Kenyon Martin gets one of his eight blocks - a UC record.
(Saed Hindash photo)
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Michael Horton did not read the comments made by DePaul's Pat Kennedy a couple weeks back. Kenyon Martin did, but didn't understand the coach's declaration the Cincinnati Bearcats could win the NCAA Tournament - provided it were played with no centers and no point guards.
It was a rather simple statement, really. Kennedy suggested those two weren't good enough. But if the Bearcats played Thursday night against Louisville at the Shoemaker Center with no Horton and no Martin, they'd have been short 33 points, 17 rebounds, eight blocks, seven assists and six steals.
They might not have defeated Louisville 64-50. They might not still be alive in the Conference USA tournament and headed for a semifinal matchup with the Alabama-Birmingham, which beat Saint Louis 76-74.
UC coach Bob Huggins believes the No. 14 Bearcats (24-5) can play deep into March with the tournament just as it is, forcing Martin and Horton to take the floor and play five-on-five.
''If they play the way they played today,'' Huggins said, ''I think so.''
Horton returned from his three-game suspension for violating team policy and produced a career-best 17 points, passed for seven assists and committed just one turnover, his best single-game assist-turnover ratio this season. In his past three games - which took nearly three weeks to play - Horton had a combined 15 assists and three turnovers.
''Mike was getting better and better before he took the vacation,'' Huggins said. ''In fact, he was getting so good, he took a vacation to let everyone else catch up.
''It takes all point guards a while to adjust. He's got to know not just what he's doing, but what everyone's doing. And we've got guys who don't have a clue what they're doing. If he can figure out our guys, he's doing a heck of a job.''
Michael Horton returned from his three-game hiatus to score 17 points.
(AP photo)
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Martin was counting blocks near the end. If he's collecting blocks, the other guys aren't scoring, and if he's counting them, the Bearcats are safely approaching victory.
This wasn't as easy as it could have been, though. Although Martin came within a couple of blocks of his second triple-double in two weeks - the other was against Kennedy's DePaul club - UC let two-thirds of 21-point lead slip away in the second half.
Martin scored 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked eight shots - a school record - and he had two others negated by goaltending calls. He scored the only six Bearcats points in a stretch that lasted 12:19 and enabled Louisville (12-20) to close to a seven-point deficit.
''We cut the deficit from 21 points to seven, and that is hard to do on the road against a good team,'' Louisville coach Denny Crum said. ''I really thought we played very well. The kids gave everything they could give.''
The Bearcats stretched a 17-point halftime lead to 21 with three baskets and a free throw in (12-20) on a short jumper and three-pointer to cut that to 43-27.
Ruben Patterson runs into Louisville's Eric Johnson.
(Saed Hindash photo)
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UC had three trips to try to get that back toward blowout range but looked sluggish each time down the court. The Bearcats played tired, like they were thinking about having to play another two games in the next 40 hours. They tried a few times to connect with three-pointers, but failed, finishing 0-for-8 and breaking a string of 164 consecutive games with a three.
The Bearcats wound up expending more effort as the game grew uncomfortably close.
''We played extremely well defensively in the first half,'' Huggins said. ''I tried to explain to my guys they weren't going away. The guy didn't win 600-some games not knowing what he was doing.''
With Louisville coming out into the passing lanes and daring them to drive to the basket, the Bearcats stayed still, and wound up going through five empty possessions that enabled Louisville to run off seven consecutive points and make it 47-40 on Johnson's follow-shot with 7:16 left.
Louisville was playing with the sort of desperation that could have saved its season if applied a month ago. Instead, the Cardinals waited until they arrived in this punish-or-perish circumstance. They perished, but valiantly.
Their rush to recovery ended then. They did not score again until Martin went for another block and was called for goaltending, the points credited to guard Cameron Murray with 3:11 left. Louisville ended with its first 20-loss season.
''It was a good learning year,'' Crum said. ''We lost 10 games by six points or less, and one player could have made the difference.''
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LOUISVILLE (50)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
N Johnson 34 4-12 1-1 4-8 0 4 9
Dantzler 28 2-6 1-1 0-0 2 4 5
Sanders 31 1-9 0-0 6-11 0 4 2
Maybin 23 3-9 0-0 2-2 0 3 7
Murray 35 4-9 0-0 1-7 5 4 9
Williams 27 2-10 0-1 1-6 0 2 6
E Johnson 18 5-12 1-2 0-2 0 2 12
Mckinley 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
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TOTALS 200 21-67 3-5 14-36 7 23 50
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Percentages: FG-.313, FT-.600. 3-Point Goals:
5-22, .227 (N Johnson 0-1, Dantzler 0-1, Sanders
0-3, Maybin 1-5, Murray 1-2, Williams 2-5, E
Johnson 1-5). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 5
(Dantzler 2, Williams 2, E Johnson). Turnovers:
17 (N Johnson 7, Maybin 3, E Johnson 2, Williams
2, Mckinley, Murray). Steals: 2 (E Johnson, N
Johnson).
CINCINNATI (64)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Patterson 30 6-17 1-2 4-9 3 2 13
Brannen 30 2-7 0-0 2-5 0 2 4
Martin 37 7-11 2-3 4-10 0 3 16
Baker 29 3-8 4-4 0-2 1 2 10
Horton 33 4-10 9-14 2-7 7 1 17
Levett 24 1-5 0-0 0-2 0 1 2
Petrus 5 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 1 0
Myrick 7 0-1 2-4 0-1 0 0 2
Fletcher 4 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Carson 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
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TOTALS 200 23-59 18-27 13-38 11 13 64
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Percentages: FG-.390, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
0-8, .000 (Patterson 0-4, Baker 0-1, Levett 0-3).
Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 10 (Martin 8,
Patterson, Levett). Turnovers: 10 (Patterson 4,
Levett 2, Myrick 2, Brannen, Horton). Steals: 12
(Baker 3, Horton 3, Martin 3, Brannen 2,
Patterson).
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Louisville 19 31 - 50
Cincinnati 36 28 - 64
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Technical fouls: None. Officials: Steve Welmer,
Tom Harrington, David Bair.
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