The 2013 seniors play their final home game on Saturday afternoon. Let's take a look at their journey here. We started with Alex Eppensteiner and Cheikh Mbodj. We continue with JaQuon Parker. 

JaQuon Parker

JaQuon Parker came to Cincinnati from Suffolk, Virginia. He was originally committed to Old Dominion before switching over to Cincinnati. He was a 3 star recruit at shooting guard. He has shown off his wide array of talent by playing point guard, shooting guard, small forward and a little bit of power forward. JaQuon has played in 109 games as a Bearcat. He's started 62 of them. He's scored 758 points, an average of 7 a game. He's a career 40% shooter. He's 35.8% from 3 and 58.4% from the free throw line. Parker has averaged 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. 

Parker didn't play much in his Bearcat debut, but in his second game against Toledo, Parker scored his first points as a Bearcat. He scored 5 on 2-3 shooting with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. Parker played some in the Maui Invitational. He had 6 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in the event. Back on the mainland, Parker had his first double digit game against Texas Southern. He scored 10 points on 2-6 shoot, 6-9 at the foul line. He had 7 rebounds and 3 assists. JaQuon didn't score or didn't play in the next 3 games before putting up a 6-3-2 assist line against Lipscomb. He followed that with 3-3 against Winthrop. The 3s continued before he didn't play the next 3 games. When another cupcake came on the schedule, this time Cal St Bakersfield, Parker played 15 minutes and responded with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. 

Big East play continued with Parker getting his first Big East action against St John's. He played 3 minutes with 2 points and 3 rebounds. He scored 5 points against Notre Dame, which set the stage for his breakout performance. Forced into the starting lineup due to injury, Parker played 35 minutes, scoring 15 points on 6-8 shooting,pulled in 4 rebounds and dished out 5 assists. It was pretty awesome. Parker played 21 minutes the next game with 3 points and 5 boards. The next 3 games saw him play 22 minutes combined. He scored 6 against Providence and 1 the following game. Park didn't see action against UConn and after 9 minutes and 2 points against USF, he didn't play the next 3 games. Parker saw action the rest of the season though. He scored 5 against Villanova. He played 14 minutes in the blowout loss against Georgetown.

Parker got some run in the Big East tournament with Rashad Bishop suspended. Parker played 29 minutes against Rutgers and responded with 13 points on 4-8 shooting, 3-6 from 3, and 5 rebounds. The following day against Louisville, Parker had 8 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. 7 of his rebounds were offensive. The play where he pulled in a backside rebound by ripping it out of the hands of Kyle Kuric, then laid it in with a foul still sticks out in my memory. JaQuon scored 6 points in both of the NIT games. He had 5 rebounds and 2 assists against Weber State. 

JaQuon played 13 minutes a game his freshman season. He was 37-82, 45% from the field. He hit 17-47 from 3, which is 36%. He was 20-33, 60.6% at the foul line. Parker averaged 4.3 points a game. He also averaged 2.8 rebounds and 1 assist. 

One of the things that makes JaQuon Parker's story awesome now is what he suffered through during his sophomore season. Parker saw 14 minutes in the opener, going 0-1 with 2 points on free throws. That was followed by 0-3. He scored his first field goal of the year in game 3, where he had 4 points on 1-4 and 5 rebounds. Already 2-8 to start the season, the misses kept mounting. Another 1-4 followed, then 0-3, 0-1, 1-5 (with 4 rebounds and 4 assists), 0-3, 1-3 and 0-2. He started off the year 4-29. He was 2-16 from 3. He was 11-17 at the foul line though. 

JaQuon had his best game of the year against St Francis. He was 2-7 from the field for 5 points, with 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals. From there, he played sparingly. There were 12 DNPs. He scored 2 points the rest of the regular season. In the blowout win over USF in the BET, Parker scored 5 points on 2-2 shooting. He was 0-5 in the blowout loss to Notre Dame. Parker played 4 minutes in the NCAA tournament loss to Connecticut with 2 points. 

The sophomore season numbers for Parker are not pretty. he was 9-49, 18.4%. He was 3-20 from 3 and 14-24 from the foul line. He averaged 1.5 points a game. He hasn't had many stretches where he's gone 3-20 from 3, it's remarkable that he did it for a whole season. Park averaged 1.7 rebounds and 0.8 assists. His adversity set the table for a big time breakout season. 

