Published: December 20, 2008 01:22 am      

EKU to face Cincinnati for first time in 10 years

RICHMOND — Ten years to the day after the last time the Colonels faced the Bearcats, the two teams will meet up again today at the Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati.

Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on Fox Sports Net Ohio.

Cincinnati (8-2) has a 9-0 all-time record against Eastern Kentucky University and currently boasts a 6-1 home record on the season. The Bearcats’ only losses this season have been to Florida State (58-47) and Xavier (76-66). They are averaging 73.1 points per game, while holding their opponents to just 59.6. They are also averaging 43.3 rebounds per game (16 offensive), which is in the top 10 nationally.

“Cincinnati is a very good rebounding team,” EKU coach Jeff Neubauer said. “They are the best offensive rebounding team in the country. They are very strong, very physical and have good shooters on perimeter. They are definitely not one-dimensional.”

One familiar face on the sideline is Bearcats’ coach Mick Cronin, who was the coach at Murray State from 2003-06. Because of this connection with the Ohio Valley Conference, Neubauer said he knows what kind of team Cronin will put on the floor.

“He is defense first with his teams,” he said. “He emphasizes rebounding and defense. At Murray State, he had the best defensive team in the OVC. It’s still his focus right now. One thing that is different is they are very deep and he will go 10 or 11 deep.”

Cincinnati is led in scoring by Deonta Vaughn, who is averaging 14.7 points per game. Neubauer said Vaughn reminds him a lot of UT Martin’s Lester Hudson, who is averaging 23.8 points. Hudson put up 22 points earlier this season when the Skyhawks came to McBrayer Arena.

“He’s a good deep shooter,” Neubauer said of Vaughn. “He passes pretty well and is a strong guard. I think our players have a good feel for him because we played Lester Hudson this year and a few times in the past.”

Cincinnati is not the first team from a major conference EKU (7-3) has faced this season. The Colonels have also traveled to Texas Tech as part of the Legends Classic in November and topped Ball State last weekend, 71-58. They have also faced Florida International in Miami and Akron.

“I think for our players, they do get excited to go play in Big 12 and Big East venues,” Neubauer said. “We have a couple of those opportunities every year. From that perspective, we are testing ourselves against one of the country’s better teams because Cincinnati has developed into a good program again and they are playing good basketball.”