MBB Selected To Represent City of Cincinnati In NCAA Tournament

MBB Selected To Represent City of Cincinnati In NCAA Tournament

CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team returns to the NCAA Championship for the ninth-straight season with a first-round game against Iowa on Friday, March 22, at Nationwide Arena (20,000) in Columbus, Ohio.

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MBB Selected To Represent City of Cincinnati In NCAA TournamentMBB Selected To Represent City of Cincinnati In NCAA Tournament


CINCINNATI -
The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team returns to the NCAA Championship for the ninth-straight season with a first-round game against Iowa on Friday, March 22, at Nationwide Arena (20,000) in Columbus, Ohio.
 
The Bearcats are one of six schools with nine-straight NCAA Tournament appearances (Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan State and North Carolina).

UC (28-6) is the No. 7 seed in the South Region while the No. 10 seed is Iowa (22-11). No. 2 Tennessee (29-5) and No. 14 Colgate (24-10) are the other South Region teams playing in Columbus.
 
The game will tipoff at 12:15 p.m. ET and be televised by CBS with Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Chris Webber (analyst) and Allie LaForce (sideline) calling the action. The game will also air on 700 WLW AM with Dan Hoard (play-by-play) and Terry Nelson (analyst) on the call.

// SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Cincinnati (28-6) enters its ninth-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance on the heels of back-to-back American Athletic Conference Tournament titles after defeating No. 11 Houston, 69-57, in the final on Selection Sunday, the first time UC has captured consecutive tournament titles since the 1995 (Great Midwest Conference) and 1996 (Conference USA) events. The Bearcats finished second in the regular season standings in the AAC with a 14-4 record with three of those losses coming to NCAA-bound opponents, including two to Houston and one on the road at UCF. All told, UC has won 89 games since the start of the 2016-17 season, the third-most in the nation behind only Gonzaga (99) and Villanova (93). UC has won 26 or more games in six of the last nine seasons and finished first or second in its league in four of the last six years.
 
Led by 2018-19 AAC Player of the Year Jarron Cumberland, the Bearcats posted a 17-2 mark at home, including three wins over NCAA-bound teams in N.C. Central, Nothern Kentucky and UCF. Cumberland, a unanimous All-AAC First Team selection, became the 53rd player in program history to reach the 1,000-career point mark and currently sits on 1,345 points to rank 20th all-time in program history as he has scored 18.8 points per game clip in his junior campaign. Sophomore Keith Williams was the only other UC player to average double-digit scoring on the year with 10.0 per game while four others, including Trevon Scott, Justin Jenifer, Nysier Brooks, and Cane Broome all averaged between 8.0 and 9.4 points per contest.

// SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES
Iowa finished the season with a 22-11 mark and was 10-10 in Big Ten Conference play. Tyler Cook (14.9 ppg), Luka Garza (12.9 ppg), Jordan Bohannon (11.3 ppg) and Joe Wieskamp (10.8 ppg) all average in double figures for the Hawkeyes. Cook is the leading rebounder, pulling down 7.9 boards per game. Cook was tabbed a Second-Team All-Big Ten selection by the media and a third-team selection by the coaches, Bohannon earned third-team accolades, Garza was an honorable-mention selection and Wieskamp earned a spot on the league's all-freshman team. Bohannon has led the Big Ten in free throw percentage each of the last two seasons. The junior guard missed only 13 free throws in 33 games this season (95-of-108, .880) and was 37-of-39 (.949) a year ago. UC is scheduled to face Iowa on Dec. 21, 2019 at the Chicago Legends event at the United Center. Hawkeyes freshman guard CJ Fredrick prepped at Covington Catholic HS.

// THE ALL-TIME SERIES VS. IOWA
The two teams have met a total of eight times in a series which dates to 1959 with UC holding a 6-2 edge. Friday will mark the sixth neutral-site meeting and fourth-straight in the series. UC and Iowa last met on March 17, 2005, a 76-64 Bearcats win in the first round of the Austin Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats have won four of the last five meetings.

// NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
The Bearcats are making their 33rd overall appearance in the NCAA Championship, ninth consecutive and 23rd in the past 28 seasons. UC has compiled a 46-31 record on the way to winning two National Championships (1961 & 1962), making eight regional finals (1959-63, 1992-93, 1996) and six Final Fours (1959-63, 1992). The Bearcats are one of six schools with nine-straight NCAA Tournament appearances (Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan State and North Carolina).
 
// UC IN THE SOUTH REGION
This marks the third-straight year UC has been drawn into the south region and the fifth time overall. The Bearcats have an all-time mark of 6-4 in south and southeast region games. UC made an Elite Eight run in 1996 out of the southeast region.

// UC AS A NO. 7 SEED
The Bearcats are a No. 7 seed for the first time since 2005, also the last time they played Iowa. UC has been a No. 7 seed twice in its postseason history and holds a 2-2 overall record.

// BEARCATS IN COLUMBUS
The opening-round site at Nationwide Arena sits only 90 minutes from Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats opened the 2018-19 season with a loss to Ohio State in the Buckeyes first trip to Cincinnati since 1920. UC hasn't played in Columbus since a 1924 win at Otterbein. UC's 2017 NCAA Indoor Weight Throw National Champion Annette Echikunwoke (Pickerington North) and Football Head Coach Luke Fickell (DeSalles) are Columbus natives. The Bearcats football and men's basketball teams are scheduled to play in Columbus during the 2019-20 season, the first time that has happened since 1912.

// TICKET INFORMATION
While fans are encouraged to purchase tickets through the Bearcats Ticket Office, UC was allocated a very limited number of tickets for the first-round game in Columbus.

Based on such limited availability, all orders will be allocated based upon UCATS Priority, first by giving level and then by priority point order. All season ticket holders are able to place a ticket request through www.gobearcats.com/tickets by logging into their online account. Fans can also call the Athletics Ticket Office at 513-556-2287 on Monday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET.

First and second-round tickets are $100 apiece at Nationwide Arena. Part of UC's ticket allotment will include upper-level tickets and fans will be notified ahead of time of their seat location. All tickets will be available at the will-call table in Columbus beginning approximately 90 minutes prior to tipoff. The location will be determined at a later date and sent via e-mail to all patrons who purchase tickets. A photo ID will be required to claim the tickets. Ticket purchase rights are non-transferable.

// UCATS MEMBERS
On Monday, March 18, UC will continue to accept and finalize NCAA ticket requests.

Members of the Presidential Society are eligible for up to six tickets, Director's Cabinet, George Smith and Championship level donors up to four (4) and all other UCATS members are eligible for up to two (2) tickets for First and Second Round games. Those eligible UCATS members may request tickets by logging into their account at http://www.gobearcats.com/tickets and clicking "Request My NCAA Tournament Tickets". All requests must be finalized by 5 p.m. ET on Monday, March 18.

UCATS members who are not men's basketball season ticket holders will have to call the athletics ticket office at 1-877-CATS-TIX to make their request.

The credit card that is entered will be charged $100 per ticket for the First Round game should you qualify for tickets. Provided the Bearcats advance to the Second Round the same card will be charged again.