JaQuon Parker didn't play in the first 7 games last season. He saw 15 minutes against Xavier, where he scored 4 points with 3 rebounds. UC was hampered by suspensions, which saw Parker enter the starting lineup. His impact was felt right away. After scoring 34 points during his entire sophomore season, he scored 40 points the next 3 games. He was 5-8, 14 points, with 6 rebounds, 4-7, 9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and scored 17 points on 5-7 shooting. He was 3-3 that final game. Parker filled out the box score playing the 4 spot in the 4 guard lineup. He had 8-7-4 and 11-9-2 before a career high performance against Pittsburgh. Parker scored 21 points on 7-11 shooting, 4-6 from 3, with 7 rebounds and 3 assists. When everyone returned from suspension, Parker scored 11 points with 5 rebounds against ND. 

The following 2 games were not good for Parker. He was 0-7, 0 points, and 6 boards in the St John's loss and played just 11 minutes against Georgetown. He came back with 7 against Villanova, 12-4 the next game and 9-4 the game after that. He went into a shooting funk, 1-7, 2-8, that coincided with UC losses before a 4-5 game against DePaul. He had 5-5 the next game.

Marquette was JaQuon's best opponent last year. In the blowout loss, he had 15 points on 6-12 shooting, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. He followed it with 8-5 and 12-7. He didn't play much against Louisville and didn't play well at USF when Marquette came back for senior day. Parker destroyed the Golden Eagles for a career high 28 points on 10-18 shooting. He was 6-8 at the foul line. He had 7 rebounds and 2 assists in the huge Cincinnati win. Parker closed the regular season with 11-4 against Nova. 

When tournament play started, Parker took his game to a higher level. He played 46 minutes in the double OT game against Georgetown. He had 9 points and 10 rebounds. His first career 10 rebound game. Parker followed with 9-8 in the upset win over Syracuse. He was one of the few Cats to play well in the Big East championship game against Louisville. He scored 10 points on 5-7 shooting with 7 rebounds. Parker didn't have a great shooting start to the NCAA tournament. He was 6-15, 13 points, with 6 boards, against Texas. He was 2-8, 9 points, against Florida State. But Parker came up huge with a career high 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Parker finished his comeback season with 10 points and 6 boards against Ohio State. 

JaQuon played 26.6 minutes a game his junior season. He was 99-238, 41.6%. He was 26-70, 37% from 3 and 57-84, 67.9% at the free throw line. Park averaged 9.4 points, a career best 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists. 

This season has seen a career high scoring output from JaQuon. He started the season with 8-6, 13-4-2 assists-3 steals, 3-5 assists before putting the hurt on Campbell with 21 points on 7-10 shooting. He added 8 rebounds to that. Parker had 2 against Iowa State, but 16 points against Oregon to win the Vegas Invitational Thing. That was followed with 12-6-2, 11-2-2-3 steals and 12-6-4 as UC racked up the wins. He had 8 in a down game against Marshall and 11 on 2-10, 6 boards, against Xavier. UC wasn't playing well against Wright State, so Parker took over to the tune of 21 points on 8-15 shooting. He also had 5 rebounds.  Park had a rough game against New Mexico, 5-14 for 14 points, 6 boards and was a little better with 13-6-2 in a win over Pitt. UC as a whole played poorly against St John's. Parker was 1-8 for 3 points. 

JaQuon went on a little hot streak the next 3 games going 11-19 from the field. He scored 8, 11 and 12 as UC won 2 of 3. He had an 8 rebound game mixed in there. Parker had another very solid game against Marquette. He didn't score much, 7 points on 3-10, but had 8 rebounds and 5 assists in the overtime win. Parker followed that with 11-6-4 before a 2 game cold streak where he went 2-11 from the field caught him. JaQuon snapped the cold streak with his first career double double in a 12-10 performance against Providence. After a 7 point outing in a loss to Pitt, Parker exploded. He scored 19 on 6-10 with 6 boards verses Villanova, scored 15 with 6 boards against Georgetown,  had 14-5 against UConn and scored 12 against Notre Dame. Parker was 2-9, 6 points, to snap the double digit scoring streak, but he had 5 boards and 3 dimes in that game. In the last outing, Parker had 12 points on 5-16 shooting against Louisville. 

For the season, Parker is averaging 29.7 minutes a game. He's 114-279, 41% from the field. He's 35-89, 39.3% from 3. He's shooting a career low 51.9% at the foul line. He's 68-131. Parker is averaging a career best 11 points. You could add a couple more to that if the free throws worked out for him. Playing on the wing more has seen Parker's rebounds fall to 4.7 a game. He's 13th in the Big East with 62 offensive rebounds. JaQuon is averaging a career best 1.5 assists per game. 

