It was a second straight second-round knockout for Bob Huggins, D'Juan Baker, Kenyon Martin and Ruben Patterson.
(Saed Hindash photo)
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They can choose to remember those two net-cutting celebrations if they wish, one each for the Conference USA regular season and tournament championships. The Cincinnati Bearcats will receive rings to remind them of these accomplishments.
It is hard not to recall what comes last in college basketball, though, and UC's lasting image will be of West Virginia's Jarrod West banking in an improbable three-point shot just before the buzzer to eliminate the Bearcats from the NCAA Tournament.
UC finished 27-6, tying the third-best victory total in coach Bob Huggins' nine seasons. The Bearcats were anointed a No. 2 seed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee and were No. 9 in the final Associated Press poll.
''It would have been nice to keep going,'' center Kenyon Martin said. ''There could have been another ring, or something else to put on it.''
Instead, UC has to live with a second-round elimination for the second straight year, both times by a lower seed, both times by one point.
As much as it helped their NCAA seeding to finish with six consecutive games at the Shoemaker Center, including the league tournament, it quite possibly led the Bearcats to feeling dangerously comfortable.
They appeared less aggressive, less confident when put back on the road in Boise, Idaho. The Bearcats wound up facing hostile crowds, but made a couple mistakes to turn the audience against them: They did not play their show-stopping brand of basketball, and allowed the underdogs to be competitive.
It took a lot of bad luck to eliminate the Bearcats from the tournament, but more than their share of bad basketball. There was barely a resemblance to the team that finished the C-USA season and tournament with nine consecutive victories.
Northern Arizona shot 50 percent in the first half against UC. West Virginia hit 51.7 percent in the second half against UC and finished at 47.6, one of only two teams to top 45 percent in the last 15 games.
The tournament audience saw only glimpses of what this team had been. Sixth man Melvin Levett was hesitant to shoot; he was 2-of-11 from the field in Boise. The team's most proficient three-point shooter, he tried four in two tournament games and missed them all. Center Kenyon Martin blocked four shots against West Virginia, but was faked off his feet twice in three days after avoiding that mistake throughout the league season.
The most distressing decline was at point guard. Junior Michael Horton appeared to have gained command of his game and the team in his final five games, then backed away as success beckoned.
His tournament performance (six nine assists, nine turnovers) left little doubt the Bearcats must recruit some competition for him at the point. Point guard prospect Steve Logan of Lakewood St. Edward High in suburban Cleveland committed to UC Sunday.
So much of UC's success depended on the leadership of senior forward Bobby Brannen, who drove the Bearcats to work harder and helped convince them to stick together despite the numerous obstacles, notably the suspensions of four starters during the season.
At the end, senior guard D'Juan Baker poured his passion into extending the Bearcats' season, hitting three shots from three-point range in the final five minutes of the loss to West Virginia, when UC had trouble finding another way to score.
Even forward Ruben Patterson, whose attention lapses occasionally negated his spectacular talent, was the one UC player to react when West prepared to shoot the Bearcats into the offseason. Patterson came close to stopping him.
There will be loads of talent on the '98-99 squad, with transfer forward Jermaine Tate and a top five recruiting class joining Levett, Martin and frontcourt reserve Ryan Fletcher.
The Bearcats are scheduled to have three scholarship seniors on next season's squad, but Horton and guard Shawn Myrick did not suggest the necessary consistency to provide leadership. Levett can be an emotional, inspirational player, but would have to even his temperament.
UC may wind up leaning on a first-year junior college transfer for direction, the way Memphis did with all-conference forward Omar Sneed this season. Pete Mickeal, who led Indian Hills (Iowa) Community College to a national championship in his first season, could give the Bearcats a lot of what Brannen and Baker did.
Those guys lifted UC high enough to cut down some nets. Just not all the nets they were hoping for.
UC lands prep point guard March 16, 1998
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