. 9 in both polls this week, are smarting from Sunday's 77-74 overtime loss to Marquette, Pitts's first in league play. Pittsburgh is 17-3 overall and 5-1 vs. the BIG EAST.
STORY LINES:
The Bearcats will be taking on one of the top shooting teams in the BIG EAST Conference. Pittsburgh is ranked third in team field goal percentage (.493) and is second in 3-point field goal percentage (.395).
Two Bearcats who have played relatively quiet roles during the season--Marvin Gentry and Marcus Sikes--enter Wednesday's game coming off of big weeks. Gentry, UC's sixth man, averaged 21.5 points and shot .591 (13 of 22) from the field in two games last week, boosted by a 32-point game vs. West Virginia. He earned BIG EAST Honor Roll recognition. Sikes averaged 17.0 points over his last two games, during which he shot .563 (9 of 16) from 3-point range. He had 24 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range vs. Syracuse.
Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have played two common opponents--Syracuse and USF. The Bearcats lost to both teams (77-76 to Syracuse, 74-59 to USF) while Pittsburgh won defeated both foes (Pittsburgh 74-66, USF 69-48).
UC is 4-0 vs. Pittsburgh in games played in Cincinnati. The Panthers' last visit to Cincinnati occurred on Dec. 19, 1979, a 61-60 win by the Bearcats. Wednesday's contest will be the first between the two at Fifth Third Arena.
Cincinnati has a 243-37 record in its 17-plus seasons in Fifth Third Arena.
LAST SEASON: Pittsburgh shot a .561 from the field, a season high by a UC opponent, in defeating Cincinnati, 89-69, on Feb. 12, 2006 at the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers took control of the game with a 10-0 run in the final 3:40 of the first half. Carl Krauser led four Pittsburgh double figure scorers with 18 points. Aaron Gray had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Jihad Muhammad scored 21 points and Eric Hicks added 15 for UC.
NOTING THE WEST VIRGINIA GAME:
Cincinnati reached team season highs for points (96), free throws (29) and free throw attempts (41).
The Bearcats committed a season-low six turnovers.
Marvin Gentry scored a career-high 32 points. The 6-3 junior eclipsed personal best totals for field goals (9), field goal attempts (14), 3-point field goals (5), 3-point field goal attempts (7) and free throw attempts (12) and tied a career high for free throws (9).
John Williamson recorded his fourth double-double as a Bearcat with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
COMEBACK CATS: The Bearcats fell to an early 17-point deficit vs. West Virginia on Saturday which they overcame for their 96-83 overtime win. It was the second-largest deficit that Cincinnati has come back from to win in the history of Fifth Third Arena.
UC has twice overcome 18-point margins for wins in Fifth Third. On Feb. 28, 1998, the Bearcats fought back from 18 points down to defeat Saint Louis, 61-58. They overcame the same size margin on Nov. 28, 2004 for a 76-70 overtime win over Northern Iowa.
Cincinnati had fought back from sizeable deficits in each of its previous two games. In the Jan. 17 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.
GENTRY PROVIDES BOOST: Marvin Gentry, Cincinnati's super sixth man, stepped up his play in a big way in Saturday's 96-83 win over West Virginia. Gentry scored a career-high 32 points. The 6-3 junior was 5-of-7 from 3-point range and sank nine of his dozen free throw tries. Gentry tallied 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the Jan. 17 loss at Syracuse.
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 the Jan. 17 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 27 treys trails only Deonta Vaughn's 34--and he has a .450 percentage from beyond the arc.
WARREN PICKING UP THE TEMPO: Jamual Warren has averaged 11.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.7 steals over his last three games. He tied his career scoring high with 16 points and set a new personal best with eight rebounds in Saturday's win over West Virginia. On Jan. 17, he recorded a career-high five steals vs. Syracuse. 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 8.1 average. He is second in offensive rebounding, averaging 3.6.
Williamson recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds in Saturday's win over West Virginia. His rebound total was second to the 16 rebounds he gathered vs. No. 4 Ohio State on Dec. 16.
Williamson earned BIG EAST Conference Honor Roll accolades 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 15.3 points over his last three 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 the Jan. 17 contest at Syracuse, he tallied 13 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds.
Vaughn, who has taken over the Bearcats' team scoring lead (13.6), 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.
BEARCATS DATA:
The Bearcats have shot .354 (29 of 82) from 3-point range over their last three 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 26 steals over its last three games.
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.
Cincinnati has had a double digit rebounder in nine games. John Williamson has reached double digits in four games--11 vs. Wofford, 13 vs. Temple, 16 vs. Ohio State and 13 vs. West Virginia. Marcus Sikes has a trio of double-digit performances, gathering 10 rebounds each in games vs. Tennessee-Martin (11/11/06), Miami (12/27/06) and USF (1/14/07). Marvin Gentry collected 10 rebounds in the opener vs. Howard and Cedric McGowan had 12 rebounds vs. High Point.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats visit Georgetown on Saturday, Jan. 27. The 12 noon contest will be televised by ESPN Regional and aired on WXIX-TV 19 as well as the ESPN Plus package. Cincinnati returns to Fifth Third Arena to host Louisville on Jan. 31.