By Shannon Russell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Gary Blair put his best foot forward Sunday afternoon in Arkansas' 71-57 win over Cincinnati.

His other foot was, well, shoeless.

Blair stumbled into a wad of gum in the coaching box during the second half. After dragging its sticky strands all over the floor, he finally tossed his right shoe to an Arkansas trainer for a full-gum removal.

"I looked like a broken down mare that needed a horseshoe," Blair said.

Blair, who has never lost an NCAA first-round game in 11 tries, held up his shoe at the postgame press conference and said it took him a long time to "come up in the world" enough to have Italian shoes. But he commended the trainer for handling the situation with much expertise.

"As you can see, I'm a heart condition waiting to happen," Blair quipped.

HOMECOMING: Lakota West graduate Cara Wright had her fourth start of the season for Arkansas on Sunday. She also scored Arkansas' first two points.

Wright had two points, a block and a rebound in seven minutes.

TURN THIS: UC, which has the nation's second-best turnover average (11.9 a game) committed only 11 turnovers Sunday. But Arkansas set a school record with seven turnovers, its lowest figure in an NCAA Tournament game.

STAYING SHARP: K.B. Sharp took UC's last shot of the game, which is also the last attempt of her career. The senior has played in all 126 games in her career (a UC record) and has played 40 or more minutes 58 times. She's also UC's career assist leader (623). Sharp led UC in assists Sunday with four.

COME ON DOWN: UC coach Laurie Pirtle and Arkansas' Blair invited basketball fans back to Shoemaker Center on Tuesday for the second round game between Texas and Arkansas. Game time is 7:10 p.m. Arkansas has won the last three meetings between the two schools.