TicketsCINCINNATI -- All eyes are on Clifton Sunday night when the Cincinnati men's basketball team hosts No. 6 Houston at 6 p.m., the Bearcats' first home game since Jan. 20 after Thursday's Memphis contest was postponed. Fans are also encouraged to wear black for the game.
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THE RUNDOWN
UC's last time out saw David DeJulius score off his own miss with 3.7 seconds left for a 60-59 win at ECU. UC led by six with 1:30 left, and as high as 12 in the first half, but was able to get back in the win column after a Temple heartbreaker.
DeJulius also scored the Bearcats' final seven points to finish with a team-high 15 in the Temple game, earning AAC Honor Roll recognition. He has scored in double-figures 14 times (up from six last year), including six of eight AAC games, to share the scoring lead with Jeremiah Davenport at 13.4 ppg. Mika Adams-Woods scored a career-high 21 points in the ECU win (16 in the first half), with UC improving to 7-2 when he scores in double-figures. He is fourth nationally in assist-turnover ratio (3.60) and UC's fourth with a 20-point game.
Mason Madsen is 7-for-9 from deep his last two home games, and 14 of his 16 makes have come in Fifth Third Arena (leads team with 37.8 percent clip at home). Over the team's last three in the Queen City, it is outscoring its opponents 82.0-66.7 ppg with a 35-for-80 mark from deep (43.8 percent). UC's 35.7-percent three-point shooting in AAC play ranks third, well ahead of its 29.3 non-conference rate, while ranking second to Houston in shooting defense (37.3 percent). UC is holding opponents to the same clip overall, seventh in the nation, after ranking 186th last season.
SERIES HISTORY
Cincinnati leads the all-time series 33-8, including an 11-7 mark as AAC rivals. The Bearcats are also 17-1 at home against the Cougars, as well as winning 27 of the first 28 meetings (1957-2016).
These future Big 12 foes have also faced each other in each of the last three AAC Championship games, with UC coming out on top in 2018 and 2019. The two teams were also the top seeds in 2020, but the tourney never began due to COVID-19.
Davenport averaged 11.0 ppg over the two matchups last season, including the AAC title game in which he earned All-Tourney honors.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
Cincinnati, with 47 top-10 wins in its proud history, will seek its highest-ranked win since 2012 (No. 2 Syracuse in the BIG EAST Tournament), ultimately making the Sweet 16. Should the Bearcats emerge victorious, Wes Miller would become the first UC coach since Tay Baker in 1965-66 to defeat two ranked opponents in his first season. Ed Jucker also accomplished the feat in UC's 1960-61 national title season.
THIS GAME IS NO SECRET
The Cincinnati men's basketball program will dedicate Sunday's game to College Insider Inc.'s social-inclusion movement "ERACISM." The no-secret name comes from a 1944 scrimmage between Duke and North Carolina Central, the South's first integrated college basketball game that was not disclosed till years later.
Coach Miller and players will wear ERACISM shirts on the sideline. More info on the national cause and its history can be found here.
ESPN2 | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets
THE RUNDOWN
UC's last time out saw David DeJulius score off his own miss with 3.7 seconds left for a 60-59 win at ECU. UC led by six with 1:30 left, and as high as 12 in the first half, but was able to get back in the win column after a Temple heartbreaker.
DeJulius also scored the Bearcats' final seven points to finish with a team-high 15 in the Temple game, earning AAC Honor Roll recognition. He has scored in double-figures 14 times (up from six last year), including six of eight AAC games, to share the scoring lead with Jeremiah Davenport at 13.4 ppg. Mika Adams-Woods scored a career-high 21 points in the ECU win (16 in the first half), with UC improving to 7-2 when he scores in double-figures. He is fourth nationally in assist-turnover ratio (3.60) and UC's fourth with a 20-point game.
Mason Madsen is 7-for-9 from deep his last two home games, and 14 of his 16 makes have come in Fifth Third Arena (leads team with 37.8 percent clip at home). Over the team's last three in the Queen City, it is outscoring its opponents 82.0-66.7 ppg with a 35-for-80 mark from deep (43.8 percent). UC's 35.7-percent three-point shooting in AAC play ranks third, well ahead of its 29.3 non-conference rate, while ranking second to Houston in shooting defense (37.3 percent). UC is holding opponents to the same clip overall, seventh in the nation, after ranking 186th last season.
SERIES HISTORY
Cincinnati leads the all-time series 33-8, including an 11-7 mark as AAC rivals. The Bearcats are also 17-1 at home against the Cougars, as well as winning 27 of the first 28 meetings (1957-2016).
These future Big 12 foes have also faced each other in each of the last three AAC Championship games, with UC coming out on top in 2018 and 2019. The two teams were also the top seeds in 2020, but the tourney never began due to COVID-19.
Davenport averaged 11.0 ppg over the two matchups last season, including the AAC title game in which he earned All-Tourney honors.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
Cincinnati, with 47 top-10 wins in its proud history, will seek its highest-ranked win since 2012 (No. 2 Syracuse in the BIG EAST Tournament), ultimately making the Sweet 16. Should the Bearcats emerge victorious, Wes Miller would become the first UC coach since Tay Baker in 1965-66 to defeat two ranked opponents in his first season. Ed Jucker also accomplished the feat in UC's 1960-61 national title season.
THIS GAME IS NO SECRET
The Cincinnati men's basketball program will dedicate Sunday's game to College Insider Inc.'s social-inclusion movement "ERACISM." The no-secret name comes from a 1944 scrimmage between Duke and North Carolina Central, the South's first integrated college basketball game that was not disclosed till years later.
Coach Miller and players will wear ERACISM shirts on the sideline. More info on the national cause and its history can be found here.