I mentioned it a bit earlier, but man JaQuon Parker's story is a great one. He faced a gigantic setback in one of the years that players normally take a step up. He didn't let it get him down. He came back the next year and played spectacularly. He's a big part of the reason why that team went to the Sweet 16. He's a big part of the reason why this team has 20 wins. I love watching him play because he's one of those guys that you can see giving all his effort. He's listed at 6-3, but he rebounds like he's a big man. If he were a couple of inches taller, maybe JaQuon Parker is Eric Hicks. A few more inches and he could be a bruiser down low. His mentality is that of a bruiser though. He plays the game hard. He has had such a long climb to this point and it's great to see him work his way back. I'll really miss watching you play, JaQuon. 

The 2013 seniors will see their last home action on Saturday afternoon. Let's take a look at their journey to their final home game. We started with Alex Eppensteiner. We continue on with Cheikh Mbodj. 

Cheikh Mbodj

Cheikh Mbodj came to Cincinnati as a junior college transfer. He was a 3 star recruit according to rivals. Cheikh had the reputation of a shot blocker. It's a reputation he's lived up to.  He's played 58 games in his Bearcat career, starting 29 of them. Mbodj has scored 198 points in his UC career. He's averaging 3.4 points a game. He's a 44.5% shooter. He's 60% at the free throw line. Mbodj is averaging 3.4 rebounds overall with 1.7 blocks. 

In his first season as a Bearcat, Mbodj played 9.7 minutes a game. He was 20-53, 37.7% from the field. He was 1-1 from 3. He was 7-18 from the foul line. Mbodj pulled in 60 rebounds, 2.1 a game. He had 4 assists, 3 steals and blocked 19 shots. 

Cheikh started his UC career injured. He missed the first 3 games. He saw action in the 4th game, where he scored his first points at the free throw line. He scored  his first field goal the following game. Mbodj had a breakout performance against Miami. UC was very sluggish and Mbodj came off the bench to go 5-9 from the field, 1-1 from 3, for 12 points to go with 4 rebounds. He had a solid 4 point, 5 rebound, 2 assist game against Georgia before scoring 2 against Xavier.

Mbodj was involved in the brawl in the Crosstown Shootout. He missed the next 6 games as the result of stomping a Xavier player. He returned for the Notre Dame game, where he went scoreless in 7 minutes. Mbodj contributed 4 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks against St John's. He had 5 offensive rebounds. Mbodj scored 2 the next game before going scoreless the next couple of games. He came alive at West Virginia. Cheikh was 3-4 for 6 points with 5 rebounds in 10 minutes. He had a 7 rebound, 2 block game in a nice performance at Rutgers. In the St John's rematch, Mbodj had 4 points, 5 rebounds and 5 blocks. He was largely ineffective the rest of the season, scoring 4 points with 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. 

For his senior season, Cheikh Mbodj is 53-111, 52.5% from the field. He is 44-67, 65.7% from the free throw line. He's averaging 5 points a game. He's pulled home 137 rebounds, 4.6 a game. He's 14th in the Big East with 2.1 offensive rebounds a game. He has 7 assists and 6 steals. Mbodj is one of the best shot blockers in the Big East. He's second with 77. He's second in blocks per game at 2.6. He's blocking shots on 13% of possessions. Mbodj leads the Big East with 103 fouls. He's 7th in the nation. He's got that going for him. 

Mbodj started the game like a shot blocking machine. He had 4 in each of the first 3 games. Mbodj had 5 points, 6 boards in the opener, followed by 8-6 and 8-4. He would score 2 a game the next 3 games, with 4 blocks in that span. Cheikh put up 8-5-4 blocks in a close win over Alabama. He totally overwhelmed Arkansas-Little Rock with 12 points on 4-4 shooting, 4-4 on FTs, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. Of course, he went scoreless the next game. Cheikh came back strong with 9 on 4-4 shooting against Marshall and he had 5 rebounds and 4 blocks against Xavier. Cheikh had his first career 10 rebound game in the Bearcats loss to New Mexico. He blocked 3 shots in that game. Mbodj had his second 10 rebound game against St John's two games later. He was just 1-7 from the field though. That was something he turned around with a 4-4, 8 point game against Notre Dame. He put up 4 blocks as well. 

