TicketsBearcats Bow from C-USA Tourney
USF upsets UC, 80-68.
Contact: Brian Teter
3/10/2005
Jason Maxiell posted his fourth double-double (21 points, 12 rebounds) in the last six games. |
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The University of Cincinnati?s goal of closing out its reign in Conference USA with another championship was abruptly ended by USF, which upset the No. 20 Bearcats, 80-68, in Thursday?s quarterfinals of the Kelly Tires Conference USA Tournament.
Jason Maxiell scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, his fourth double-double performance in the last six games, and Eric Hicks complemented him with 18 points and eight rebounds.
The Bearcats could not find a answer to the play of USF?s Brian Swift, the aptly-named point guard who darted through the UC defense for 16 points and five assists. Nor could Cincinnati?s perimeter shooters balance the play of the inside attack?UC made just 5-of-27 3-point tries, one of those treys from Hicks.
The result was an exit from the final C-USA tourney they will ever play in, as UC joins the BIG EAST next season. Cincinnati?s 24-7 record, second place finish in the C-USA regular season race, and an RPI rank of No. 20 entering the day remain pretty good credentials for consideration by the NCAA when tournament seeds are handed out this weekend.
?They played really well today,? UC head coach Bob Huggins stated of USF. ?Swift did a great job running their team. We made a run at them and he did a great job getting them into their offense.?
?They?re a team that keeps on playing,? offered Hicks. ?We knew they were going to take a shot and keep playing and we failed to respond. If they play like this the rest of the tournament, you?re looking at the tournament champ.?
The Bearcats started slowly, suffering a drought in which they managed just one basket in nearly seven minutes of play, to fall to an eight-point deficit in the first half.
Maxiell, the UC senior forward who may have felt a sense of urgency with his long career as a Bearcat coming to a close, stepped forward to spark the Cats.
Max pounded the ball inside to score two straight conventional three-point plays. He then made a steal, passed to a streaking Hicks who also converted a three-point play and the Bearcats appeared to be back in business. UC trailed by one at the half, 36-35, and opened the second half with four straight points.
USF, a team that UC defeated, 74-48 in Tampa in late January, refused to back down. The Bulls staged an 11-0 run to erase a four-point deficit midway through the second half. With Maxiell and Hicks slowed and the rest of the Bearcats struggling to find the rim with their jumpers, the Bulls built a 14-point lead with 6:44 to play and captured the momentum of the game.
UC cut the deficit to six points but USF stayed the Bearcat run and hung on for the upset.
USF advances to the semifinals, the first 11-seed to do so in the history of the tourney, where the Bulls will face red-hot Memphis, which blasted Charlotte, 83-69, earlier Thursday evening.
The Bearcats will wait for the NCAA to announce its tournament pairings on Sunday.
Notes:
? Maxiell?s 12 rebounds upped his career total to 895, moving into ninth place on the UC career list, ahead of George Wilson, who had 888 rebounds in 1961-64.
? Hicks? 18 points was his third straight double-digit scoring game and 22nd of the season.
? The Bearcats lost the opening tip for only the seventh time this season.
? The win by USF ends Cincinnati?s 14-game win streak over the Bulls. UC leads in the series, 18-4.