TicketsMarch 1, 2007
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SETTING THE SCENE: The University of Cincinnati will try to close the 2006-07 season on a high note when the Bearcats visit West Virginia on Saturday, March 3 for a 4 p.m. EST contest. UC, 11-18 overall and 2-13 in BIG EAST play, wrapped up its home schedule with a 70-67 overtime victory over Seton Hall on Wednesday to end a 10-game losing streak. The Bearcats' prior win was a 96-83 overtime decision over West Virginia on Jan. 20. West Virginia (20-8, 8-7) has a two-game losing slide and has dropped four of its last six contests. WVU lost to Pittsburgh, 80-66, on Tuesday.
STORY LINES:
Deonta Vaughn will conclude the season on Saturday as the second-highest scoring freshman in Cincinnati history. Vaughn enters the game averaging 14.3 points. Dontonio Wingfield holds the UC freshman season scoring record, having averaged 16.0 points in 1993-94. Vaughn is the second-leading scorer among BIG EAST freshmen this season, trailing only Eugene Harvey of Seton Hall.
This is the second consecutive season that Cincinnati and West Virginia face each other twice. Last season, each team won its home game, and the Bearcats continued the home court win streak with a 96-83 overtime victory over the Mountaineers on Jan. 20.
West Virginia is 13-1 at home this season and 405-120 in 36 seasons at WVU Coliseum.
Cincinnati will be seeking its first road game victory. The Bearcats are 0-8 as the visiting team and are 1-2 at neutral sites.
UC is 1-1 in games played vs. WVU at WVU Coliseum.
Bearcats' forward John Williamson is third in the BIG EAST in offensive rebounds (3.3) and 10th in total rebounds (7.1).
LAST MEETING: Marvin Gentry scored a career-high 32 points to lead Cincinnati to a 96-83 overtime win over West Virginia on Jan. 20, 2007 in Cincinnati. The Bearcats had to overcome a 17-point deficit in the contest, matching their second-greatest comeback in Fifth Third Arena. Jamual Warren tied the game with a layup with 16 seconds to play in regulation and UC scored the first six points of overtime. Five Bearcats reached double figures in scoring, with John Williamson (17 points), Warren (16), Deonta Vaughn (12) and Marcus Sikes (10) complementing Gentry. Alex Ruoff led West Virginia with 21 points.
LAST TIME IN MORGANTOWN: Cincinnati's attempt to upset No. 11 West Virginia on its home floor fell short as the Mountaineers prevailed, 66-57. The Bearcats held a three-point lead at the half but WVU took command with a 13-2 scoring run early in the second half. Mike Gansey led WVU with 14 points and eight rebounds. Eric Hicks had 22 points and 10 rebounds for UC.
NOTING THE SETON HALL GAME:
Connor Barwin recorded three blocked shots, a career high and matching the Bearcats' season individual game high.
Deonta Vaughn, with 20 points reached the 20-point mark for the sixth time this season.
John Williamson reached double figures in scoring for the 22nd time this season and extended his current streak of double-digit scoring games to eight.
UC outrebounded Seton Hall, 46-34, marking the fourth straight game in which the Bearcats have outrebounded their opponent.
The victory was Cincinnati's second overtime win of the season. UC has won five of its last six overtime contests, extending back to the 2003-04 season.
WILLIAMSON RETURNS TO THE OFFENSE: John Williamson has picked up the Bearcats' offense in recent games. The 6-6 junior has averaged 17.3 points over his last six games, during which he has shot .535 (38 of 71) from the field. Williamson, who has scored 16 points in each of his last two contests, tallied 23 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the field, and grabbed nine rebounds in the Feb. 18 game vs. Notre Dame. He scored 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 22 of the team's 29 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 third in the BIG EAST in offensive rebounds, averaging 3.3 per game. He is rated 11th in the league in overall rebounding with his 7.1 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 14.3-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 (16.5 points) of Seton Hall.
Vaughn has averaged 17.3 points over his last four games. He scored 20 points--his sixth 20-point outburst of the season--in Wednesday's win over Seton Hall, including five points in overtime. He had 19 points vs. Georgetown on Feb. 21 and had 22 points 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 (3.5). He has become the Bearcats' leader in steals (1.8), having averaged 3.0 thefts over his last three games.
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 STATUS IN QUESTION: Marvin Gentry sat out Wednesday's game vs. Seton Hall due to an ankle condition and his status for the remainder of the season in question. Gentry had been Cincinnati's super sixth man most of the season, then moved into the starting lineup for the previous six games. The 6-3 junior 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 (43) and leads the team and is ranked seventh in the BIG EAST in 3-point field goal percentage (.417).
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. Seton Hall on Feb. 28, and has twice recorded a career-high six assists.
Defensively, Warren has had at least one steal in all but five games this season and has had multiple steals in 16 contests. Warren, who had a streak of 15 games with a steal, is second on the team in steals with his 1.8 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.
BEARCATS DATA:
Though they are almost always at a size disadvantage, the Bearcats have won the battle of the boards in each of their last four contests. Cincinnati posted a 46-34 advantage in rebounding in Wednesday's win over Seton Hall and outrebounded DePaul, 43-35, on Feb. 24.
The Bearcats were victims of opponents' comeback rallies in two recent games. Cincinnati held a 70-62 lead with 1:41 to play in its Feb. 7 game at Providence, but the Friars scored nine straight points--a pair of treys and a 3-point play--for a 71-70 defeat. UC held a 67-61 advantage over Rutgers with 4:04 remaining, but the Scarlet Knights scored nine unanswered points to take a 70-67 lead with 1:14 on the clock for an eventual 73-69 win on Feb. 10.
Cincinnati's 96-83 overtime win over West Virginia on Jan. 20 featured the second-largest deficit that the Bearcats had overcome in their history in Fifth Third Arena. UC trailed by 17 points in the first half of the West Virginia contest. Cincinnati 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.
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.
The Bearcats forced a season-high 32 turnovers, three shy of the school record, in their Dec. 23 win over North Carolina State.
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.
Cincinnati notched its 40th consecutive victory in home openers and upped its record to 86-19 in season home openers.
The Bearcats upped their record in season openers to 87-19. UC has won 25 of its last 26 season openers.
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.