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Tourney will sort out
bunched up C-USA
©2004 The Associated Press and Bonesville.net
While East Carolina, Houston and Tulane were jostling for the two bottom
seeds in this week's Conference USA Tournament, a gargantuan fight was going
on at the the other end of the league standings for a loftier objective.
An entire season failed to identify the top team in the conference. Five
were knotted in a first-place tie when the regular season ended, sharing the
championship. It will be up to the conference tournament to finally sort it
all out and decide who is No. 1.
Well, maybe.
Given the way things have gone, no one would be surprised if a sixth or
lower team gets on a roll and claims a trophy — assuming the conference
hasn't already exhausted its supply. DePaul, Memphis, Cincinnati, UAB and
Charlotte could have to move over and make even more room at the top.
"You don't think Marquette is thinking they can win it?" Memphis coach John
Calipari said. "You don't think Louisville is thinking they can win it? You
know what? They can.
"Obviously, Cincinnati has the advantage, being at home. Everybody else is
coming in with the idea that they can have some fun and have a run."
Even ECU — which inherited a
tourney berth after odd-man-out Houston lost at Saint Louis to hand the
Pirates (13-13, 5-11) and Green Wave the 11th and 12th seeds, respectively —
is thinking in terms of making waves.
"It's going to give us a lot
of momentum and a lot of confidence going into the Conference USA
Tournament," said Pirates coach Bill Herrion after the improving Pirates
prevailed at Southern Mississippi 63-50 Saturday night. It was ECU's fourth
win in its last five outings.
The tournament opens Wednesday at a downtown arena where Cincinnati played
one game earlier this season, giving the Bearcats a big advantage in a
setting where any edge is meaningful.
"Not to brag or boast, but think about it," Cincinnati guard Tony Bobbitt
said. "We don't have to go anywhere. We just get on a bus and go downtown."
Bobbitt played the biggest role in setting up the conference's gridlock. He
played one of the worst games of his career - he twice fouled a 3-point
shooter and repeatedly exchanged words with coach Bob Huggins - in a
three-point loss at DePaul on Thursday night.
That loss dropped Cincinnati (21-6, 12-4) into a four-way tie for second
place, one game behind Memphis. The Tigers were in position to clinch their
first outright championship - they shared it with Cincinnati in 1996.
Instead, Memphis (21-6, 12-4) came up short at the end of a back-and-forth
game that featured eight ties and 21 lead changes. Bobbitt's 3-pointer with
36 seconds left put Cincinnati ahead to stay, and he made two free throws
with 19.7 seconds left to clinch it.
The Bearcats won or shared the conference's first seven regular season
titles, missing out for the first time last season. Bobbitt, a senior,
didn't want to become part of the first class that failed twice in a row.
"I just know I'm not a statistic," he said. "When I signed my national
letter of intent, I wanted to come in here and win the conference and the
conference tournament."
They have as good a chance as anyone.
DePaul, Memphis, Cincinnati and UAB got the top four seeds and the
tournament's first-round byes. Charlotte will have to play an extra game on
Wednesday even though it finished tied for first.
Cincinnati and Memphis are in the same bracket, meaning they could face each
other in the semifinals on Friday. The Tigers would love a rematch.
Memphis has won 12 of its last 14 games and has one of the conference's
hottest players in Sean Banks. The 6-foot-8 freshman is averaging 25 points
in his last six games, including a 28-point performance against Cincinnati
that had the Bearcats hoping he'll leave for the NBA soon.
"I told him at the end of the game, 'Sean, when you're done, when we beat
you in the conference tournament, you need to go make you and your family
some money,"' Bobbitt said.
Banks tuned him out.
"I don't know what he said," Banks said. "I wasn't listening to him. He's a
little crazy."
The same description could be applied to their league, which could
conceivably make both Banks and Bobbitt feel a bit crazy if an upstart like
East Carolina snatches the big prize.
Copyright 2004
The Associated Press. Bonesville.net contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:49:31 AM
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