Martin Rules the Inside for Cincinnati

Kenyon Martin wanted to let people know that when top-ranked Cincinnati takes the court he is in charge of things near the basket.

In the Bearcats’ 77-68 victory over No. 7 North Carolina on Wednesday night in the Great Eight at Chicago, Martin finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. But it was goaltending calls, giving the Tar Heels their first two baskets of the game, that let people know it was going to be his night inside.

“That’s the norm for me,” he said. “The one I grabbed, that was a statement. If I could have swatted it into the stands I would have. I want them to be intimidated so they don’t want to go in there.”

The Bearcats’ first-ever victory over North Carolina came as Martin, at 6 feet 9 and 230 pounds, gave away three inches and 35 pounds to North Carolina center Brendan Haywood.

Cincinnati Coach Bob Huggins has watched Martin, the Conference USA defensive player of the year the last two seasons, emerge as an all-around player.

“He’s got to be as good a player as there is in the country,” Huggins said. “He could always rebound and be a force on the defensive end, and he has worked hard on his offensive game. He can pass the ball. There isn’t a whole lot he can’t do.”

The Bearcats (6-0) had lost all seven previous meetings with North Carolina, three in the 1990s, including an overtime game in the 1993 regional finals.

North Carolina (6-2) was coming off a game Tuesday night, a 91-67 victory over Buffalo.

No. 19 Temple 64, No. 24 Gonzaga 48--Mark Karcher scored 19 points to lead the Owls (3-2) over the Bulldogs (4-2) in the Great Eight at Chicago, but Temple Coach John Chaney was not satisfied.

“It’s a game we should not have won,” he said. “They normally do not miss the foul shots they missed tonight. And they normally don’t miss the easy shots they missed tonight. If they hit the shots, they walk away with a win.”

But the Bulldogs were off-target, making only 31% of their shots overall, and only 16% from three-point range.

Sharpshooters Matt Santangelo and Richie Frahm kept their season-long streak of scoring in double figures alive, but both were horrid from the floor.

Frahm scored 13 points on five-of-18 shooting, while Santangelo added 12 on five-of-13 shooting. The two were a combined three of 24 from three-point range.

No. 16 Tennessee 94, West Virginia 54--Marcus Haislip scored 22 points to lead the Volunteers (7-0) over the Mountaineers (3-2) at Knoxville, Tenn.

No. 22 Illinois 98, Texas Pan American 61--Marcus Griffin scored 18 points on eight-of-10 shooting to lead the Illini (4-2) over the Broncs (1-4) at Champaign, Ill.

The victory was No. 300 for Illinois Coach Lon Kruger.