BEARSTAT READERS
This update has the postgame for Kentucky. I also need to thank all the people that have helped BearstatLink this year.

1. First on all my list is my wife Renee whose patience and understanding are the foundation for this endeavor.
2. My webmaster Dave Nowery whose updating of the website have been invaluable.
3. To Tom Hathaway, the Assistant AD/Athletic Communications at UC that graciously answers readers questions and supplies much of the information.
4. To Andy Assaley, the Video Coordinator for the Bearcats basketball team.
5. To Greg Bruner, the Video Director for the Bearcats football team.
6. Special thanks to Lance McAlister at 1360 Homer The Sports Animal for repeatedly mentioning BearstatLink.com and the newsletter to his listeners. He has brought many new readers to the Link.
7. I must thank you the readers for all the positive feedback and all the voluntary BearstatLink members. 
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KENTUCKY 69 CINCINNATI 60 POSTGAME

The #23 [7 seed] University of Cincinnati Bearcats (25-8, 12-4 C-USA) were outlasted by the #7 [2 seed] University of Kentucky Wildcats (27-5, 14-2 SEC) in Indianapolis Saturday. This much anticipated game was great for 35 minutes until the Bearcats hit the wall as their offense (and legs) dissipated. The Bearcat nation should have nothing but pride following this game as the coaches and players gave it their all. Kentucky is a very good team and their superior bench/depth proved to be the difference. The 40,331 people in attendance were the 2nd biggest crowd to watch a Bearcat game ever and an NCAA 1st/2nd round record. Let’s hope these schools wake up and smell the atmosphere (& money) this match-up brings to the table.

The Bearcats were led by Nick Williams with 16 points and Jihad Muhammad had 14. Eric Hicks notched 12 points & 10 rebounds while Jason Maxiell finished with 9 points & 4 rebounds. Armein Kirkland finished 0-for-8, to quote Bill Walton, “Veeeery disappointing.” Kelenna Azubuike led the Wildcats with 19 points & 7 rebounds. They had 4 other players reach double figures with Rajon Rondo at 16 points, Randolph Morris with 11 points & 12 rebounds, Patrick Sparks had 11 points, and Chuck Hayes finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.

The stats that jump out at you are the Wildcats shooting 51% from the field being the first UC opponent to do so (above 50) all season. UC was 32.8% from the floor even though the Bearcats finished the game 1-for-16. UC was 9-for-37 (24.3%) from the field and 2-for-17 (11.8%) on three’s in the 2nd half, UUGGHH. UK dominated points in the paint 34-12. 

As usual Coach Huggins summed it up best, “We got so tired that we didn’t move the ball, and we weren’t able to make shots. I thought our guys gave great effort, I can’t say enough about our guys’ effort.”

The game did not have a good start as UC missed their first five shots while UK scored on each of their first 6 possessions to give the Wildcats a 11-0 start. Multiple jumpers from Sparks, Rondo, and Azubuike carried the scoring. Nick Williams ended the streak by hitting a three and a beautiful running, bank shot.

UC starts its run after Jason Maxiell swats a point-blank shot from 6-10 freshman Randolph Morris. Eric Hicks completes the old fashioned three-point play after scoring over the 7-footer Orbrzut, very nice.

Jihad Muhammad hits a three, hustles back to force a travel on defense, then drives down the lane to score with a banker. Roy Bright comes off the bench to hit jumper from the corner, then Nick Williams matches a long Rondo three pointer. I could have done without the James White missed dunk Jay Bilas described as, “The most spectacular missed dunk I’ve ever seen.” 

The UC defense forces a UK shot clock violation allowing a Jason Maxiell jumper to take the lead with 3:38 left, 28-27. This is followed by an Eric Hicks trey that put the Bearcats up by two. UK stays close with a steal and dunk from Rondo, he is sneaky quick with long arms. A long three from Nick Williams gave him 11 for the half and puts UC up 34-31 as the Bearcat fans go crazy with 50 seconds to play. Armein goes 1-for-2 from the line and the Bearcats lead at the half is 35-33. UK started the half shooting 5-for-7 on three-pointers but cooled off as the Bearcat defense finally took effect.

