PITTSBURGH (AP) � Duke vs. Winthrop might not have been the biggest
mismatch of the NCAA tournament after all. How about Steve Logan vs. Boston
University?
Logan put on a dazzling display of shooting and playmaking while
outscoring Boston U. by himself until well into the second half, leading
top-seeded Cincinnati to an oh-so-easy 90-52 victory Friday night in a
first-round West Regional game.
It was a typical No. 1 vs. No. 16 romp, with the only question being
whether Logan would score more points than the Terriers (22-10). He didn't,
settling for 27 before leaving with 7:27 remaining after scoring only four
in the second half.
It was Bearcats coach Bob Huggins' 500th career victory � he is 500-171
at Walsh, Akron and Cincinnati � and few were as easy as this one.
``I didn't know if I would last this long,'' said Huggins, the 95th
Division I coach to reach 500 victories. ``You didn't see how bad some of
those teams at Walsh were.''
Logan, the All-American guard, had been in a shooting slump, but all that
ended during a remarkable burst late in the first half that turned an
already one-sided Cincinnati advantage into an almost embarrassingly big
lead.
With the Bearcats (31-3) up 23-8, he began what might be called Logan's
run with a long 3-pointer, the first of seven consecutive shots he would
hit. Four were 3-pointers, each of them longer than the last.
``I've been shooting it well in practice, so when I got in the game, I
just had to focus,'' Logan said.
For a while, it seemed like he wouldn't miss � and a frustrated BU coach
Dennis Wolff wondered what could possibly be done to throw Logan off.
``He was making some NBA 3-pointers and, on a number of them, he was
closely guarded,'' Wolff said. ``It wasn't like he was standing there wide
open.''
Logan, too quick and too strong to be guarded by a BU backcourt that
seemed to be playing in slow motion, went on to score 11 consecutive points
during a 24-3 Bearcats run. That streak ended when Logan threw a perfectly
timed over-the-rim pass to Immanuel McElroy for a dunk.
Still, Logan wasn't done, hitting three more long jumpers to make it
43-16 at the half. The more compelling halftime score, though, was Logan 23,
BU 16, and the Terriers didn't overtake Logan until there were 13{ minutes
remaining.
``He made a lot of long 3s, and you couldn't do anything about that,''
said Chaz Carr, who guarded Logan.
Cincinnati's excellent shooting � it shot 53.1 percent despite playing
substitutes most of the final 10 minutes � didn't surprise Huggins.
``We've been shooting well in practice, and I expected us to shoot well
during the game. We know what time it is � that it's one and out,'' he said.
Logan, the No. 2 career scorer at Cincinnati to Oscar Robertson, seemed
ready to threaten his career high of 41 set Feb. 15 against Southern
Mississippi. But he settled into a playmaker's role in the second half as
the Bearcats did little more than work on their outside shooting for
Sunday's second-round game against UCLA.
It was just the start Logan wanted in NCAA play after shooting only
9-for-38 from 3-point range in his previous seven games. He went 10-of-15
overall and 4-of-9 on 3-pointers in 27 minutes.
But it certainly wasn't what BU wanted after winning nine in a row, only
to be dealt its most lopsided loss since a 73-42 defeat to Drexel in 1997.
The Terriers missed their first 13 shots while falling behind 14-2 and
didn't make a field goal until Rashad Bell's layup with 11:21 left in the
half. Bell finished with 16 points.
``It was very discouraging,'' Boston U.'s Billy Collins said. ``We wanted
to come out and play well. But we were rushing our shots and not setting up
plays, and that put us in a hole.''
Field Williams added 16 points, and McElroy had 11 for Cincinnati,
playing in its 11th consecutive NCAA tournament.
If Cincinnati didn't deserve a No. 1 seeding, as some argued last
weekend, Wolff doesn't want to see a team that does.
``They're difficult to defend, especially Logan,'' Wolff said, ``and
that's what's going to keep them alive in this tournament.''
