Cincinnati Delivers Emphatically

The big, bad Cincinnati Bearcats wore down another opponent Friday night.

And it took all of about six minutes.

Bumping and bouncing the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets all over the court, second-seeded Cincinnati jumped out to an instant--and seemingly, inevitable--13-2 lead in the early going, then barely looked back on the way to an 87-70 victory before 23,890 at Rupp Arena Friday night.

“Cincinnati was really banging out there,” said Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Cremins. “We ran into a buzzsaw.”

By the time Darnell Burton’s 25-foot attempted alley oop pass accidentally swished through the basket--and the loud, pro-Cincinnati crowd roared its approval--the Bearcats had a 26-9 lead with 8:31 left in the first half, and it was over.

“When you get to the tournament, you have to step it up,” said Bearcat guard Damon Flint, who hounded star freshman guard Stephon Marbury into a four-for-13 shooting night and added a team-high 18 points of his own.

“In the regular season, you’re playing to win. But in the tournament, you’re playing to bury the other guys. That’s my attitude.”

The Bearcats (28-4) dominated the Yellow Jackets on the boards, outrebounding them 45-34, and just about everywhere else, despite off-shooting nights by their bread-and-butter post players, Danny Fortson and Art Long, who combined to make only seven of 25 shots.

Cincinnati’s physical defense held Georgia Tech’s high-scoring perimeter trio of Marbury, Matt Harpring and Drew Barry to a woeful 12-for-39 shooting night.

“This is when your captain and senior is supposed to step up,” said Barry, who was two for 12. “And I didn’t. It was a struggle out there for us.”

Cincinnati Coach Bob Huggins said the effort was keyed by the 6-foot-5 Flint’s man-to-man defense of the explosive Marbury, who ended his freshman campaign, and probably his college career, with 15 points.

“The game started ugly--and Stephon wasn’t looking for the three,” Cremins said.

Said Marbury: “I was looking for my shot, it just wasn’t there.”

Overall, Georgia Tech (24-12), which had been one of the tournament’s hottest-shooting teams, shot only 36.9%, and committed 18 turnovers.

“I told the guys we’re going win the game at the defensive end of the floor,” Huggins said. “We can’t outscore people.”

Fortson, meanwhile, focused on hitting the glass--his 16 rebounds, nine off the offensive boards, led Cincinnati. Long had 12 points and eight rebounds.

Georgia Tech, which trailed, 40-30, at halftime, had it down to eight in the first minutes of the second half, but never got closer.

“I kept waiting for us to get back in it, kept waiting, and it never really came,” Cremins said.

The victory puts Cincinnati into Sunday’s Southeast Region final against another physical team, fifth-seeded Mississippi State, which earned its berth by defeating Connecticut earlier in the night.

“I hate going out like this,” Cremins said of his ACC regular-season champions. “This team deserved better than this. This team has been so much fun, I wish we could’ve given them a better game. That’s what disturbs me.”