Larry Hughes carried the Saint Louis Billikens all season, carried himself right to his postion: standing at the free throw line with his team trailing UAB by two points and no time on the clock.
And he could not drop one in.
Hughes, SLU's freshman star, missed the first of two free throws after he was fouled at the buzzer by Blazers forward Torrey Ward, and the Billikens were eliminated from the Conference USA tournament in Thursday's last quarterfinal.
''This game got lost a long time before we got to the final free throws,'' said SLU coach Charlie Spoonhour, whose 21-10 team is hoping for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.
UAB (20-10) advanced to a semifinal meeting against the No. 14 Cincinnati Bearcats tonight at the Shoemaker Center at 7. The Blazers were led by 16 points from guard Damon Cobb and 15 by his backcourt partner, Cedric Dixon. They survived 37 points by Hughes, the second time he'd topped 30 against UAB.
Hughes got the chance to produce the winning points because UAB missed four free throws in the last 10 seconds. Hughes rebounded the second of Predrag Materic's errant throws, pushed the ball up the floor and was fouled as he tried to score a game-tying layup.
''I'd never been in that situation. I've seen it on TV,'' Hughes said. ''I was just trying to get it over the rim, and I shot it and it went a little long, and I missed it. I didn't feel like I let my team down. Hopefully, we'll make the tournament and get a second chance.''
UC and UAB played just once this season, Feb. 19, the night forward Ruben Patterson learned of his mother's death. His inspired performance and the solid play of point guard Michael Horton led a 16-point Bearcats' victory.
Horton did not play another game until last night, sitting out three games for violating team policy. He is back in place to guard the Dixon, who was 4-of-10 from the field in that game.
Coach Murry Bartow could find no means of stopping the Bearcats' offensive surges in that game. With better athletes on their roster, the Blazers have moved toward more of an open-court game, setting aside the controlled offense that helped them gain a 4-1 edge against UC since 1993.
''We had 15 wins at that time and 10 losses, and a lot of people started to write us off,'' Bartow said. ''All of a sudden, we've won five in a row. That's a credit to the leadership of Cedric and Damon.
''We've got a lot of Cincinnati tape. They've got a lot weapons. What we do best is, we're playing very aggressively. We'll try to play very aggressively and see what happens.''
Hughes dominated in the first half Thursday, just as he did in the first game against UAB. He scored 16 points and lifted the Billikens to a 39-34 lead at the break. Saint Louis' grip on the game began to slip early in the second half.
UAB nearly let slip a five-point lead. With 1:01 left, Hughes zipped behind a screen, caught a pass and fired a three-pointer while floating to the left. That made it 74-72.
Saint Louis had an opportunity to tie and got the ball inside to center Matt Baniak with 40 seconds left, but he let his layup roll off the rim. After two free throws by UAB's DeWayne Brown made it a four-point game. Hughes cut that in half with his last points of the night, a quick drive that made it 76-72 with 21 seconds left.
SAINT LOUIS (21-10) - Cobbin 1-5 1-2 3, Luechtefeld 0-2 2-3 2, Baniak 3-6 2-3 8, Walker 4-8 0-0 12, Hughes 13-25 7-11 37, Heinrich 1-3 0-0 2, Redden 1-2 2-2 4, Robertson 2-3 0-0 6, Frazier 0-1 0-0 0, Simmons 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-56 14-21 74.
ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM (20-10) - Ward 2-5 1-2 5, Brown 3-8 3-3 9, Jackson 2-7 1-2 5, Cobb 4-7 4-4 16, Dixon 5-13 3-8 15, Williams 6-8 2-2 14, Bass 1-3 1-4 3, Ransom 3-5 3-5 9, Materic 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 26-57 18-32 76.
Halftime-Saint Louis 39, Alabama-Birmingham 34. 3-point goals-Saint Louis 10-21 (Cobbin 0-3, Luechtefeld 0-1, Walker 4-6, Hughes 4-7, Robertson 2-3, Simmons 0-1), Alabama-Birmingham 6-15 (Cobb 4-7, Dixon 2-7, Materic 0-1). Fouled out-Heinrich, Cobb. Rebounds-Saint Louis 30 (Hughes 8), Alabama-Birmingham 40 (Brown 10). Assists-Saint Louis 14 (Walker 4), Alabama-Birmingham 9 (Dixon 4). Total fouls-Saint Louis 23, Alabama-Birmingham 23.
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