UC fans work up a pre-game frenzy. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        The Shootout has become arguably Cincinnati's toughest ticket. Scalpers were lined up and down Martin Luther King Drive in Clifton, some as far west as Central Parkway, a mile away.

        Seats with a $15 face value were selling for between $100 and $300.

        “I sold 150 tickets of those lower-level seats today for $300 apiece,” scalper Johnny Liver Jr. said. “I just sold my last ones, and it's still 45 minutes until game time.”

Talkin' hoops
        The only noise more incessant than the din from the sellout crowd of 13,176 was the jabbering Xavier and Cincinnati players directed at each other.

        “Of course. Always. No matter what game it is,” UC center Kenyon Martin said of the “trash talking.” He added, “But I think there was a little more this game. You have to take it in stride and be a man about it. You talk, they talk.”

Popular spot
        UC issued 191 media credentials for the game. Tom Hathaway, longtime sports information director, said he doesn't keep track of such things but that it's probably the most ever.

Tennessee pride
        A recruiting source in Tennessee tipped off UC to the availability of a promising 6-9 wing forward, Marcus Haislip, who is averaging 28 points for Marshall County High in Lewisburg, Tenn.

        Haislip achieved a qualifying test score and is being hotly pursued by Penn State and Memphis.

        The Bearcats do not have a scholarship available and are most interested in signing 6-9 DerMarr Johnson of Maine Central Institute if they do add another player.

Up next
        Xavier plays at Dayton at noon Saturday. Cincinnati plays host to Alabama-Birmingham at 1 p.m. Saturday.

GAME STORY
Box score
Shootout best game in town
Martin, Horton key UC
Guards kept XU kicking
Logan large for UC
CROSSTOWN NOTEBOOK
ESPN barely gets the tip of Shootout