TicketsFeb. 22, 2007
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SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati faces a longtime rival when the Bearcats visit DePaul on Saturday, Feb. 24 for a noon EST contest at Allstate Arena. The Bearcats and Blue Demons have played 33 times over the past 15 seasons, with UC winning 27 of those contests. Cincinnati (10-17, 1-12) will hope that the recent past helps snap a nine-game losing skid. DePaul (16-12, 7-7) has won four of its last six contests and is 11-2 in home games this year.
STORY LINES:
The Bearcats and Blue Demons will be meeting for the 42nd time and the 34th contest over the past 16 seasons. Cincinnati holds a 29-12 lead in the all-time series, courtesy of a 16-game winning streak from the 1991-92 to the 1998-99 seasons. UC has won 27 of the last 31 meetings, but the Blue Demons have won each of the last three games played in Allstate Arena.
Jerry Wainwright is in his second season as head coach at DePaul, but is no stranger to Cincinnati. Wainwright began his college coaching career in Cincinnati as an assistant at Xavier under Bob Staak in 1984-85. Wainwright later served as head coach at North Carolina-Wilmington, where his teams visited the Bearcats three times, with UC winning all three contests.
Cincinnati is 7-8 in all appearances in Allstate Arena (formerly the Rosemont Horizon). The Bearcats are 6-6 vs. DePaul, 1-1 vs. Loyola and 0-1 vs. Illinois. UC has lost its last three visits to DePaul.
Bearcats' forward John Williamson is second in the BIG EAST in offensive rebounds (3.4) and seventh in total rebounds (7.3).
Cincinnati continues to be one of the BIG EAST's best in taking care of the basketball. UC is ranked third in turnover margin (+3.3).
Cincinnati and DePaul have played 11 common opponents. DePaul is 5-8 vs. those teams with wins over Villanova, Rutgers, St. John's, Notre Dame and USF and losses to UAB, St. John's, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Georgetown, West Virginia, Syracuse and Notre Dame. Cincinnati is 1-12 vs. those teams, having defeated West Virginia with losses to UAB, Rutgers (twice), USF, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Georgetown (twice), Louisville, St. John's, Villanova and Notre Dame.
LAST MEETING: Eric Hicks and Jihad Muhammad scored 20 points each to lead Cincinnati to an 82-60 win over DePaul on Jan. 4, 2006 in Cincinnati. The game marked the BIG EAST Conference debut for both teams. The Bearcats took control of the game with a 17-6 scoring burst midway through the first half. Sammy Mejia led DePaul with 20 points.
LAST TIME IN ALLSTATE ARENA: Quemont Greer scored 25 points and Drake Diener added 22 to lead DePaul to an 85-66 win over Cincinnati on Feb. 12, 2005 at Allstate Arena. The Blue Demons erased an early lead with an 18-2 scoring run in the first half. DePaul sank 11 treys and won the rebounding battle, 39-28. Eric Hicks scored 22 points to lead UC.
NOTING THE GEORGETOWN GAME:
Timmy Crowell made his first career start and posted career highs of five rebounds and two steals in a personal-best 22 minutes of action.
John Williamson, with 15 points, reached double digits in scoring for the 20th time this season and his sixth straight contest.
The loss extended the Bearcats' losing streak to nine games, the longest since the 1983-84 season.
WILLIAMSON RETURNS TO THE OFFENSE: John Williamson has picked up the Bearcats' offense in recent games. The 6-6 junior has averaged 18.0 points over his last four games, during which he has shot .578 (26 of 45) from the field. Williamson scored 23 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the field, and grabbed nine rebounds in the Feb. 18 game vs. Notre Dame. He tallied 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting in the Feb. 10 game at Rutgers and had 15 points vs. Villanova on Feb. 14.
Williamson is Cincinnati's most consistent scorer, having reached double figures in 20 of the team's 27 contests.
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 3.4 per game. He is rated seventh in the league in overall rebounding with his 7.3 average.
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 AMONG BEST FROSH: Deonta Vaughn continues to lead the Bearcats in scoring with his 14.4-point average. Vaughn has ranked among the top freshmen scorers in the BIG EAST Conference throughout the season. He is currently second to Eugene Harvey (16.2 points) of Seton Hall.
Vaughn has averaged 20.5 points over his last two games. He scored 19 points in Wednesday's Georgetown contest and had 22 points, his fifth 20-plus points performance, in the Feb. 18 game vs. Notre Dame.
More than just a scorer, Vaughn has twice recorded a career-high eight rebounds and is the Bearcats' assists leader (3.6). He has become the Bearcats' co-leader in steals (1.9), having averaged 4.5 thefts over his last two games and 3.0 over his last six contests.
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 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 10 games with a single-game high of nine.
GENTRY BECOMES A STARTER: Marvin Gentry, Cincinnati's super sixth man most of the season, has moved into the starting lineup for the last five games. The 6-3 junior has provided a scoring boost in recent contests.
Gentry tallied 22 points while playing all but three minutes of the Jan. 31 game vs. Louisville.
Gentry scored 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 SCORES FROM OUTSIDE: Marcus Sikes is a perimeter player who has been forced to see action around the basket. Sikes, who at 6-8 is the tallest Bearcat regular, nonetheless has the second-most treys among the Bearcats (42) and leads the team and is ranked seventh in the BIG EAST in 3-point field goal percentage (.429).
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.
WARREN SHINES ON BOTH ENDS OF THE COURT: Jamual Warren continues to spark the Bearcats at both ends of the court. He tallied 13 points vs. Rutgers on Feb. 10 and has twice recorded a career-high six assists.
Defensively, Warren has had at least one steal in all but four games this season and has had multiple steals in 16 contests. Warren, who had a streak of 15 games with a steal, is the Bearcats co-leader in steals with his 1.9 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.
IT'S ACADEMIC: Two Bearcats, Marcus Sikes and Branden Miller, qualified for the Dean's list academic honors after Fall quarter for having grade point averages of 3.5 or above. Three others, John Williamson, Connor Barwin and Mike Williams, posted GPAs of 3.0 or above. The team's GPA was 2.875, a shade lower that the 2.965 of the UC general student body.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Bearcats return to Fifth Third Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 28 to close out their home schedule with a 7 p.m. contest vs. Seton Hall.