THE GAMENorth Carolina Central University moves on to the second round of the 2014 Emerald Coast Classic as the Eagles venture to the Buckeye State to face the Bearcats of Cincinnati for the second time in the last two years. The maroon and gray are looking to recover following Sunday's 65-45 loss to Creighton.
THE SERIESCincinnati won the only meeting between these two programs which took place on Nov. 8, 2013 as the Bearcats outlasted a resilient Eagle squad 74-61 to begin the 2013-14 campaign. NCCU is 0-8 all-time against teams from the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
SCOUTING REPORT: CINCINNATI BEARCATS- Cincinnati enters the second meeting between these two programs off-the-heels of a 54-49 win over Eastern Illinois in the opening round of the 2014 Emerald Coast Classic on Sunday, Nov. 23 inside Fifth Third Arena. With UC leading 41-40 with 10:41 left, the Bearcats went on a 10-2 to spread the lead out at nine to 51-42. Eastern Illinois eventually got the deficit down to three at 52-49 with 13 seconds left, but could get no closer as Cincinnati made it 12-straight non-conference victories for the Bearcats. Sophomore guard Troy Caupain led all scorers with a career-high 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting.
-The Bearcats boast two student-athletes in double figures led by 6-4 sophomore guard Troy Caupain's 12.7 points per game. Caupain also tops the team averaging 3.67 assists per game. Junior forward Octavius Ellis is second on the team averaging 12.0 points per game and leads the squad averaging 9.3 rebounds per game. Junior guard Farad Cobb is shooting 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from three-point range.
-The Bearcats boast a native of Clayton, North Carolina as 6-7 freshman Gary Clark is fourth on the team in scoring averaging 5.3 points a game while grabbing 7.3 rebounds per contest. Clark averaged 26.0 points a game, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game to finish as the school's all-time leader in points, rebounds, and blocks. Clarke was also the first high school player in the state's history to record a quadruple double (22 points, 21 rebounds, 15 blocks, and 10 assists against West Johnston)
-Last Meeting: Nov. 8, 2013- UC-74, NCCU-61CINCINNATI, OHIO – In the first game of the 2013 Global Sports Hoops Classic, North Carolina Central University gave the University of Cincinnati all it could handle in the second half as the Bearcats held on for the 74-61 win, despite
Jeremy Ingram's explosive second half on Friday night at Fifth Third Arena. Ingram's unreal second half looked like this: 6-for-7 from the field, 2-for-2 from three-point range, 5-for-7 from the foul line. This marked the third time in Ingram's career in which he scored 27 points in a road contest. (Jan. 16, 2012 at Howard and Dec. 22, 2012 at Utah Valley)
-In his ninth season at the helm, Mick Cronin has restored the University of Cincinnati men's basketball program harkening back to the 1990s under former head coach Bob Huggins as the Bearcats claimed a share of the inaugural American Athletic Conference crown and earned an NCAA Tournament berth for the fourth consecutive season. Cronin has racked up a 165-107 record at UC during his tenure. In 12 seasons as a head coach is his currently 234-131.
EAGLES VS. AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE NCCU has played four of the current members of the newly-formed American Athletic Conference. Here is every matchup against teams from the AAC.
11/26/06 at East Carolina 68-47 L
11/12/07 at Rutgers 73-48 L
1/05/08 at East Carolina 79-62 L
1/03/10 at East Carolina 68-58 L
1/09/10 at SMU 78-50 L
1/03/11 vs. East Carolina 58-50 L
12/29/11 at East Carolina 86-76 L
11/08/14 at Cincinnati 74-61 L
EAGLES SWOOPING AROUND PERIMETER Through three games, NCCU is making the outside shot even more difficult for its foes as the Eagles are holding opponents to 27.3 percent from beyond-the-arc shooting 15-for-55 from-the-outside. Opponents are also shooting just 38.6 percent from-the-field after three games. The maroon and gray held Creighton to 7-for-24 (29.2 percent) from-downtown.