Unfortunately the Bearcats started the 2nd half cold as the Wildcats got a lay-up and dunk from Randolph Morris over Max. UK built their lead back to 42-37 following a Patrick Sparks trey.  UC goes inside to Eric Hicks who gets the bucket plus one and Armein Kirkland likewise draws a foul driving the ball to the hole.

UC scratched and clawed to get the UK lead down to 1 point following a Nick Williams three pointer only to watch Kentucky answer with a bucket. The UK big men kept scoring with the over the top pass and the UC defense seemed unable to respond. With 9 minutes to go Chuck Hayes tipped one in on his way to scoring four-straight baskets, before that run he only had two points. Max scored with a lay-up and 2 FT’s. Jihad hit a three, a driving pull-up jumper, and on a very tough drive to the hole which got UC within 1 point again at 60-59 with 5 minutes to go.  

Not much good happened for the Bearcats after this point as UK made their free throws. The disappointing part about the Bearcats flame-out at the end was some of the bad shots and turnovers when they really needed points. The Bearcats missed 15 of their final 16 shot attempts, DOUBLE UUGGHH! UC was shooting from the perimeter and UK went inside to draw fouls. A good game that the better team won.

Photo gallery: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=AB&Dato=20050319&Kategori=SPT0101&Lopenr=319002&Ref=PH

                     1st   2nd   Total

Cincinnati....   35   25  -   60

Kentucky....   33   36  -   69

KEY STATS
Nick Williams (UC) – 16 pts (6-for-12), 3 rebs, 1 asst.

Jihad Muhammad (UC) – 14 pts (5-for-17), 4 rebs, 2 assts.

Eric Hicks (UC) – 12 pts (4-for-12), 10 rebs, 1 asst, 1 blk.

Jason Maxiell (UC) – 9 pts (3-for-6), 4 rebs, 2 blks.

Kelenna Azubuike (UK) – 19 pts (6-for-12), 7 rebs, 2 assts.

Rajon Rondo (UK) – 16 pts (5-for-7), 1 reb, 7 assts.
Randolph Morris (UK) – 11 pts (4-for-9), 12 rebs.

Patrick Sparks (UK) – 11 pts (4-for-8), 3 rebs, 1 asst.

Chuck Hayes (UK) – 10 pts (5-for-10), 8 rebs, 5 assts.

DID YOU KNOW

*UC finished #23 in the AP, #23 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll, #23 in the Sagarin ratings, #23 in the CBS-Sportsline.com Top-25, #24 CollegeRPI.com, and a #53 SOS.

*This is UC’s 14th-straight NCAA post season invitation which ties it with Kentucky for 3rd longest in the country. Funny that when you read the UK sports information they only listed themselves as 3rd in this stat, forgetting to mention they are tied with UC.

*Jason “The Real Deal” Maxiell ended his career with 1,568 points (11th all-time), 908 rebounds (9th all-time), 252 blocks (2nd all-time), and 129 consecutive games played (2nd all-time).

*UC has now had its 9th, 25-win season in the past 10 years.

*The Bearcats set a new single season block record with 226 after totaling 4 against UK.

*Best NCAA nickname, Fairleigh-Dickinson = Fairly-Ridiculous.

*Although a late courter the University of Kentucky did recruit Jason Maxiell.

*UC famous alums at the game: Corie Blount, Danny Fortson, Keith Gregor, DerMarr Johnson, Mel Levett, Steve Logan, Kenyon Martin, Alex Meacham, Shawn Myrick, and Ruben Patterson. Add in Jessica Simpson boy-toy Nick Lachey (just kidding).

*To watch all the games on-line, even those already played go to http://www.cstv.com/courtside/index.html

*UK's three freshman Rajon Rondo, Randolph Morris, and Joe Crawford were all McDonald's All-Americans.  

