Sunday, March 19, 2000
UC NOTEBOOK
Tulsa not happy with seed, either
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NASHVILLE — When Tulsa's players saw the bracket for the NCAA Tournament last Sunday, they were even less pleased to be seeded No.7 in the South Region than UC was to be No.2
“At first, we were all kind of upset,” said guard Eric Coley. “I think we came out in the tournament and proved against UNLV we weren't really a seventh seed.”
Tulsa has a right to wonder how it landed so low on the bracket, and not just because it was ranked No.18 in the final Associated Press poll.
In the 16 years of the 64-team bracket, the Golden Hurricane is only the second No.7 seed to enter the second round with 30 victories. The only other one was Bradley in 1986.
Second thoughts
A team with UC's recent tournament history is bound to be asked about whether it can get past the second round.
“Everybody's making a big deal about that,” said forward Pete Mickeal. “Which they should, because we haven't won.”
Mickeal said there is no cause for UC to look back at its recent tournament troubles. With center Kenyon Martin out, the only Bearcats player who has played on more than one team that went out in the second round is Ryan Fletcher.
“You have to forget about last year, live for the day, and that's what we're doing a good job of this week,” Mickeal said.
The Bearcats need to play more relaxed than they did in Friday's first-round win over UNC Wilmington.
“I think we'll be a little bit more relaxed, because we have a game under our belt and we know how to approach the game,” guard Steve Logan said.
See you, C-USA
Conference USA lost three of its four entrants to first-round elimination: Saint Louis, DePaul and Louisville.
With its 1-3 record in this tournament, the league now is 17-18 in the NCAAs since its first season, 1995-96.
If UC does not win today against Tulsa, Conference USA will be without a Sweet 16 team for the third consecutive season. The last to make it that far was Louisville in 1997.
Furthermore, Tulane, Marquette, North Carolina-Charlotte and South Florida all lost their first game in the NIT last week.
By the numbers
UC's record in games decided by five or fewer points is only 1-1, but Tulsa is 0-4.
• UC is 3-1 against Top 25 teams this season. Tulsa is 1-0.
• The Bearcats are 14-of-48 (29 percent) from 3-point range in their past four games.
• In the two games UC has played the majority of the time without Martin, point guard Kenny Satterfield has averaged 14 points, five assists and .500 shooting from the field.
Tournament game coverage at Cincinnati.com/madness
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