Dream Season Shattered for Cincinnati’s Martin

Before Thursday, there were visions of glory for Cincinnati, which was expected to make its most serious run at an NCAA basketball championship since the early 1960s, when the Bearcats accomplished the feat twice and reached the final once.

Some of those visions probably had star player Kenyon Martin cutting down the nets after winning the championship at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis in April.

But, the unimaginable happened to Martin and No. 1-ranked Cincinnati in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament at Memphis, Tenn..

Cincinnati lost Martin--the leading candidate for national player of the year--for the season with a broken leg and made its earliest conference tournament exit in eight years in a 68-58 loss to Saint Louis.

Those visions of a national championship are also fleeting quickly.

Martin, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound senior center averaging 19.5 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots, broke his right leg three minutes into the game and the disheartened Bearcats missed his leadership in the second half against a team they defeated by 43 points last Saturday.

“When everyone out there is running around in the wrong spot, he always put them in the right spot. We’re going to miss that,” Cincinnati Coach Bob Huggins said.

Martin was setting a pick when he got tangled up with Saint Louis’ Justin Love. Martin’s ankle turned underneath him as he fell, tearing several ligaments and breaking the fibula. Team physician Angelo Colosimo called it a freak injury for a basketball player, something that usually happens to a football player when a foot gets stuck in the turf.

Martin was taken to an orthopedic clinic, where doctors put a cast on his leg. He returned to the arena midway through the second half with Cincinnati (28-3) trailing, 48-47, and drew a standing ovation. But his presence wasn’t enough of a boost for the Bearcats, who went 10 minutes without a field goal and missed six of 13 free throws in the second half.

The loss will probably deny Cincinnati a No. 1 regional seeding when the tournament brackets are announced Sunday, and dims the bigger picture considerably.

“This was their chance,” Huggins said. “You just have very few chances I think to be special, and we’ve gone through a lot.”

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Saint Louis (17-13) will play Tulane (20-9) in today’s semifinals. The Green Wave, with a 76-69 victory over Houston (9-22), won its first-ever tournament game in the five-season-old Conference USA.

OTHER TOURNAMENTS

ATLANTIC COAST: Freshman Mike Dunleavy, sidelined four games with mononucleosis, made six of seven shots and scored 16 points in his return for No. 3-ranked Duke (25-4) in a 94-63 victory over Clemson (10-20) in the first round at Charlotte, N.C. Duke’s quarterfinal opponent will be Florida State (12-16)--a 63-62 winner over Georgia Tech (13-17) in the final game for retiring Yellow Jacket Coach Bobby Cremins, who had a 354-237 record in 19 seasons at the school.

ATLANTIC 10: No. 6 Temple (24-5) reached the semifinals at Philadelphia with 71-52 victory over Virginia Tech (16-15). Temple’s opponent will be Massachusetts (17-14)--an 86-68 winner over George Washington (15-15).

BIG EAST: Guard Kevin Braswell had 20 points, including nine free throws down the stretch, to lead Georgetown (18-13) to a 76-72 victory over No. 12 Syracuse (24-5)--also the tournament’s top-seeded team--in the quarterfinals at New York. It was the third time in the 21 years of the Big East tournament the No. 1-seeded team lost in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Georgetown plays No. 21 and defending national champion Connecticut (23-8)--a 79-64 winner over Seton Hall (20-9) as Khalid El-Amin made 10 of his first 12 shots and finished with 30 points. No. 19 St. John’s (22-7)--a 75-70 winner over Villanova (19-12)--and No. 23 Miami (21-9)--a 61-58 winner over Notre Dame (18-14)--will play in the other semifinal.

BIG TEN: Wisconsin (17-12) was a 54-44 winner over Northwestern (5-25) in the lowest-scoring game in the three years of the tournament at Chicago. Wisconsin plays No. 22 Purdue (21-8) in the quarterfinals. Iowa (14-15) got four free throws in the final 15 seconds from Kyle Galloway to hold off Minnesota (12-17) for an 81-78 victory and advance against No. 5 Michigan State (23-7). Penn State (14-14)--a 76-66 winner over Michigan (15-13)--draws No. 4 Ohio State in the next round.

BIG 12: Jeff Boschee made seven of 10 three-point shots for all of his 21 points to lead No. 24 Kansas (23-8) to an 84-60 victory over Kansas State (9-19) in the first round at Kansas City, Mo. Kansas State Coach Tom Asbury, who could be fired with two years left on his contract after a last-place finish in the Big 12, is 0-20 lifetime against Kansas--including three games as coach at Pepperdine. Another coach under fire is Nebraska’s Danny Nee, whose team finished 11-19 after a 63-55 loss to Baylor (14-14). In the quarterfinals, Baylor plays No. 7 Iowa State (26-4)--the Big 12’s regular-season champion--and Kansas goes against No. 17 Oklahoma State (23-5).

MOUNTAIN WEST: Brigham Young (19-9)--the sixth-seeded team in tournament at Las Vegas--got 23 points from Terrell Lyday in a 55-43 victory over third-seeded New Mexico (17-13). Brigham Young’s semifinal opponent will be regular-season co-champion Utah (22-7)--a 74-65 winner over Air Force.

SOUTHEASTERN: Dan Langhi, the SEC’s leading scorer at 22.4 points a game, had 27 points, making five of six three-point shots, as Vanderbilt (19-9) remained a contender for an NCAA tournament bid with a 76-53 victory over Mississippi State (14-16) in the first round at Atlanta. In the quarterfinals, Vanderbilt plays No. 10 Louisiana State (25-4) in a matchup of the SEC’s co-players of the year, Langhi and Stromile Swift. No. 11 Florida (24-6) draws Chris Porter-less Auburn (21-7) after an 89-67 victory over Mississippi (17-13).

WESTERN ATHLETIC: No. 17 Tulsa (28-3) established a school record for wins in a 71-51 victory over Rice (5-22) in the first round at Fresno. The next opponent for Tulsa is Texas Christian (18-13)--an 84-69 winner over San Jose State (15-15). Courtney Alexander, the nation’s leading scorer at 25.6 points a game, was held to 13, but Fresno State (22-9) had four other double figure scorers in a 79-70 victory over Texas El Paso (13-15). Fresno State’s next opponent is Hawaii (17-11)--an 87-82 winner over Southern Methodist (21-8).

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NCAA Tournament

Schools that have received automatic bids to NCAA basketball tournament. All bids are by virtue of conference tournament championships with the exception of Ivy League and Pacific 10, which do not conduct postseason tournaments:

MEN’S BIDS

* Appalachian State, Southern

Ball State, Mid-American

Butler, Midwestern Collegiate

Central Connecticut State, Northeast

Creighton, Missouri Valley

Gonzaga, West Coast

Iona, Metro Atlantic Athletic

Louisiana Lafayette, Sun Belt

N.C. Wilmington, Colonial Athletic

Pennsylvania, Ivy League

Samford, Trans America Athletic

Southeast Missouri State, Ohio Valley

Valparaiso, Mid-Continent

Winthrop, Big South

WOMEN’S BIDS

* Connecticut: Big East

Dartmouth, Ivy League

Duke, Atlantic Coast

Fuman, Southern

Holy Cross, Patriot League

Kent, Mid-American

Liberty, Big South

Purdue, Big Ten

St. Francis, Pa., Northeast

St. Peter’s, Metro Atlantic Athletic

San Diego, West Coast

Tennessee, Southeastern

Tennessee Tech, Ohio Valley

Tulane, Conference USA

Xavier, Atlantic 10

Youngstown St., Mid-Continent