The Cincinnati Enquirer

From 1996-2002, the University of Cincinnati always had at least one - and sometimes two - players on the all-conference first team. Now the Bearcats face a second straight year without a first-team selection, even though they have a chance to win the regular-season championship.

Junior forward Jason Maxiell, a preseason first-team selection, has had a solid season with averages of 14.0 points and 6.9 rebounds to go with 54 blocked shots.

But he faces stiff competition from some of the other front-line players in the league, most notably Charlotte's Curtis Withers and Southern Miss' Charles Gaines, the top rebounders in the league.

UC's Tony Bobbitt is the favorite to win the Sixth Player of the Year Award.

The all-conference teams will be announced Monday. The all-freshman, Sixth Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards will be announced Tuesday.

Player of the Year and Coach of the Year will be announced Wednesday, the first day of the C-USA Tournament at U.S. Bank Arena.

--Bill Koch

Atlantic- 10: Media frenzy in Philly

Saint Joseph's ended its regular season Tuesday, nine days before it plays its first Atlantic 10 Tournament game Thursday in Dayton. "We actually need this for the players," said coach Phil Martelli, whose team finished 27-0, 16-0 in the A-10. "Just to regroup." The local celebrity of the team in Philadelphia hasn't lessened any. Hawks players autograph about 200 items for charity daily and are the biggest media stars in town.

"With the amount of media these guys see, every practice here ends with a Selection Sunday-type media presence," Martelli said.

• The No. 2 seed and subsequent A-10 Tournament first-round bye in the West Division is still undecided going into today's games, the last day of the regular season. George Washington occupies second place and will keep it if it wins at La Salle. If George Washington loses, Richmond can claim the No. 2 seed by defeating Massachusetts at home. If GW and Richmond lose, Xavier will get the No. 2 seed as long as the Musketeers win at Temple. If all three teams lose, GW stays in second.

--Dustin Dow

MAC: Hollingsworth suspended

Even though he might have crippled Akron's chances for making noise in the conference tournament, Akron coach Dan Hipsher suspended Cincinnati native Johnny Hollingsworth for the rest of the season due to an unspecified violation of the athletic department's academic policy.

Hollingsworth and conference scoring leader Derrick Tarver both were suspended for the same infraction before the Zips' Bracket Buster game against Drake Feb.  1, a game the Zips lost. Tarver returned and scored 33 points in Akron's upset of Kent State Sunday.

Hollingsworth, who played at Withrow as a freshman and sophomore before moving to Pennsylvania, was leading Akron in assists and steals.

• Kent State sophomore DeAndre Haynes went into the last week of the regular season leading the league in assists and second in steals. The only player to lead the league in both categories was Central Michigan's David Grauzer in 1979, the first year the MAC charted them.

• Central Michigan clinched last place in the 13-team conference with its loss at 12th-place Northern Illinois Monday.

--Mark Schmetzer

SEC: Season over for Lloreda

Louisiana State's season took a crippling blow Wednesday with the announcement that star senior Jaime Lloreda is out for the season with an injured left foot. Though surgery is unlikely, he will not be able to return because of recovery and rehabilitation time. He has recurring bursitis in his left Achilles' tendon and also bruised his left heel Feb. 18. Lloreda led LSU in scoring with a 16.9-point average and ranked second nationally in rebounds at 11.6 a game. "When our team was healthy, we were playing as well as anyone in the league," coach John Brady said. The Tigers (18-8, 8-7 SEC) might have salvaged an NCAA Tournament bid Wednesday by beating Mississippi.

• Matt Freije became Vanderbilt's all-time leading scorer last week. He now has 1,793 career points. The old mark of 1,724 points was held by Phil Cox (1982-85).

• Former UK coach Joe B. Hall and former Louisville coach Denny Crum are teaming up for a radio show weekdays in Kentucky. It will air from 10 a.m.-noon on the Fox Sports affiliates in Lexington (1580 AM) and Louisville (790 AM), with other stations around the state still signing on.

--Neil Schmidt

Must-See TV

Memphis at Cincinnati, 3:30 p.m. today (Ch. 9, 2): Climax of wild C-USA race.

North Carolina at Duke, 9 p.m. today (ESPN): Why? Because it's North Carolina and Duke.

