Monday, March 20, 2000
Tulsa's Coley torments Bearcats
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The mind games between Cincinnati and Tulsa began before Sunday's matchup.
“It all started when we were out there warming up and they came out and took the balls from us and told us to go to the other end and shoot,” Tulsa forward Eric Coley said of the Bearcats. “We haven't been afraid of anybody all year, and they came out there and tried to intimidate us because we were from the Midwest and we couldn't play, because they hadn't heard about us.”
It all started at Saturday's news conference. When Cincinnati forward Pete Mickeal tried to pronounce Coley's name, it came out, “Conley, Cooley, whatever.”
Coley, who scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in Tulsa's 69-61 victory Sunday, got the last word.
“When I was told that yesterday, I took that as a kind of slap in the face,” Coley said. “That just added fuel to our fire. I heard they didn't know Tulsa was in Oklahoma. We've been in the Top 25 all year long. I think after today they know how to pronounce the name and they know where Tulsa is from.”
Coley, who came into the game with 115 steals, had four more Sunday, and the first one was a strip of Mickeal.
“That was all for him calling me "Conley,'” Coley said.
Later, Mickeal fouled Coley near half-court and the two stared at each other until, Coley said, Mickeal turned away: “I felt the battle was won right there.”
But Mickeal wasn't backing down after the loss: “It seemed like they were scared. They couldn't believe they was up by that many (16) points.”
Coley infuriated the Bearcats. When Coley dunked off a fast break to give Tulsa a 15-7 lead, UC forward Jermaine Tate didn't like the way he hung on the rim. So Tate pushed the ball in Coley's face as Coley started to run downcourt. That got Tate a technical foul that resulted in two Tulsa free throws.
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