Cheikh set a career high with 7 blocked shots in the Bearcats victory over DePaul. After a minimal effort against Marquette, Mbodj had his best scoring stretch as a Cat. He put up 9-6 and 10-5. That was followed with a solid 7-7-5 block game in a win over Seton Hall. After scoring 6 against Providence, Mbodj scored 6 in the next 2 games total. Against Georgetown, he didn't attempt a shot. But he had 7 rebounds and 5 blocks. Mbodj followed with 4 blocks against UConn. Mbodj was pretty quiet the next 2 games and had 4-4-5 blocks against Louisville. 

Cheikh Mbodj is one of the better shot blockers in UC history. He is 2 blocks away from passing Kenyon Martin's 1999 season for the 5th most blocks in a year. Mbodj could pass Kenyon's 1998 season and end up 4th. He has a skill and he does it pretty well. When we look back at the career of Cheikh Mbodj, sure we will remember the foul outs. We will remember the missed layups. We will remember his role in the Xavier brawl. But some of us will also remember that he blocked shots. He will end up with a historic career. Who knew.

The 2013 seniors will see their last home action on Saturday afternoon. Let's take a look at their journey to their final home game. We'll start with Alex Eppensteiner. 

Alex Eppensteiner

Alex Eppensteiner came to Cincinnati from Elder high school. He's spent most of his career as a walk on before becoming a scholarship player this season. Eppensteiner has played 25 games in his career. He has attempted 13 shots, making 4 of them. He's 1-3 from 3. He's 4-8 at the free throw line. That adds up to 13 points. Alex has 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals. 

Eppensteiner saw his first action in the second game of the season. He missed his first career shot. He played 5 minutes against Tennessee State but also missed his only shot. Alex missed his first 3 and missed his first 2 free throw attempts against Cal State Bakersfield. Eppensteiner played a minute in the NIT game against Weber State and got on the floor as the Dayton game ended. That was all his freshman year. 

Alex's sophomore season saw him play in a couple of games but not do anything. Then against Georgia Southern, he got to the foul line and scored his first career points. He played against St Francis and then not against until senior day against Georgetown. Nearly 2 years ago to the day, he scored his first field goal against Georgetown. Eppensteiner played against USF in the Big East tournament and Missouri in the NCAA tournament. 

Alex got action in the first game of his senior season, but didn't score. He didn't attempt a shot in the first 4 games he played. Against Arkansas Pine-Bluff, he scored a bucket. Eppensteiner made his first career 3 the following game against Chicago State. He took a career high 3 field goal attempts. Alex sat until February. He played 2 minutes in a blowout win over St John's, where he scored a free throw. He played the next game against Marquette but didn't score. 

This season started with Alex playing in the first 3 games. He missed his only shot in the opener and didn't attempt one in the second game. Against North Carolina A&T, Eppensteiner hit a free throw for his first point of the season. He went 0-2 against Arkansas Little-Rock. In his last appearance of the season, Alex scored 2 points against Maryland Eastern-Shore. 

Alex Eppensteiner is always fun to root for. Hopefully he will start against USF, even if he just plays a minute. I loved when Huggins started the walk ons when he was the coach. I hope Mick does the same. Even if Eppensteiner just fouls right after the tip. 

Cincinnati turned the ball over 21 times against Louisville. Presented with minimal comment are all 21 turnovers. 

Turnover #1 : Steal

Turnover #2: Guyn, circled, threw a bounce pass to Peyton Siva. 

Turnover #3: The Louisville defender comes from behind to strip Thomas

Turnover #5: The arrow is where the inbound pass came from. It never made it to Parker. 

The Big East released the final football schedule today. Let's not waste any time. 

CINCINNATI        

Right away, closing the season with a home game against Louisville for the Keg of Nails is pretty awesome. The Big East has loaded the back of the schedule with the contender matchups in the past few years. Playing the conference favorite the last game of the season is pretty awesome. 

The return of mid-week football comes with old familiar foe Memphis the day before Halloween. Cincinnati plays Temple on a Friday night at home. Nice to see that ESPN is coming to Cincinnati twice. 

Let's be honest with the schedule. After the Purdue opener, Northwestern State, Temple, UConn and SMU are not going to drive people to Nippert Stadium. You wish UC could have caught a break and ended up with a better streak of home games, but that just wasn't possible with this schedule. 

Two different streaks of 3 of 4 games on the road make this schedule look tough. Tommy Tuberville has his work cut out for him. 

The schedule is released. Spring practice has started. The smell of football is starting to kick up a little bit.