Florida at Kentucky, noon Sunday (Ch. 12, 7): Senior Day for Princeton High product Erik Daniels and four other Wildcats.

Connecticut at Syracuse, 2 p.m. Sunday (Ch. 12, 7): Orangemen's Hakim Warrick faces off with UConn's Emeka Okafor.

Missouri Valley Conference final, 9 p.m. Monday (ESPN): Unsung Southern Illinois is the team to beat in this league.

Thumbs up

Georgia Tech: Nothing like improving your NCAA Tournament seeding and ending Duke's 41-home game win streak on the same night.

Wisconsin: Best road win of the year Tuesday at Michigan State.

Northern Iowa: Gave Southern Illinois its only MVC loss in the last regular-season game of the year.

Florida: Billy Donovan's Gators have four straight wins since Christian Drejer left the team.

Thumbs down

Rutgers: Hurt its bubble chances by losing at Virginia Tech Wednesday.

Michigan: Hard to convince the Selection Committee with a loss at Indiana.

Kent State: From NCAA Tournament lock to bubble bust after three straight losses.

St. John's: New allegations, of at least one player being paid, sink program even lower.

Tipoff Q&A

Q. From Sam in New Jersey: How do you think this year's UC team would fare in the current Big East? Will the Bearcats have to change their style of play to be successful there?

A. This team would finish in the middle of the pack in the Big East. Given the way it has played lately, it might finish in the middle of the pack in Conference USA. The move probably won't force the Bearcats to change their style of play, but it will change their recruiting base and might force them to recruit bigger, stronger players. The new league, which will be much stronger from top to bottom than C-USA, will also make it more difficult for UC to reach the NCAA Tournament every year.

Q: From Darryl in West Chester: What role will Stanley Burrell play for Xavier next season, point guard or shooting guard?

A: Burrell split time between both positions this season at Hargrave Military (Va.) Academy, but his true position is shooting guard. Consider that Xavier will have Dedrick Finn returning at point guard as well as Churchill Odia entering as a point guard, and there's no need for Burrell to play point guard, too. He can handle the ball well, but he's a shooting guard in college.

---

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com or ddow@enquirer.com

Numbers game

4: Division I men's conference championship games to be played and automatic NCAA Tournament bids to be awarded today. The Ohio Valley, Big South, Southern and Atlantic Sun conference finals are scheduled.

Best player at each position

Point guard: Jameer Nelson, Saint Joseph's: Who else were you expecting?

Shooting guard: Delonte West, Saint Joseph's: The overlooked reason why the Hawks' backcourt is so dominating.

Small forward: Julius Hodge, North Carolina State: Wolfpack star defines versatility.

Power forward: Lawrence Roberts, Mississippi State: Transfered from Baylor and changed Bulldogs into a national-title contender.

Center: Emeka Okafor, Connecticut: Can't go wrong with 19.3 points, 11.6 rebounds and 4.6 blocks.

Tipoff Sweet Sixteen

Rank	Team	Comment
1.	Stanford	Going for perfection against Washington today.
2.	Saint Joseph's	Busy scouting A-10 Tournament opponents.
3.	Gonzaga	Only two losses, to Saint Joseph's and Stanford.
4.	Oklahoma State	Can win Big 12 outright today.
5.	Mississippi State	Looks like a No. 1 seed.
6.	Kentucky	Going for six straight Sunday against Florida.
7.	Duke	Looked flat in Georgia Tech loss.
8.	Pittsburgh	Proved strength by winning at Providence.
9.	Texas	Nothing wrong with second best in Big 12.
10.	Connecticut	Quietly won five straight.
11.	North Carolina	Has a tournament-ready team.
12.	Georgia Tech	Picking up game at the right time for ACC Tournament.
13.	Providence	Must bounce back from embarrassing loss to Pittsburgh.
14.	Southern Illinois	Ended winning streak at 16 with loss to Northern Iowa.
15.	Wisconsin	Difficult season-ending game at Indiana today.
16.	Illinois	Can clinch Big Ten title by winning at Ohio State Sunday.

THE LIST

Xavier's Suntana Granderson's top five TV shows:

1. The Cosby Show  2. Family Matters 3. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 4. Saved by the Bell  5. SportsCenter