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WHEN: Tuesday, March 9, 9 p.m., WHERE: Big East Championship, Madison Square Garden, New York, N.Y., TV: ESPNU, RADIO: WOR 710 AM, WCTC 1450 AM

THE GAME: Rutgers heads into the 2010 Big East Championship as the No. 14 seed and will meet No. 11 seed Cincinnati. The winner of the contest will play No. 6 seed Louisville in a second round match-up at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday evening.

THE SERIES: The Scarlet Knights and Bearcats have never met in Championship play. Tuesday evening's contest marks the 14th overall match-up between the schools dating back to 1972, with Cincinnati holding a 10-3 advantage in victories. On January 2, Rutgers dropped a hard fought, 65-58, home decision to the Bearcats in the Scarlet Knights' Big East opener. Junior forward Jonathan Mitchell scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. He was joined in double figures by sophomore guard Mike Rosario and freshman wing Dane Miller. Rosario registered 12 points, all in the opening half, while Miller added 10 points and six rebounds.

RUTGERS NOTES: Rutgers has a 5-10 overall record in the Big East Tournament. Miller was named to the 2009-10 Big East Conference Men's Basketball All-Rookie Team as selected by the league's head coaches. He was one of two unanimous selections to the squad, along with Cincinnati's Lance Stephenson. Miller was named the Big East Rookie of the Week a Rutgers-record three straight weeks (Feb. 8, 15, 22). The last Big East player to achieve that feat was Carmelo Anthony, who earned the honor a record five straight weeks for Syracuse to close out the 2002-03 campaign.

Rosario, who recently joined two-time All-American Phil Sellers (1972-76) as the only sophomores in Rutgers history to reach 1,000 career points, was an All-Rookie selection last season.

Rutgers senior center Hamady Ndiaye, the conference Defensive Player of the Year, became the first Rutgers player to lead the Big East in blocks. He ranks third nationally in blocks, while also ranking second among all NCAA players in career blocks with 353. Ndiaye enters the Championship needing two rejections to tie the all-time Rutgers record of 355 set by All-American and NBA veteran Roy Hinson (1979-83). With 140 blocks this season, Ndiaye needs four more to tie Hinson's single season record of 144, set in 1982-83.

CINCINNATI NOTES: The Bearcats come into the Big East Championship losing five of its last six games, including their last three in a row to nationally-ranked teams (West Virginia, Villanova, Georgetown). Cincinnati will look to the hot hand of freshman Lance Stephenson, who is averaging 16.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game over his last four contests, to help get the Bearcats back on track. Senior guard Deonta Vaughn led the Bearcats in scoring with 17 points and is UC's leading active scorer vs. the Scarlet Knights, averaging 19.5 points per game.