TicketsCINCINNATI -- The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team is Kansas-bound this weekend for a Sunday contest at Wichita State. Tip-off is at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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THE RUNDOWN
Cincinnati rode a 49-29 halftime lead to a 79-71 win over ECU Wednesday night, withstanding a valiant Pirate rally. The first period saw UC season-highs for field-goal percentage (58.6 percent), points and margin. Mike Saunders Jr. (eight) and Mika Adams-Woods combined for 12 assists and one turnover, with Saunders' tally serving as a UC season-high. While Sunday is just the team's fourth true road game of the year, it did match a FedExForum collegiate-team record of 16 threes at Memphis last Sunday.
Jeremiah Davenport scored a team and season-high 22 points, his second-straight game with 20-plus. He is 25th nationally (first in AAC) with 117 attempts despite missing a game. Mason Madsen also connected three times from deep on four attempts, matching his season-high of nine points in the first half. The Bearcats are 35-for-81 from long range the last three games (43.2 percent), averaging 78.7 ppg, while also seeing an 8.4 percent jump in deep shooting in AAC play compared to non-conference. Adams-Woods (+4.7 ppg) and John Newman III (+3.5) give UC four double-digit scorers in league games as well.
Adams-Woods remains first nationally with a 5.17 assist-turnover ratio, while the team is 19th (1.46). Other high-performing categories include ranking 13th in field-goal defense (37.8 percent), 19th in turnovers per game (10.2), 37th in three-point attempts (420) and 44th in scoring defense (62.7).
SERIES HISTORY
Cincinnati leads the all-time series, 25-13. The last five games have been decided by just 2.8 ppg, with Cincinnati claiming a 7-2 record overall since Wichita State joined the AAC. The Bearcats split the series last year, falling 82-76 on the eve of what would be a five-game COVID pause, but claimed revenge in the AAC Semifinals in a 60-59 win. Madsen's 10 points off the bench led the Bearcats in the team's eighth-straight AAC Tourney win and fourth-straight finals trip.
The two teams began as Missouri Valley Conference rivals from 1958-70, with UC winning the first eight games. UC assistant coach Chad Dollar was also on Wichita State's 2010-11 NIT championship staff.
GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY
Limited single-game tickets are available as the Bearcats continue their season. You can get yours today here or by calling 1-877-CATS-TIX. Other questions can be directed to uc.tickets@uc.edu.