Cincinnati's 17-0 run ends UTC threat

[Michael Ryan]

Another article from the Chattanooga paper, that is not available thru a
direct click. 

Ashley Champion had an interesting quote in paragraph 4. 

- Mike
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Cincinnati's 17-0 run ends UTC threat
By David Uchiyama Staff Writer 
Chattanooga Times Free Press

CINCINNATI - The answer is no.  University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
guard Jason Rogan wondered on Tuesday if the Mocs could play with an
elite basketball program. He got his answer by halftime Thursday against
the Cincinnati Bearcats.  "We played with them for 15 minutes," Rogan
said. "Then we had a mental breakdown."

   For the first 15 minutes of the game, the Mocs did play with one of
the national powerhouses. But then Cincinnati returned to form and won
81-51 in the Shoemaker Center.   "They were like a bunch of sharks," UTC
coach Jeff Lebo said. "When they smelled blood, they took it to another
level."

   Field Williams led Cincinnati (7-3) with 17 points while four other
Bearcats scored at least 10. Bryan Richardson scored 15 points for UTC
(9-3 ). The Mocs made 31 turnovers and shot 32 percent from the floor.
   UTC led 14-13 and again at 25-24 on a pair of Ray Trowell free throws
with 4:52 left in the first half. The Mocs stayed in the game until then
by making six 3-pointers in the half. Richardson tied his career high of
three treys in the opening 20 minutes and finished with five.

   Inside, Cincinnati's Jason Maxiell and Derek Hollman were able to
push Ashley Champion and Aaron Morgan off the blocks and defend when
UTC's big men received passes.   "They were able to push us under the
basket, and they're athletic and they can jump," Champion said. "They're
not any tougher, though."

   After a timeout late in the first half, UTC tried to execute a play
designed for Champion or Morgan. Champion caught the pass and tried to
make a scoring move but fumbled his pass to Morgan.   "It's like they're
five inches taller, 30 pounds heavier and two notches more athletic than
we are inside," Lebo said.  Cincinnati blocked four shots in the first
half, when UTC shot 34.8 percent and committed 14 turnovers.

   Several of the lost balls came in the fateful final five minutes of
the first half, when the Bearcats closed with a 17-0 run for a 41-25
lead. Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins said the key was his switch from
three-quarter-court pressure to a halfcourt pressure defense.   "We made
some steals and got easy transition baskets," Huggins said.  "We really
stepped up when we made the switch."

   Lebo said the Mocs weren't able to overcome that pressure, although
it is similar to the defense UTC runs. "They were doubling the
ball-screens and we had a hard time going over the top," Lebo said.
"They got their hands on everything."

   After Trowell's go-ahead free throws, the aroused Bearcats went
inside to Maxiell, Eric Hicks made two free throws and Leonard Stokes
punctuated the streak by slamming down an alley-oop that finally awoke
the crowd of 10,290. "We were playing with them and we were playing
bad," Richardson said. "It wasn't going good, but we were there.  "Then
I missed a rebound, and that started everything. We started throwing
balls away. We do things right in practice, but not today."


Mike Ryan