GAME NOTES: The 17th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles are set to play just their fifth true road game of the season as they travel to Cincinnati to battle the Bearcats in Big East Conference action. Marquette has won its last two games to improve to 15-4 overall and 5-3 in league play. The Eagles knocked off South Florida on Tuesday by a 62-54 final, but it is important to keep in mind that the three Big East losses thus far have all come by 15 or more points. Therefore, it is hard to say at this point just how good this Marquette squad really is. As for Cincinnati, it went into Morgantown and crushed West Virginia by a 62-39 final on Wednesday. That triumph halted a two-game slide for the Bearcats, who are now 5-4 in league play. Cincinnati holds a 24-15 edge in the all-time series with Marquette, including a 70-66 decision over the Golden Eagles last season.

Marquette is paced by Domonic James and his 13.5 ppg, although James is scoring just 11.8 ppg against Big East opponents on 39.8 percent shooting from the floor. Lazar Hayward is generating 13.9 ppg in league tilts while pulling down 6.4 rpg, and he is clearly the best frontcourt player on the roster. Jerel McNeal (13.1 ppg) and Wesley Matthews (11.1 ppg) round out a foursome of double-digit scorers for Marquette, which is outscoring opponents by almost 14 points per game overall but just 3.1 ppg in conference action. In the win over USF on Tuesday, Hayward finished with 23 points, while Matthews tallied 16 points. The Golden Eagles would have won by a wider margin if not for the fact that James and McNeal combined to shoot just 3-of-16 from the field. Fortunately, Marquette was able to limit the Bulls to 34.1 percent shooting from the floor in the clash.

The defensive effort by Cincinnati on Wednesday was nothing short of amazing. In fact, the Bearcats limited the Mountaineers to 20.0 percent shooting from the floor, including 1-of-22 from three-point range, the worst shooting performance in WVU history. Cincinnati also finished the night with a 47-26 rebounding advantage, and if not for an 18-7 disadvantage in points from the foul line, the final score would have been even more lopsided. Deonta Vaughn led the way in the triumph with 18 points, and John Williamson added 11 points. Marcus Sikes pulled down 12 rebounds in a reserve roll for the Bearcats. Overall this season, Vaughn is netting 17.5 ppg to go along with 4.1 apg, and he is counted on heavily to be productive offensively.

The Bearcats figure to play with a wealth of confidence today against Marquette. Vaughn is an explosive scorer, and the team plays tremendous defense.