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Kentucky will travel north to Cincinnati on Monday for its annual neutral-site game at U.S. Bank Arena. This year the Cats take on the Marshall Thundering Herd, in their first year under head coach Ron Jirsa, a former Tubby Smith assistant at Tulsa and Georgia.
Senior Erik Daniels returns to his hometown to play for the last time in college. Daniels has enjoyed much success at U.S. Bank Arena during his career, highlighted by a 19-point performance against Jacksonville State as a freshman. Last season, he contributed 14 points and six boards in UK?s win over Ohio on Jan. 4. The Wildcats earned their first 2-0 start since the 1999-2000 season after a 108-81 victory over Tennessee Tech on Friday in Lexington. Gerald Fitch led the way for UK with a career-high 36 points on 14-for-20 shooting. The senior also added four rebounds, three assists and no turnovers in just over 30 minutes. The Marshall Thundering Herd
Marshall has opened the 2003-04 season with a 1-1 record after falling to UNC Wilmington, 65-56, in the season opener before defeating Morehead State, 85- 71, on Saturday. Marvin Black led Marshall against the Eagles, scoring 16 points, including 8-of-10 shooting from the charity stripe, while grabbing 11 boards.
The Herd went 14-15 last year and tied for third place in the Mid-American Conference?s Eastern Division with a 9-9 record. Three starters return from that squad, including Black, who averaged 11.3 ppg and 7.8 rpg as a junior. First year head coach Ron Jirsa inherited a very mature team with eight juniors and seniors and just two underclassmen.
Series History
Kentucky and Marshall have played 10 times in school history, with the Cats winning each of those contests. The squads first met on Jan. 21, 1914, a 46-6 thrashing by UK in Huntington. Six meetings in the series came before 1933. The teams last met just two years ago in the consolation game of the NABC Classic in Lexington. Kentucky came away with a 90-73 victory to claim third place in the tournament.
Kentucky Connections
? Head Coach Ron Jirsa was an assistant coach for UK?s Tubby Smith at both Tulsa and Georgia before taking over as head coach of the Bulldogs went Smith made the move to Lexington in 1997. Three Marshall players hail from the Bluegrass state:
? Junior forward A.W. Hamilton hails from Georgetown, Ky., just 15 miles north of Lexington. Hamilton first attended Wake Forest before transferring to MU.
? LaVar Carter is a native of Louisville, Ky., and attended Male High School.
? Junior Ronny Dawn is from Ft. Thomas, Ky., right outside Cincinnati. He played prep ball at Newport Central Catholic.
Can I Have Some Assistants?
Some say the mark of a great college coach is the number of assistant coaches that have gone on to head coaching positions. Though Tubby Smith?s head coaching career is still young, three of his former assistants are now head coaches.
? Ron Jirsa, a former Smith assistant at Georgia, is in his first season at Marshall. He took over at Georgia for Smith in 1997.
? Mike Sutton, who assisted Smith at Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky, is in his second season leading Tennessee Tech.
? Shawn Finney, who served as an assistant to Smith at Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky, now coaches at Tulane.
? Former Tulsa assistant Jeff Schneider went on to become the head coach at Cal- Poly after leaving Smith?s staff. He now owns his own recruiting service. Two Smith assistants, George Felton and David Hobbs, had previous head coaching experience.
Cats in the Queen City
Kentucky is 7-1 all-time in U.S. Bank Arena, formerly known as the Firstar Center and Riverfront Coliseum. The Cats defeated Ohio there last season on Jan. 4, 2003, 83-75, and have won three consecutive games at the venue UK?s only loss came on Nov. 29, 1999, a 68-66 upset by Dayton.
UK in U.S. Bank Arena
12/23/92 Ohio W, 73-63
12/17/94 Texas Tech W, 83-68
1/22/97 Vanderbilt W, 58-46
11/23/98 Wright State W, 97-75
11/29/99 Dayton L, 66-68
11/21/00 Jacksonville State W, 91-48
11/28/01 Kent State W, 82-68
1/4/03 Ohio W, 83-75
Kentucky is scheduled to play in the arena through the 2006 season. More than 12,000 UK alums live in the Greater Cincinnati area.
Grand Day for Keightley Longtime UK equipment manager Bill Keightley is looking to reach a milestone when UK and Marshall play Monday night. Keightley, who is in his 43rd season with the Wildcats, is looking for his 1,000th win while on staff. He?s 999-304 for a .767 winning percentage.
Fabulous Fitch Gerald Fitch had the game of his career Friday against Tennessee Tech, scoring 36 points on 14-of-20 shooting to help guide his team to the 108-81 victory.The game leaves Fitch just 31 points shy of becoming the 50th member of UK?s 1,000-point club. After averaging 12.3 ppg last season, it was thought that Fitch would reach the milestone in late December. But after starting this season averaging 24.0 ppg, he could reach the mark as early as Saturday?s game against UCLA.
Tubby Smith will coach his 400th career game against Marshall. He holds a career record of 290-109 for a .727 winning percentage.
? Equipment Manager Bill Keightley is looking for his 1,000th win while at UK. He?s 999-304 in his 43rd season at UK (.767).
? The Kentucky roster features seven players from the Bluegrass State.
? Three Wildcats come to Kentucky from other countries. Bernard Cote and Sheray Thomas both hail from Canada, while bigman Lukasz Obrzut is UK?s first-ever player from Poland.
? Freshman Shagari Alleyne?s size 21 shoes are the largest worn by a Wildcat in Equipment Manager Bill Keightley?s 43 seasons with the team.
? Patrick Sparks will have to sit out the 2003-04 season as a transfer from Western Kentucky. Sparks averaged 5.9 assists per game for the Hilltoppers last season, which would tie for third on UK?s list for assists average in a season.
? UK has won 22-consecutive regular-season games and 13-straight home games.
