West Virginia's Jarrod West puts up the winning shot over Ruben Patterson.
(AP photo)
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BOISE, Idaho - This one floated longer, fell harder, hurt more. Much, much more. This was not some non-conference road game in early February. This was the NCAA Tournament. This was it.
And that was that.
It did not take an extraordinary effort by West Virginia to end the Cincinnati Bearcats' basketball season in the tournament's second round Saturday at BSU Pavilion, but it took an exceptional shot.
UC (27-6) went ahead by two on guard D'Juan Baker's fifth three-pointer, but there were seven seconds left, enough time for the Mountaineers to turn Baker's play into an anticlimax. Guard Jarrod West dribbled the ball upcourt, cut behind a mammoth screen by center Brian Lewin and let loose a jumper from 22 feet.
UC center Kenyon Martin had dropped back to guard the lane and did not follow Lewin out past the top of the key.
D'Juan Baker collapses in agony after the loss.
(Saed Hindash photo)
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Forward Ruben Patterson noticed the play developing and reacted, but his arrival on the scene was a fraction late to make a difference. He nicked the ball with a fingertip, but still it flew toward the goal, smacked high on the backboard and dropped in for a 75-74 West Virginia victory.
''I don't know why all those freak things always happen to us,'' said UC coach Bob Huggins. ''Why can't they happen for us?''
UC players reacted to the defeat with disbelief. Patterson sat on the bench, unwilling or unable to move. Baker fell to his knees, eventually rose, tore off his jersey and left the court.
This was not the first time UC lost in this manner. They were defeated by South Carolina's Antonio Grant on a buzzer-beating three-pointer on the first day of February. This time, though, it became their last day of March Madness. They were eliminated from the tournament with a one-point, second-round defeat for the second year in a row.
''I'm not dumb enough to call a timeout and let him set his defense,'' said WVU coach Gale Catlett, whose team was led by West's 15 points. ''I've got five seniors out there. They were disoriented after the score, like most teams would be, and you try to go down and get something in transition.''
Baker shoots a three with 8.7 seconds left to give UC a 74-72 lead.
(Saed Hindash photo)
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It was a wrenching defeat for the senior Bearcats, the only UC players who reached double figures.
Baker, who scored 25, sat at his locker for 45 minutes after the game, nearly speechless.
Forward Bobby Brannen, who scored 13, got nine rebounds and never left the game, sat in seclusion in the shower.
''I saw the pick coming and came out,'' said Patterson, who scored 25 in his final UC game. ''I tipped it. I had it roll off my fingertips. I jumped as high as I can, and I've got a good vertical. And it still went in.''
There were 0.8 seconds left when West's shot fell, and a few of the Mountaineers and their Mountaineer - the mascot who dresses in buckskin and carries a musket - dashed onto the floor to celebrate.
Officials chose not to call a technical foul, and UC was left with only the slimmest shot at victory. Point guard Michael Horton threw long to Martin, but he could not control the pass.
''I can't explain the hurt I feel right now,'' Baker said.
John Carson, Ryan Fletcher and Brent Petrus celebrate Baker's basket, but the celebration was short-lived.
(Saed Hindash photo)
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The Mountaineers (24-8) had never reached the NCAA Sweet 16 in 20 seasons under Catlett, but they stormed from their 10th seed in the West Regional with a pressure defense that took down both Temple and No. 2 seed UC in the space of three days.
WVU did not need to work at its press to undermine the Bearcats. When the ball did not wind up in Brannen's hands, it often found its way to the Mountaineers'.
UC committed four turnovers in its first 16 trips against the press. For the game, Horton committed eight turnovers, more than in the entire Conference USA tournament, and the Bearcats let loose 22.
''We haven't handled the ball well all year,'' Huggins said. ''We were winning games with 19, 20 turnovers. And we would have beaten a good team here with 22 if a guy doesn't bank one in.''
