They are on familiar turf. The Cincinnati Bearcats are at home, the Shoemaker Center, where they have not lost a basketball game in 17 tries. They are at home in the finals of their conference tournament, where they seem to arrive at this time every year.
Well, almost every year.
The 100-85 victory over UAB the Bearcats claimed Friday night in the Conference USA semifinals returned them to the league title game after a one-year hiatus.
The No. 14 Bearcats (25-5) will meet UNC Charlotte (19-9) today at noon and attempt to win their sixth tournament title in the past seven years.
''We play everything to win,'' coach Bob Huggins said. ''Whatever we do, we do it to win.''
D'Juan Baker, who had 26 points, and Ruben Patterson, who had 24, celebrate.
(Craig Ruttle photo)
| ZOOM |
|
The Bearcats were trying not only to beat UAB (20-11), but also to preserve their energy for what has developed as the most difficult game any C-USA team must play: the championship game that tips off just 12 hours after the identity of the second contestant is established.
UC never trailed, sprinting and shooting its way to a 42-29 halftime lead, with guard D'Juan Baker wrecking UAB's zone defense from the perimeter and center Kenyon Martin doing damage from the lane. Baker had 18 of his game-high 26 points by halftime, and Martin scored 14 of his 19 by cutting to the center of the zone and hitting turnaround jumpers.
Forward Ruben Patterson scored 10 consecutive points for UC in one second-half stretch, finishing with 24.
''They've got a lot of different weapons. That was obvious,'' Blazers coach Murry Bartow said. ''The decision I had to make was do we want to walk into their building and continue to push the ball, or do we want to be more conservative? We decided to do what's worked for us and keep pushing it.''
Kenyon Martin and Michael Horton box in UAB's Cedric Dixon.
(Ernest Coleman photo)
| ZOOM |
|
This was the philosophy on offense, but after UC used the fast break to produce four baskets and a 14-6 lead, Bartow tried to take control of the game with a 2-3 zone defense.
''We're pretty much a man-to-man team,'' Bartow said, ''but we played some zone against Cincinnati in Birmingham, and it was pretty effective.''
What played in Birmingham last month flopped at the Shoe. The Bearcats approached that zone five times in a row without much of an idea how to deal with it. On the sixth try, though, Martin popped into the middle of the zone, caught a pass from Baker and fired a quick turnaround.
The zone was shot. The Bearcats faced it another 17 times and scored on all but seven of those possessions. Their lead grew from two points just before that first Martin jumper to 13 at the break, Baker nailing his third three-pointer with 24 seconds left.
Baker's scoring output was his highest in 21 games, but gave him his first string of three consecutive double-figure games since early January.
Michael Horton tries to incite the crowd after a UC basket.
(Craig Ruttle photo)
| ZOOM |
|
''I just went out a little more aggressive,'' Baker said. ''I made my mind up, if somebody came out with his hands down, I was shooting. If the hands were up, I was going by them. I'm trying to get my head straight for this NCAA Tournament.''
UC is trying to use the conference tournament to improve its seeding in the NCAAs. With teams such as Michigan State and Utah losing in their tournaments, it no longer seems out of the question for the Bearcats to be awarded a No. 2 seed.
That will not happen without a victory today, which is why Huggins spent much of the second half trying to preserve UC's energy.
The officials, whose work Huggins disparaged throughout the game, yelling comments across the court to officials supervisor Dale Kelley, actually did the Bearcats a couple of favors in that regard.
Forward Bobby Brannen, who scored all of his 11 points on free throws, was forced to take nearly the entire night off because he picked up four quick fouls. With his left knee aching, it probably was better that he rest. He played 11 minutes.
Officials called 61 personal fouls, and UC set school records for free throws attempted (55) and made (38), breaking a record that had stood since 1958. The game lasted so long - 2 hours, 23 minutes - the Bearcats left their championship opponents in position to receive barely 12 hours of rest before tip-off.
Martin rises above C-USAPaul Daugherty column
Baker back on track
Hurry to bed, early to rise for Charlotte
UAB (85)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Ward 31 6-10 2-2 2-3 0 5 14
Brown 26 2-4 2-6 2-4 0 4 7
Jackson 13 1-2 0-0 1-1 0 3 2
Cobb 16 1-4 2-5 0-0 0 5 5
Dixon 35 6-13 0-0 0-2 1 5 15
Williams 30 4-8 5-7 1-5 0 4 13
Ransom 21 2-6 5-5 1-4 0 3 9
Bass 19 6-8 5-6 0-4 4 4 17
Materic 8 1-3 0-0 0-2 1 1 3
Savovic 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 29-58 21-31 7-25 6 35 85
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.500, FT-.677. 3-Point Goals:
6-20, .300 (Ward 0-1, Brown 1-2, Cobb 1-3, Dixon
3-7, Ransom 0-3, Bass 0-2, Materic 1-2). Team
rebounds: 7. Blocked shots: None. Turnovers: 18
(Bass 4, Williams 4, Brown 2, Cobb 2, Materic 2,
Ward 2, Dixon, Jackson). Steals: 6 (Bass 2, Ward
2, Brown, Ransom).
CINCINNATI (100)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Patterson 24 7-9 9-14 5-5 0 5 24
Brannen 11 0-3 11-12 0-2 0 4 11
Martin 38 6-8 7-9 1-5 0 4 19
Baker 28 9-13 3-4 0-1 2 4 26
Horton 37 3-8 3-10 2-6 10 2 9
Fletcher 24 1-1 2-2 1-5 0 2 4
Levett 25 2-10 3-4 1-3 1 3 7
Myrick 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Petrus 8 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0 0
Carson 2 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
Meacham 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 28-54 38-55 10-29 14 25 100
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.519, FT-.691. 3-Point Goals:
6-16, .375 (Patterson 1-1, Baker 5-8, Levett 0-6,
Myrick 0-1). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 4
(Martin 3, Horton). Turnovers: 11 (Baker 3,
Patterson 3, Horton 2, Brannen, Levett, Martin).
Steals: 8 (Baker 3, Horton 2, Levett, Martin,
Patterson).
__________________________________
Uab 29 56 - 85
Cincinnati 42 58 - 100
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Uab 1 (Williams). Cincinnati 2
(Levett, Bench). Officials: Tom O'neill, Tom
Harrington, Mike Thibodeaux.
SEASON IN STORIES
