# 2005–06 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

The 2005–06 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 2005–06 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Fifth Third Arena, which has a capacity of 13,176. They are members of the Big East Conference and were led by first-year head coach Andy Kennedy after the resignation of longtime coach Bob Huggins. The Bearcats finished the season 23–13, 8–8 in Big East play.
The Bearcats played in the 2006 NIT, as the 1 seed in their own region. The Bearcats advanced to the Quarterfinals, before losing to the eventual champion 3 seed South Carolina team.

## Previous season

The Bearcats finished the 2004–05 season 25–8, 12–4 in Conference USA play, finishing tied for second place. They entered as the No. 3 seed in the Conference USA tournament and were upset in the Quarterfinals by No. 11 seed South Florida.. The Bearcats were awarded an at-large bid to the 2005 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. As the No. 7 seed in the Austin region, they defeated No. 10 seed Iowa in the first round before falling to the No. 2 seed Kentucky.
Much of the offseason was filled with continued drama between then head coach Bob Huggins and University of Cincinnati president Nancy Zimpher. By late August, Huggins was given an ultimatum by Zimpher to resign or be fired. Huggins opted to resign and accept his buyout. Zimpher said that the Bearcat program under Huggins didn't fit with her plan to upgrade UC's academic reputation. However, she'd been seriously considering ousting Huggins since he was arrested for driving under the influence in 2004. He ultimately pleaded no contest to DUI.
Andy Kennedy was named head coach on an interim basis for the 2005–06 season.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 3, 2005* 7:00pm | | Hillsdale | W 99–71 | | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| November 12, 2005* 7:00pm | | Northern Kentucky | W 96–60 | | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 19, 2005* 7:00pm | | Murray State | W 79–75 $^{OT}$ | 1–0 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| November 22, 2005* 8:00pm | | Illinois State | W 76–59 | 2–0 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| November 25, 2005* 8:00pm | | Holy Cross | W 63–51 | 3–0 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| November 29, 2005* 8:00pm | | Dayton | L 66–75 | 3–1 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| December 3, 2005* 3:00pm | | No. 9 Memphis Rivalry | L 81–91 | 3–2 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| December 10, 2005* 6:00pm | | at Vanderbilt | W 92–83 | 4–2 | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN |
| December 14, 2005* 8:00pm | | Ohio | W 86–58 | 5–2 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| December 17, 2005* 7:00pm | | Tennessee Tech Las Vegas Holiday Classic | W 105–62 | 6–2 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| December 19, 2005* 7:00pm | | Arkansas–Monticello Las Vegas Holiday Classic | W 84–63 | 7–2 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| December 22, 2005* 10:30pm | | vs. Dayton Las Vegas Holiday Classic | W 81–63 | 8–2 | Valley High School Las Vegas, Nevada |
| December 23, 2005* 10:30pm | | vs. LSU Las Vegas Holiday Classic | W 75–72 | 9–2 | Valley High School Las Vegas, Nevada |
| December 28, 2005* 8:00pm | | Miami (OH) | W 75–65 | 10–2 | US Bank Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| December 30, 2005* 7:00pm | | North Carolina A&T | W 105–69 | 11–2 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| January 4, 2006 7:00pm | | DePaul | W 82–60 | 12–2 (1–0) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| January 7, 2006 12:00pm | | at Marquette | W 70–66 | 13–2 (2–0) | Bradley Center Milwaukee, WI |
| January 9, 2006 7:00pm | | at No. 2 Connecticut | L 59–70 | 13–3 (2–1) | Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT |
| January 14, 2006 8:00pm | No. 25 | Syracuse | L 58–77 | 13–4 (2–2) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| January 19, 2006* 9:00pm | | at Xavier Crosstown Shootout | L 71–73 $^{OT}$ | 13–5 | Cintas Center Cincinnati, OH |
| January 22, 2006 2:00pm | | Rutgers | W 71–66 | 14–5 (3–2) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| January 25, 2006 7:30pm | | at No. 22 Louisville Rivalry | L 50–67 | 14–6 (3–3) | Freedom Hall Louisville, KY |
| January 28, 2006 12:00pm | | at No. 21 Georgetown | L 57–76 | 14–7 (3–4) | Verizon Center Washington, D.C. |
| January 31, 2006 8:00pm | | South Florida | W 73–60 | 15–7 (4–4) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| February 4, 2006 12:00pm | | at No. 11 West Virginia | L 57–66 | 15–8 (4–5) | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV |
| February 6, 2006 7:00pm | | Louisville Rivalry | W 74–68 | 16–8 (5–5) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| February 12, 2006 8:00pm | | at No. 14 Pittsburgh | L 69–89 | 16–9 (5–6) | Petersen Events Center Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 15, 2006 7:30pm | | at Syracuse | W 85–65 | 17–9 (6–6) | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| February 17, 2006 8:00pm | | Providence | W 66–64 | 18–9 (7–6) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| February 23, 2006 9:00pm | | No. 2 Villanova | L 72–74 | 18–10 (7–7) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| February 28, 2006 8:00pm | | at Seton Hall | L 62–72 | 18–11 (7–8) | Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, NJ |
| March 4, 2006 12:00pm | | No. 16 West Virginia | W 78–75 | 19–11 (8–8) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| March 8, 2006 12:00pm | (8) | vs. (9) Syracuse First Round | L 73–74 | 19–12 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| National Invitational Tournament ||||||
| March 17, 2006 8:00pm | (1) | (9) Charlotte First Round | W 86–80 | 20–12 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| March 21, 2006 9:00pm | (1) | (4) Minnesota Second Round | W 76–62 | 21–12 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| March 23, 2006 6:00pm | (1) | (3) South Carolina Quarterfinal | L 62–65 | 21–13 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||