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Bearcats on prowl for
easy prey in Greenville
By The Associated Press
Cincinnati has never lost
to East Carolina. The way each team is currently playing, that isn't
likely to change Wednesday when they meet in a Conference USA matchup on
the Pirates' homecourt in Minges Coliseum's Williams Arena (7 p.m.)
Few teams have been as
dominant as No. 18 Cincinnati (13-1, 2-0) this season, but that could
have something to do with the level of competition.
Although they have beaten
12 of their 14 opponents by 10 or more points, the Bearcats lost their
only meeting against a ranked team, falling to top-ranked Illinois 67-45
on Dec. 31.
Among Cincinnati's 13 wins
are victories over Detroit, Northwestern State, Longwood and Jackson
State.
East Carolina (5-9, 0-2)
is an opponent Cincinnati will be expected to easily defeat.
The Bearcats have won all
six meetings with the Pirates by an average of 17.2 points, and East
Carolina enters Wednesday's matchup having lost seven of eight overall.
After opening the
conference portion of their schedule with an easy victory over DePaul,
the Bearcats won their first road league game 69-53 over Saint Louis on
Saturday.
Armein Kirkland scored 22
points, hitting for four of his team's nine 3-pointers, and Jason
Maxiell added 17 points and nine rebounds.
Kirkland said he was
somewhat surprised that he didn't draw more attention as the game
progressed.
``Coming in, we thought
they'd try to limit Max and they just sat back on Max, so we got good
looks,'' Kirkland said. ``Most guys respect our perimeter game more than
that.''
Saturday marked another
strong defensive performance from Cincinnati, which limited the
Billikens to 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the field and 22.2 percent
(4-of-18) from 3-point range.
The Bearcats enter
Wednesday's game as C-USA's top defensive team, allowing the fewest
points (59.8) and lowest field-goal percentage defense (35.4). The
Bearcats are fourth nationally in the latter category.
Kirkland, second on the
team with 14.2 points per game, was named the league's player of the
week after averaging 20.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the
wins over DePaul and Saint Louis.
While avoiding an upset
Wednesday should be their top priority, the Bearcats could be caught
looking forward to Saturday, when they'll get another chance to prove
themselves against a ranked team with a home matchup against No. 19
Louisville.
East Carolina, coming off
a one-point loss to South Florida in its conference opener, remained
winless in C-USA with a 72-60 defeat at Charlotte on Saturday.
Sophomore guard Mike Cook
scored a game-high 22 points, but was the only Pirate in double figures.
A punchless offense is one
of the biggest problems facing East Carolina, which is 12th in the
13-team conference in scoring (64.9) and 11th in field-goal percentage
(40.7). The Pirates have also done a poor job of protecting the ball,
ranking 13th in the league in turnover margin.
Cook is the team's top
scorer (16.4), while senior center Moussa Badiane adds 11.9 points and
7.5 rebounds per game.
Saturday's contest against
Charlotte began a stretch in which the Pirates play five straight
against teams that made the NCAA tournament last season.
02/23/07 10:56 AM
©2005
The Associated Press and Bonesville.net. All
rights rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Bonesville.net contributed to this report.
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