# 2008–09 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 2008–09 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. The Bearcats finished the season 18–14, 8–10 in Big East play and were upset in the first round of the 2009 Big East men's basketball tournament by the 16th seed DePaul.

## Offseason
### Departing players

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Marvin Gentry | 1 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Senior | Fort Worth, Texas | Graduated |
| Marcus Sikes | 10 | F | 6'8" | 230 | Senior | Richmond, Virginia | Graduated |
| Jamual Warren | 32 | G | 6'2" | 195 | Senior | Springfield, Massachusetts | Graduated |
| Adam Hrycaniuk | 34 | C | 6'10" | 230 | Senior | Mysliborz, Poland | Graduated |
| John Williamson | 45 | F | 6'6" | 225 | Senior | Columbus, Ohio | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Steven Toyloy | F | 6'3" | 255 | Junior | West Palm Beach, FL | Junior college transferred from Miami Dade College |

### Recruiting class of 2008

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Yancy Gates PF | Cincinnati, Ohio | Withrow High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 250 lb (110 kg) | Apr 15, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 96 ||||||
| Cashmere Wright PG | Savannah, Georgia | Urban Christian Academy | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Aug 16, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 93 ||||||
| Dion Dixon SG | Chicago, Illinois | Crane High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Mar 2, 2008 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: 247Sports: 38 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2008 Cincinnati Basketball Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 15, 2020. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 15, 2020. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2009

US college sports recruiting information for 2009 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Sean Kilpatrick SG | White Plains, New York | Notre Dame Prep | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 87 |||||||
| JaQuon Parker PG | Suffolk, Virginia | King's Fork High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Jun 2, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 89 |||||||
| Lance Stephenson G | Brooklyn, New York | Abraham Lincoln High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Jun 30, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 97 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: 247Sports: 45 |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Cincinnati 2009 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 15, 2020. "2009 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 15, 2020. |||||||

## Roster
### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
| C | Yancy Gates | Steve Toyloy | Anthony McClain |
| PF | Mike Williams | Alvin Mitchell | |
| SF | Rashad Bishop | Darnell Wilks | |
| SG | Larry Davis | Branden Miller | |
| PG | Deonta Vaughn | Dion Dixon | |
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2008* 1:00pm | | Carleton | W 64–54 | | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| November 11, 2008* 7:30pm | | Northern Kentucky | W 73–61 | | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| Non-Conference Regular Season ||||||
| November 16, 2008* 6:00pm | | South Dakota | W 69–62 | 1–0 | Fifth Third Arena (6,199) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 18, 2008* 7:30pm | | Texas Southern | W 82–51 | 2–0 | Fifth Third Arena (6,180) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 22, 2008* 12:00pm | | Western Illinois Global Sports Classic | W 74–46 | 3–0 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| November 24, 2008* 7:30pm | | Coastal Carolina Global Sports Classic | W 82–56 | 4–0 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| November 28, 2008* 10:30pm | | vs. Florida State Global Sports Classic | L 47–58 $^{OT}$ | 4–1 | Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, NV |
| November 29, 2008* 8:00pm | | vs. UNLV Global Sports Classic | W 67–65 | 5–1 | Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, NV |
| December 6, 2008* 12:00pm | | UAB | W 87–80 | 6–1 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| December 13, 2008* 7:00pm | | No. 10 Xavier Crosstown Shootout | L 66–76 | 6–2 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| December 15, 2008* 7:20pm | | Charleston Southern | W 74–55 | 7–2 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| December 18, 2008* 6:30pm, ESPN | | vs. Mississippi State SEC–Big East Challenge | W 75–63 | 8–2 | U.S. Bank Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| December 20, 2008* 6:30pm | | Eastern Kentucky | W 85–77 $^{OT}$ | 9–2 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| December 22, 2008 7:30pm | | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | W 79–49 | 10–2 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| December 29, 2008* 9:00pm | | at Memphis Rivalry | L 45–60 | 10–3 | FedEx Forum Memphis, TN |
| Big East Regular Season ||||||
| January 4, 2009 2:00pm | | at Marquette | L 50–84 | 10–4 (0–1) | Bradley Center Milwaukee, WI |
| January 7, 2009 7:00pm | | Providence | L 79–87 | 10–5 (0–2) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| January 10, 2009 4:30pm | | No. 5 Connecticut | L 72–81 | 10–6 (0–3) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| January 14, 2009 7:30pm | | Rutgers | W 71–59 | 11–6 (1–3) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| January 17, 2009 2:00pm | | at DePaul | W 59–55 | 12–6 (2–3) | Allstate Arena Rosemont, IL |
| January 19, 2009 8:00pm | | at Providence | L 63–72 | 12–7 (2–4) | Dunkin Donuts Center Providence, RI |
| January 22, 2009 9:00pm | | at St. John's | W 71–60 | 13–7 (3–4) | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| January 28, 2009 7:30pm | | No. 25 Georgetown | W 65–57 | 14–7 (4–4) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| February 1, 2009 12:00pm | | at No. 21 Villanova | L 50–71 | 14–8 (4–5) | The Pavilion Villanova, PA |
| February 4, 2009 7:30pm | | Notre Dame | W 93–83 | 15–8 (5–5) | US Bank Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| February 7, 2009 12:00pm | | at Georgetown | W 64–62 | 16–8 (6–5) | Verizon Center Washington, D.C. |
| February 11, 2009 7:30pm | | St. John's | W 71–61 | 17–8 (7–5) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| February 14, 2009 4:00pm | | at No. 4 Pittsburgh | L 69–85 | 17–9 (7–6) | Petersen Events Center Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 21, 2009 2:00pm | | No. 7 Louisville Rivalry | L 63–72 | 17–10 (7–7) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| February 26, 2009 7:00pm | | West Virginia | W 65–61 | 18–10 (8–7) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| March 1, 2009 2:00pm | | at Syracuse | L 63–87 | 18–11 (8–8) | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| March 3, 2009 7:00pm | | at South Florida | L 59–70 | 18–12 (8–9) | USF Sun Dome Tampa, FL |
| March 7, 2009 12:00pm | | Seton Hall | L 63–67 $^{OT}$ | 18–13 (8–10) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2009 12:00pm | (9) | vs. (16) DePaul First Round | L 57–67 | 18–14 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||
Source

## Awards and milestones
### Big East Conference honors
#### All-Big East Third Team

* Deonta Vaughn

#### Big East All-Rookie Team

* Yancy Gates
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches Poll | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |