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'See you in Indy' No. 2 Bearcats leave home with sights on Final Four
Posted: Sunday March 05, 2000 11:53 AM
CINCINNATI (AP) -- A perfect conference season. A school-record 28 victories. Another return to No. 1 on the horizon. Cincinnati couldn't have picked a better ending to its regular season. Now comes the part that really matters: the NCAA tournament. The second-ranked Bearcats polished off a perfect Conference USA season and positioned itself to move back atop the poll by grinding down Saint Louis 84-41 on Saturday. Kenyon Martin scored 23 points and Pete Mickeal had 21 as Cincinnati (28-2, 16-0) completed one of its best regular seasons ever on a court thick with emotion and slick with perspiration. "It's hard to go undefeated in any league," Saint Louis coach Lorenzo Romar said. "It doesn't happen very often. Conference USA is one of the top three or four in the country. For them to run the league like that, it's a special, special, special year for them."In many ways, it's just a prelude. After three straight second-round losses in the NCAA tournament, the Bearcats know that what's happened so far ultimately will be little more than a footnote. "Around the nation, nobody cares what Cincinnati does. It's if
we come up and get beat in the second round again," Mickeal said.
"That's the perception.'
The fans chanted "We're No. 1" as the final seconds ticked
down, and the public address announcer sent them away with a wish:
"See you in Indianapolis," site of the Final Four.
He wasn't the only one thinking that way.
"I don't want to look at it as a final game," coach Bob
Huggins said. 'I hope we have another month -- the conference
tournament and three weeks in the NCAA. That's what we've worked
for all season. It's so hard to think of this as a finale."
The game started with a lot of Senior Day emotion and quickly
degenerated into a sluggish, foul-filled contest. Cincinnati shot
19 free throws as it built a 20-point lead in the first half and
was 24-of-31 from the line overall.
Saint Louis (15-13, 7-9) shot only three free throws in the
first half and five overall as it took its 12th loss in its last 13
games against Cincinnati.
Mickeal, Martin, Jermaine Tate and Ryan Fletcher -- Cincinnati's
four seniors and four best hopes for a Final Four -- got framed
photographs of themselves and hugs from Bob Huggins before their
final home game.
Martin was practically in tears as he embraced his coach and
teammates at midcourt. He went to the bench and covered his head
with a white towel a couple of minutes before tipoff, dabbing at
his eyes.
Once the game started, Martin tried to dominate the way he has
the last six games, taking five of Cincinnati's first 11 shots.
This time, it didn't work -- Martin went to the bench with his
second foul midway through the half with Cincinnati ahead by only
four points.
Mickeal came off the bench five minutes into the game and took
over, scoring 12 points as Cincinnati pulled out to a 41-21
halftime lead despite shooting 39 percent.
Mickeal scored nine points early in the second half as
Cincinnati stretched the lead to 58-28, ending the Billikens' hopes
of a comeback.
The game was held up for four minutes in the first half to wipe
down the court after several Cincinnati players slipped and
complained. Saint Louis players twice got called for traveling when
they slipped in the second half.
Justin Love led Saint Louis with 11 points, seven below his
average.
Cincinnati's four seniors have been through a time frame of
extremes. In the last four years, the Bearcats have won four
regular-season conference titles, lost in the second round of the
NCAA tournament three straight years and gone on NCAA probation.
This regular season wound up as one of the most impressive in
Cincinnati's history. The Bearcats won 28 games, a school record
for the regular season and one shy of the overall school mark.
They also went unbeaten in conference play
for the first time in
their history. Cincinnati has 20 consecutive conference wins, the
longest streak in Division I.
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