Charlotte fell to Cincinnati 71-55 Friday night in the Conference USA semifinals. |
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Charlotte Clipped By No. 5 Cincinnati, 71-55
March 8, 2002
By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer
CINCINNATI - A sluggish Steve Logan managed only seven points, but No. 5 Cincinnati used its brawny defense to beat Charlotte 71-55 Friday night in the Conference USA semifinals.
Cincinnati (29-3) matched the school record for wins and made it to the tournament title game for the second straight year despite a subpar game from its best player.
Logan, the two-time conference player of the year, moved lethargically and repeatedly grimaced. Coach Bob Huggins shuttled him in and out of the lineup, talking to him whenever he came off the court.
The Bearcats will play No. 13 Marquette (26-5) for the title. The Golden Eagles beat Houston in the other semifinal, setting up a rematch of teams that split their season series.
Charlotte (18-11) lost by double digits in all three meetings with the Bearcats, who got the 49ers' long-range shooters flustered with their bumping man-to-man defense.
Jobey Thomas, the conference's career 3-point leader, was closely guarded by Immanuel McElroy and went only 1-of-7 from the field. In one telling moment, he tried to drive to the basket late in the first half, got knocked to the floor and came up wide-eyed when no foul was called.
Donald Little led Cincinnati with 16 points, and Leonard Stokes added 15. Curtis Nash had 17 for Charlotte.
Most of the intrigue centered around Logan, who played only 22 minutes in a quarterfinal win over South Florida because Huggins wanted to rest his regulars.
Cincinnati's best shooter had an airball on one of his 3-point attempts Friday and rarely tried to get open for a shot, spending most of the game passing on the perimeter.
Logan was only 1-of-7 from the field and made four free throws in the
closing minutes. He had scored in double figures in his last 51 games, reaching
the 20-point mark in 10 of his past 14.
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Logan's struggles were nothing compared to the 49ers' problems. The capacity crowd of 15,776 mockingly chanted "Airball! Airball!" as one Charlotte shot after another missed everything.
The Bearcats started both of their regular-season wins over Charlotte with scoring spurts that set the tone. The same thing happened the third time around.
Little's three-point play made it 7-0 and gave Charlotte a familiar sense of what was to come. The 49ers' first shot was an airball by Curtis Nash, giving the crowd its first chance to chant.
Charlotte missed its first six shots and 11 of its first 13 as its shooters got shoved around as they tried to maneuver through the Bearcats' defense.
Thomas' airball on a 3-point shot revved up the crowd again, and Demon Brown missed everything on a long 3-pointer as Cincinnati pushed the lead to double digits and was never seriously threatened.
Field Williams made three consecutive 3s, and McElroy's jumper made it 32-18 in the closing minutes of the half.
Charlotte has been able to contain Logan this season - Stokes was the leading scorer in both regular-season meetings.
The Bearcats scored seven consecutive points in the second half to open a 45-30 lead. Charlotte never got closer than nine the rest of the way.