*UK famous alums: Ashley Judd(actress), Derek Anderson(Portland Trailblazers), Keith Bogans(Charlotte Bobcats), Erik Daniels(Sacramento Kings), Tony Delk(Atlanta Hawks), Jamaal Magloire(New Orleans Hornets), Jamal Mashburn(Philadelphia 76ers), Walter Mc Carty(Phoenix Suns), Ron Mercer(New Jersey Nets), Nazr Mohammed(San Antonio Spurs), Scott Padgett(Houston Rockets), Mark Pope(Denver Nuggets), Tayshaun Prince(Detroit Pistons), and Antoine Walker(Boston Celtics). They have 18 guys in the NFL http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/alumni-tracker/school/1837

BEARSTATLINK QUESTIONS / RUMORS / NOTES
1. From Mike Doll: Please post the baseball schedule so I can catch a game at the beautiful new baseball stadium. Answer: They are 7-5 after winning three straight from Cleveland St Lots of good baseball through March, April, and May. Here is the link to their schedule: http://ucbearcats.com/sports/baseball/schedule.asp

ARTICLES
1. From Tom Hathaway at UCBearcats.com: “Dan Roushar, former offensive coordinator at Illinois and Northern Illinois, has been named offensive line coach at the University of Cincinnati. Roushar replaces Jeff Uhlenhake, who left UC to become assistant line coach with the Cleveland Browns. “We received tremendous interest in this job from across the country," stated UC head coach Mark Dantonio.  "We feel very fortunate to have Dan Roushar become part of our University of Cincinnati football factory.  He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our staff." Roushar has compiled 22 seasons of coaching experience.  He spent the past two seasons at Illinois where he was running backs coach in 2003 and added the duties of offensive coordinator last season. He spent the previous six seasons at his alma mater, Northern Illinois, as offensive line coach, serving as offensive coordinator the last four years.  He helped the Huskies to a pair of Mid-American Conference West Division co-championships and helped produce four 1,000-yard rushers, including Michael Turner, who was second in the nation in rushing in 2002 with 1,915 yards.

2005 UC Football Schedule
Sept. 3      Eastern Michigan
Sept. 10    at Penn State
Sept. 17    Western Carolina
Sept. 24    at Miami (Ohio)
Oct. 8        at Pittsburgh*
Oct. 15      Connecticut*
Oct. 22      Louisville*
Oct. 29      at Syracuse*
Nov. 9       West Virginia*
Nov. 19    at USF*
Nov. 26    at Rutgers*
*BIG EAST Conference Game.

UC 2004-2005 MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE (25-8, 12-4 C-USA)
W Cincinnati 103 Northern Kentucky 64 (exh.)
W Cincinnati 82 Southern Indiana 62 (exh.)
W Cincinnati 88 Valparaiso 70
W Cincinnati 76 Northern Iowa 70
W Cincinnati 79 Purdue 59
W Cincinnati 65 Dayton 55
W Cincinnati 88 Vanderbilt 72
W Cincinnati 61 Detroit-Mercy 44
W Cincinnati 81 Northwestern St. 65
W Cincinnati 95 Jackson St. 43
W Cincinnati 84 LaSalle 63
W Cincinnati 77 Miami (OH) 53
W Cincinnati 95 Longwood 69
L   Illinois      67 Cincinnati  45
W Cincinnati 83 DePaul 54
W Cincinnati 69 Saint Louis 53
W Cincinnati 84 East Carolina 78
L  Louisville  69 Cincinnati 66
W Cincinnati 80 Charlotte 58
L  Wake Forest 74 Cincinnati 70
W Cincinnati 74 South Florida 48
W Cincinnati 87  Houston 68
L   Louisville 77 Cincinnati 70
L   Charlotte 91 Cincinnati 90
W Cincinnati 65 Xavier 54
L  DePaul 85 Cincinnati 66
W Cincinnati 81 Southern Miss 53
W Cincinnati 72 UAB 69
W Cincinnati 80 Marquette 68
W Cincinnati 89 TCU 74
W Cincinnati 77 Tulane 56
W Cincinnati 62 Memphis 60
L   S. Florida 80 Cincinnati 68 (C-USA Tourney)
W Cincinnati 76 Iowa 64 (1st round NCAA)  
L  Kentucky 69 Cincinnati 60 (2nd round NCAA)

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