TicketsFeb. 2, 2007
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SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati hopes to give a super start to Sunday when it hosts St. John's University in a noon BIG EAST Conference game at Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats, 10-11 overall, are seeking their second BIG EAST win of the season in their first league meeting vs. the Red Storm. St. John's is 12-10 and 3-6 in BIG EAST Conference play following Thursday's 72-48 loss to Georgetown.
STORY LINES:
Sunday's contest will be the first meeting between Cincinnati and St. John's as BIG EAST Conference members. The Bearcats and Red Storm did not meet last season in the league's scheduling format.
Sunday will mark the first meeting of the two teams since the 1977-78 season. St. John's defeated UC, 75-66, on Feb. 2, 1978 to take a 3-2 lead in the series. All previous contests were played in Madison Square Garden.
Only one of the Red Storm's 12 wins occurred away from home. St. John's has a 1-4 road record.
The Bearcats will hope that playing in Fifth Third Arena helps them snap their three-game losing streak. Home teams have posted a 41-24 record (.631) in BIG EAST play this season. Cincinnati is 8-4 at Fifth Third Arena this season and has an all-time record of 243-39 in the facility.
Bearcats' center Marcus Sikes is ranked third in the BIG EAST in 3-point field goal percentage (.472). Forward John Williamson is second in offensive rebounds (3.5) and eighth in total rebounds (7.6).
Cincinnati and St. John's have played four common opponents--West Virginia, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Georgetown. Cincinnati has compiled a 1-3 record vs. those teams, defeating West Virginia (96-83 ot) but losing to Syracuse (77-76), Pittsburgh (67-51) and Georgetown (82-67). St. John's has defeated Syracuse (64-60) but lost to Pittsburgh (72-64), West Virginia (73-46), and Georgetown (72-48).
NOTING THE LOUISVILLE GAME:
Deonta Vaughn tied a career high with eight rebounds.
Marvin Gentry, though not a starter, played a career-high 37 minutes. He topped the 20-point mark with 22 points for the second time in his UC career.
The Bearcats finished with single digit turnovers, eight, for the sixth time this season.
The victory by Louisville was the Cardinals' fifth over UC in Fifth Third Arena, giving them the most wins over the Bearcats in the building of any opponent.
GENTRY PROVIDES BOOST: Marvin Gentry, Cincinnati's super sixth man, has provided a scoring boost from the bench in recent games. The 6-3 junior has averaged 18.0 points over his last four games, during which he has shot .532 from the field (25 of 47) and .478 from 3-point range (11 of 23).
Gentry tallied 22 points while playing all but three minutes of Wednesday's game vs. Louisville.
Gentry tallied 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field vs. Georgetown (1/27/07).
Gentry played a major role in the 96-83 win over West Virginia on Jan. 20, scoring a career-high 32 points. He was 5-of-7 from 3-point range and sank nine of his dozen free throw tries. The effort helped him earn weekly BIG EAST Honor Roll laurels.
SIKES BECOMES A SCORER: Marcus Sikes has been one of Cincinnati's top offensive performers in recent games. The 6-8 junior has averaged 14.4 points over the last five games. During that stretch, Sikes has shot .571 (16 of 28) from 3-point range.
Sikes scored 19 points in 25 minutes of the Jan. 27 Georgetown game before fouling out. He was 7-of-9 from the floor and tied a UC single game record for 3-point field goal percentage with a perfect 5-of-5 day from behind the arc.
Sikes scored a career-high 24 points vs. Syracuse on Jan. 17, sinking eight of 12 3-pointers.
Sikes is a perimeter performer in a big man's role. He has the second-most 3-pointers on the team (34) and leads UC and is ranked first in the BIG EAST Conference in 3-point shooting percentage (.493).
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 second in the BIG EAST in offensive rebounds, averaging 3.5 per game. He is ranked eighth in the league in overall rebounding with his 7.6 average.
Williamson is also Cincinnati's most consistent scorer, having reached double figures in 14 of the team's 21 contests.
Williamson recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds in the Jan. 20 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 MAKING AN IMPRESSION: Deonta Vaughn, who has taken over the Bearcats' scoring lead (14.0), has ranked among the top freshmen scorers in the BIG EAST Conference throughout the season. He is currently second to Eugene Harvey (15.7 points) of Seton Hall.
Vaughn has scored 18 points in each of his last two games and has averaged 15.8 points over his last six contests. Twice during that span, the 6-1 guard has recorded a career-high eight rebounds.
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.
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 nine games with a single-game high of 10 and leads the squad with a 3.8 average.
A STEAL IN TIME: Jamual Warren has had at least one steal in all but two games 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 2.0 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.
Warren tied a career scoring high when he tallied 16 points in the win over West Virginia (1/20/07).
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 fell to an early 17-point deficit vs. West Virginia on Jan. 20 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.
BEARCATS DATA:
The Bearcats have shot .351 (52 of 148) from 3-point range over their last six games, which has raised the team's season percentage from .278 to .306. UC tied a season high by shooting .583 (14 of 24) vs. Georgetown on Jan. 27.
Cincinnati's last two opponents have combined to shoot .521 (74 of 142) from the field. Pittsburgh shot .605 vs. UC on Jan. 24, setting a Fifth Third Arena record by a UC foe, and Georgetown followed that with a .528 performance on Jan. 27.
UC has made recent improvements in taking care of the basketball. The Bearcats have averaged 9.0 turnovers over their last five games, including a season-low six turnovers vs. West Virginia on Jan. 20. UC had eight turnovers vs. Louisville on Jan. 31.
Marcus Sikes' 5-of-5 performance from 3-point range vs. Georgetown (1/27/07) tied the UC single game record for 3-point field goal percentage (minimum five made 3s). Field Williams was 5-of-5 vs. Louisville in 2001-02.
LOOKING AHEAD: Cincinnati returns to the road to visit Providence on Tuesday, Feb. 6. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. The game will be the first of three road contests. The Bearcats visit Rutgers on Saturday, Feb. 10 for a 4 p.m. game and are at Villanova on Feb. 14 for a 9 p.m. contest.