Wednesday, March 08, 2000
C-USA teams look for signs of hope
But Bearcats have dominated
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MEMPHIS — Realistically, it would seem most of the teams in the Conference USA tournament are playing for the experience and maybe to add a couple victories in the hope the selection committee — the NIT selection committee — will find them appealing.
Realistically, DePaul and Louisville are playing for seeding in the NCAA Tournament, and they're in that half of the field that wouldn't mind an opportunity to play a nationally televised game on CBS against the No.1-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats.
That about covers it, right?
“I'm not very realistic,” UNC Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said. “We're coming in trying to win. I hope our players feel that way. If you're not coming in with the desire to win the whole thing, I think you're cheating yourself.”
With the way UC dominated the conference, with 16 victories in 16 games by an average margin of just more than 16 points, there would not seem to be a lot of opportunity available to the other teams in the field.
It's not the same as a year ago, when the Bearcats won the league but lost three consecutive games in February and offered a great deal of hope to those teams looking to use the league tournament as an avenue to the NCAA field.
When the tournament opens at 1p.m. today at The
Pyramid with a game between the Nos.8 and 9 seeds, Saint Louis (15-13) and Southern Mississippi (17-11), they'll be playing for the right to face a team that beat the two of them by a combined 69 points in recent weeks.
“You'd rather get Cincinnati in the final than the semifinal or the quarterfinal,” South Florida coach Seth Greenberg said. His Bulls (17-12), the No.6 seed, get to play No.11 Memphis (14-15) on its home court.
During the season, there has been much debate about whether having a dominant team in the league damaged the ability of the others to pursue NCAA Tournament bids.
In fact, the real problem has been the inability of the contenders to break free from teams at the bottom. USF lost to Memphis on Saturday, even though the Bulls were playing at home. Tulane (19-9) was 2-2 against Memphis and Houston and broke a league record by scoring 10 points against the Tigers in the first half of their game last Wednesday.
When it comes to this tournament, though, having a team that demonstrated clear superiority is likely to be a handicap.
“I think it's tougher, for that reason,” Lutz said. “But at the same time, all it takes is one game for someone to knock them off. That has to be your mentality.
“It can still happen. It's the time of year when somebody can get hot, put games together, and be able to do it. For sure, no one thought we'd be able to do it last year.”
UNC Charlotte became one of the few teams ever to win a conference tournament by winning four games in four days. For the 49ers (15-14) to do it again, that is what they'll need to do, but at least they're at the bottom of the bracket. A win against No.10 seed UAB (14-13) in today's 8:30p.m. game would give No.7 UNCC a second-round game against second-seeded Louisville.
The 49ers express the belief they can win this thing again. They have made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and do not want that streak to end.
UNCC forward Tremaine Gardiner remembers UNCC's game against the Bearcats in Charlotte was decided by eight points, and the whole league had the chance to see UC's desperate recovery to beat DePaul by a basket last Thursday. Gardiner has extrapolated that knowledge into the hope every team in Conference USA needs to have a chance this week.
“Cincinnati went through the conference undefeated, but there were a lot of close games they were just able to pull out in the end,” Gardiner said. “So that shows they're not invincible. They can be beaten on a given night just like the rest of the teams in the conference.”
Bearcats Stories
Xavier faces long odds in A-10
Xavier has one last shot to make it in
Miami: One more miracle?
Magloire: More intensity to come
Badin defense stymies Springboro 50-31
Lawrenceburg tops S. Ripley
MAC tourney warms fans to the Madness
Mason advances with 68-19 win
NewCath eliminates CovCath
Bengals await Mitchell's call
Brown: Pickens 'should plan to be back'
Bowden settles on staff
Portugal eyes 5th spot in rotation
Rose claims he will be back in the game soon
REDS REPORT
REDS NOTEBOOK
