Monday, February 28, 2000

UC stays perfect in C-USA

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Bearcats win 7th straight over Cards

BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

UC's Jermaine Tate, right, battles the Cardinal's Tony Williams and Reece Gaines for control of a loose ball during the frst half Sunday. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        Bob Huggins did not smile as he waited to be interviewed by ESPN2's Brad Daugherty, who needed to fill nearly 15 minutes of air time following one of the Cincinnati Bearcats' shortest games.

        Huggins had himself another victory, 68-59 over Louisville, and another brilliant Kenyon Martin performance, but there were elements of the Bearcats' performance that were less than satisfactory.

        They gave up 43 second-half points. They watched as Louisville shot 17-of-26 following the break. Huggins benched forward Pete Mickeal for the closing minutes, after he shot 2-of-11 from the field and committed one more turnover than his coach wanted to see.

        Martin scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Bearcats (26-2, 14-0), who advanced to No.2 in the USA Today/ESPN poll of college coaches and moved to within two victories of the first perfect season in Conference USA. It was the sixth consecutive double-double for Martin.

        In his first game back after serving a one-game NCAA suspension, freshman guard DerMarr Johnson scored 15 points and hit three times from 3-point range. Louisville (17-10, 8-6) was led by forward Nate Johnson's 17 points and 16 from guard Quintin Bailey.

        Louisville entered the game riding a six-game winning streak, but UC owned a six-game streak against Louisville.

        The Cards haven't been competitive against the Bearcats since a 67-61 loss at the Shoemaker Center in 1998, and even in that game, UC's Michael Horton embarrassed the Louisville guards with a school-record seven steals. The last four games in the series were won by double-digit margins.

        Louisville has not played against Cincinnati as if it expects to win, and that continued in the first half Sunday.

        Although guard Marques Maybin entered the game with a 20-point average in the Cardinals' six-game winning streak, he was reluctant to shoot even though Johnson gave him plenty of room behind the 3-point line.

        And with Mickeal in his face for much of the first half, Tony Williams, Louisville's leading scorer, went 0-for-4. The Cardinals scored only 16 points in the first half, four points below their previous low.

        UC needed one of its better defensive efforts, because it struggled a bit on offense. The Bearcats passed for only five assists and scored 12 baskets, missing all five of their 3-point attempts. Martin's first-half double-double was essential to their advantage.

UC's Jermaine Tate dishes off a first half pass around Louisville's Reece Gaines. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        Louisville began the game by missing seven of its eight shots and turning over the ball three times in its first 11 trips, but UC led only by four points after the first five minutes.

        UC generated decent shots for itself but could not get them to fall. Mickeal was particularly stricken, missing four in a row before squeezing in the layup that made it 6-2.

        What the Bearcats did better in this game was work the offensive boards. Although that's no particular accomplishment against Louisville, C-USA's 11th-best rebounding team.

        In a 12-0 surge that jumped UC into a 25-9 lead, there was no consistent source of offense, but there were stick-back scores by big men Ryan Fletcher and Jermaine Tate. The Bearcats got baskets from five players in that stretch, with only Johnson scoring twice.

        Martin's control of the game was such that even though he was 3-of-8 from the field in the first half, he still scored 14 points.

        UC was more accurate from 3-point range in the second half, getting three from Johnson and one from Logan. Johnson nailed a 25-footer that beat the shot-clock early in the half. Those shots became necessary as UC's defensive effort fizzled.

        The Cardinals made 11 of their first 15 shots in the second half, lifting themselves from .280 shooting to .450. Quintin Bailey scored nine second-half points to help the cards cut a lead that was as large as 18 in the second half to nine-points when Nate Johnson hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 5:40 left.

       

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