Tuesday, February 01, 2000
CONFERENCE-USA NOTEBOOK
Conference's scheduling has UL's Crum bummed
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
From the moment the Cincinnati Bearcats complete their game Thursday night against UNC Charlotte, they will have about 38 hours to prepare themselves to face UAB. Louisville coach Denny Crum thinks this is grossly unfair, although he's not so much concerned about the Bearcats as he is about his team, which was placed in similar circumstances the past two weeks.
“A day-and-a-half turnaround time is not the best way to have your team be competitive,” Crum said. “I think there needs to be some kind of adjustment in the conference scheduling.”
These sorts of conflicts develop because of C-USA's TV contract and also because many of its teams do not own the arenas that serve as their homecourts.
Conference USA has a more-or-less regular date for an ESPN telecast on Thursdays at 9 p.m. Louisville was involved in the last two, and followed its win against DePaul with a 5p.m. tipoff at home against UNC Charlotte and its loss to UC with a trip to Saint Louis for a 1p.m. game.
In both sequences, the Cardinals lost the second game. In both, their opponent had Thursday off after playing Wednesday.
“If your team is overwhelmingly talented, maybe you can deal with it,” Crum said. “Somewhere down the line, scheduling equity has got to be a priority. It puts your team at a real disadvantage.”
WIPED OUT: When Mar quette guard Brian Wardle walked into the Halton Arena on Saturday afternoon, he was averaging 18.2 points per game. When he walked out, his average was down to 17.3.
He was shut out by UNC Charlotte's James Zimmerman and Dalonte Hill, who shared the defensive responsibility. Eight shots, no baskets, no points. Marquette lost its third in a row, 60-54.
“We told those two guys don't worry if you don't score a point all day, just guard Brian Wardle,” said UNCC coach Bobby Lutz. “We felt that risk was worth it to try to do a job on Wardle.”
Hill and Zimmerman combined for 10 points and 4-of-11 shooting, but getting nothing from their leading scorer doomed the Golden Eagles.
FOUL PLAY? In conference games played at the Shoemaker Center, UC is averaging 17 more free throws than its opponents. In conference games played on the road, UC is averaging six more.
This is not pleasing to coaches visiting the Shoe. Two days before his Bulls shot just 16 free throws to UC's 38 in an 89-72 loss Saturday, South Florida coach Seth Greenberg said this about the result:
“It's kind of hard to win a game when they go to the free throw line twice as much and one of their guys goes to the line more times than your entire team.”
UC's Pete Mickeal had a career-high 17 attempts against USF and made a career-best 11.
EASY BEING GREEN: When Tulane followed a 9-1 non-conference season with three consecutive Conference USA defeats, it appeared the Green Wave was on the way to wasting an excellent start.
Since dropping a 72-59 decision to UC, Tulane has won five in a row and is the only other C-USA team besides the Bearcats that appears to be an NCAA Tournament lock.
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