Monday, March 06, 2000
C-USA tournament preview
It's UC 'til proven otherwise
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
TEAM TO BEAT: Cincinnati. At full strength, the Bearcats had no Conference USA game closer than eight points.
UC has dominated C-USA in the regular season, winning or sharing the title in all five years of the league. But in the last three C-USA tournaments, UC has won only one championship.
DARK HORSE: UNC Charlotte. The tournament's defending champions, the 49ers could build momentum through four rounds as they did a year ago.
TEAM WITH MOST TO PROVE: Tulane. The Green Wave has thrown away an NCAA bid with horrid play in the final two weeks, but could still rescue the season by beating UC in the semifinals.
TOUGHEST DRAW: South Florida. The crumbling Bulls would most likely have to play four teams that beat them since Jan. 29 (Memphis, DePaul, Louisville, Cincinnati) to win the championship.
WEAKEST DRAW: Louisville. The Cardinals earned the right to dodge UC until the finals and have a likely semifi nal game against DePaul, whom they beat twice by a combined 30 points.
Louisville went 8-1 in its last nine games, losing only at UC and winning alll the others by double digits. They finished second in the conference.
“I'm real proud of the guys, the way they hung together even when we weren't playing well,” coach Denny Crum told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “We got where we wanted to be.”
MOST LIKELY MVP: UC senior center Kenyon Martin. He won the MVP of the Big Island Invitational, Rock 'n Roll Shootout and Great Eight, as well as five player of the week awards. He could start selling trophies on eBay.
PLAYER ON THE SPOT: DePaul sophomore guard Quentin Richardson.
He's playing his way out of a late-season slump, averaging 20.5 points, 10 rebounds and .600 shooting in his final two games. If he still wants to make an early break for the NBA, he needs to continue in that direction.
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