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Ohio State faces Cincinnati for first time in 44 years

Dec 16, 2006 - 3:49 PM No. 4 Ohio St (8-1) at Cincinnati (7-2) 3:30 pm EST

INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Ohio State and Cincinnati have not played in more than 44 years. Greg Oden and Michael Conley, Jr. are glad it's happening this season.

In their homecoming, the two star freshman will lead the fourth-ranked Buckeyes against the Bearcats in an intrastate clash.

Despite being just 100 miles apart, the two teams have not met since the 1962 NCAA tournament championship game, where Cincinnati won 71-59. The Bearcats beat Ohio State in the 1961 title game as well, when such basketball legends as Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek and Bobby Knight were on the teams' respective rosters.

It also will mark the first regular season contest between the schools since 1921.

Oden and Conley, who played their high school basketball together in Indianapolis, will return to the city with the highly touted Buckeyes. Oden has shown signs of brilliance in his first two college games after missing the first seven recovering from wrist surgery. Conley leads the team with 6.4 assists per game.

Oden battled foul trouble but did not miss a shot from the field en route to 16 points as Ohio State cruised to a 78-57 victory over Cleveland State on Saturday. Conley scored 12 points for the Buckeyes, who were playing for the first time in a week and have won two in a row since their loss to North Carolina on November 29.

Freshman Deonta Vaughn scored 24 points and John Williamson added 18 as the Bearcats topped cross-town rival Xavier 67-57 on Wednesday.