Wednesday, January 23, 2002
UC does it all with defense
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — UC's defense helped produce some much needed points in its 54-50 win over Saint Louis Tuesday night.
Officially, the fourth-ranked Bearcats shot 42.9 percent, but unofficially, they were much worse.
“We shot 42 percent because of our defense, because we stole the ball and shot layups,” coach Bob Huggins said. “If you take those layups away, we were abysmal.”
UC's previous scoring low was 62 points in its opener at Oklahoma State, the Bearcats' only loss. The Bearcats tied a season low with one 3-pointer in seven attempts.
UC won the game by shutting down Saint Louis at the end of each half. The Bearcats closed the first half on a 15-0 run, holding Saint Louis scoreless for the final 5:19 to turn a 23-15 deficit into a 30-23 lead.
After Josh Fisher's 3-pointer tied it at 43 with 7:03 remaining, Saint Louis didn't get another basket until it hit two in the final minute. By then, it was too late.
“I wouldn't say we hit the wall,” Saint Louis' Jason Edwin said. “They are a good defensive team that played good defense.”
Saint Louis shot only 34.5 percent, ending a seven-game home winning streak. That's a routine game for Cincinnati, which leads the nation in field-goal percentage defense.
Billikens coach Lorenzo Romar didn't mind the poor shooting as much as the lapses, especially in the first half. Saint Louis led 20-11 and 23-15 before faltering.
“We had the momentum. We had everything going in our favor,” Romar said. “For three minutes, we just had a mental lapse that maybe cost us the game.”
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UC does it all with defense