Turning over the ball four times in the first 16 trips against the press dropped UC into a 24-13 deficit early in the game.
After trailing by one at the half, the Bearcats regained their composure and moved in front. But they were in such a hurry to take command, they committed turnovers with no encouragement from the press.
With UC ahead and in possession of the ball after a solid defensive stand with just under 12 minutes left, Horton tried to force a pass to Patterson at the foul line. WVU's Damian Owens rushed in and swiped it, storming toward a layup that put WVU in front 49-48.
The Bearcats got the ball into Brannen the next time down, and he drew a foul from forward Brent Solheim while completing a hook shot. This three-point play was the start of a 7-2 spurt that finished with a layup by Patterson and gave UC its largest lead, 55-51.
''If we went up four, we wanted to make it eight,'' Martin said. ''We should have taken it step-by-step.''
The breakdown came at that point, and it was latently fatal. The Bearcats committed turnovers on four of their next six possessions, including two Horton bounced off his foot while challenging the press.
West Virginia led by four with 1:30 left after a foul-line jumper by Lewin that surprised the Bearcats. Baker answered with a three-pointer less than a half-minute later, and UC had a chance to take the lead after forcing a tough shot by West that flew long with 43 seconds left.
UC ran the same play that resulted in Baker's game-winning three-pointer in the first-round against Northern Arizona, and he delivered again behind Martin's screen and over the arm of Mountaineers guard Adrian Pledger. The Bearcats appeared to have added another week to their season, but it lasted only a few seconds more.
''I just hate for these guys to go out like that,'' Huggins said. ''I'd just as soon we got beat. Having Bob and Bake go out like that, a guy banks in a shot . . . ''
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Baker answers doubters
Notebook: Huggins tried to get whistle at end
WEST VIRGINIA (75)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Solheim 29 5-8 0-0 2-2 0 4 10
Owens 30 6-13 2-10 1-2 2 3 14
B Lewin 25 3-8 2-2 2-7 1 3 8
West 35 5-9 0-0 0-3 4 1 15
Pledger 26 4-10 2-2 3-4 3 2 10
Goree 25 4-4 2-2 4-9 3 3 10
Jones 23 3-10 0-1 0-0 0 1 7
Kearse 6 0-1 1-2 0-0 0 1 1
Beynon 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
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TOTALS 200 30-63 9-19 12-27 13 19 75
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Percentages: FG-.476, FT-.474. 3-Point Goals:
6-14, .429 (West 5-8, Pledger 0-1, Jones 1-5).
Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 4 (B Lewin 3,
Goree). Turnovers: 15 (Owens 5, Jones 2, Pledger
2, West 2, Beynon, Goree, Solheim). Steals: 13
(Jones 3, Owens 3, Pledger 3, West 3, Solheim).
CINCINNATI (74)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Patterson 33 9-16 7-8 4-8 3 3 25
Brannen 40 6-11 1-1 4-9 0 2 13
Martin 34 3-5 0-1 3-11 2 4 6
Baker 35 8-14 4-4 1-2 0 3 25
Horton 34 1-5 0-2 1-4 6 3 2
Levett 14 0-4 1-2 1-2 1 3 1
Fletcher 6 0-2 0-0 2-3 0 0 0
Petrus 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Myrick 3 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
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TOTALS 200 28-58 13-18 16-39 12 18 74
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Percentages: FG-.483, FT-.722. 3-Point Goals:
5-13, .385 (Patterson 0-2, Baker 5-8, Horton 0-1,
Levett 0-2). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 6
(Martin 4, Patterson, Brannen). Turnovers: 22
(Horton 8, Martin 4, Patterson 4, Baker 3,
Brannen 2). Steals: 7 (Brannen 2, Horton 2,
Patterson 2, Baker).
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West Virginia 34 41 - 75
Cincinnati 33 41 - 74
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Technical fouls: None. Officials: Larry Rose,
Stan Rote, Ed Corbett.
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