BYU-Cincinnati Preview
March 13, 2001 GAME: No. 12 BYU (24-8) vs. No. 5 Cincinnati (23-9). Cincinnati tries to prove worthy of its unexpectedly high seed as itplaysBYU in the first round of the West Regional. While the Bearcats (23-9) are making their 10th consecutive NCAAtournamentappearance, the fifth seed awarded to them by the selection committee was aslight surprise. Cincinnati had not been ranked in the AP Top 25 since Jan.8and won the American Division title in what was a down year for ConferenceUSA,which sent only two teams to the field of 65. The Bearcats lost 80-72 to Charlotte in the conference tournament titlegame. "I've been trying to tell people that with all of the upsets, thatwouldpush us up, and it did," Bearcats coach Bob Huggins said. "I thought we'd bea five, no lower than a six, but I've been wrong every year. It's nice to beright for once." While the Bearcats are led offensively by the backcourt combination ofSteveLogan and Kenny Satterfield - who combined to make 117 3-pointers - much oftheattention may fall upon small forward Immanuel McElroy. The best defensiveplayer on the team, McElroy likely will draw the assignment of stoppingCougarsforward Mekeli Wesley, the Mountain West Conference player of the year. BYU (24-8) is making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since1995after winning the Mountain West Conference at Las Vegas. While the Cougarsalsoboast a strong backcourt in Trent Whiting and Terrell Lyday, Wesley is theplayer who gives them a needed scorer in the frontcourt. Wesley, one of the first recruits brought in by coach Steve Cleveland,scored 21 of his 30 points in the second half as BYU downed New Mexico 69-65inthe conference championship game Saturday. Lyday also carried the load inthefirst two games of the MWC tournament, scoring 57 points. "It's a work in progress," said Wesley, who at one point scored 15straight points for the Cougars in the second half Saturday. "The programhascome a long way since going 1-25 (in 1997). It's hard to imagine ..." The Cougars lead the nation in foul shooting accuracy at 77.7 percent. BYU has won both games between the schools, with the most recentmeetingcoming in the Jayhawk Classic at Kansas in the 1971-72 season. PROBABLE STARTERS: BYU - F Wesley (16.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg), F Eric Nielsen(6.4ppg, 4.0 rpg), G Whiting (14.3 ppg, 2.4 apg), G Lyday (16.5 ppg, 2.0 apg), GMatt Montague (2.2 ppg, 2.9 apg). Cincinnati - F McElroy (7.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg),FB.J. Grove (3.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg), F Jamaal Davis (6.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg), G Logan(17.8ppg, 2.3 apg), G Satterfield (14.3 ppg, 5.0 apg). HOW THEY GOT HERE: BYU - Automatic bid, Mountain West Conferencetournamentchampion. Cincinnati - At-large bid, Conference USA. ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: BYU - 11-21, 18 years. Cincinnati - 35-18,19 |
