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News Nuggets, 03.13.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

C-USA Tournament semifinals roundup

In Friday's Conference USA Tournament semifinals, DePaul rallied from a big deficit to beat UAB in overtime and Cincinnati unleashed a barrage of three-pointers to brush aside Saint Louis, pitting the winners against each other for the second time in a week in today's championship game (CBS, 11:37 a.m.).

DEPAUL 75, UAB 74 (OT)

CINCINNATI — Delonte Holland glanced at the DePaul bench and decided there was no way he was going to miss a free throw.

Two shots, two perfect swishes, and the Blue Demons were headed to the Conference USA tournament title game.

Holland hit his two free throws with 5.3 seconds left in overtime, then blocked a shot to preserve a 75-74 victory over Alabama-Birmingham in the semifinals Friday.

DePaul (21-8) overcame a 16-point deficit in the second half behind Holland, who made the game's biggest plays and finished with 21 points. All of the Blue Demon's seven points in overtime came off free throws.

As he set up at the line to decide the game, Holland — an 80 percent free-throw shooter — got inspiration by looking around.

"I was just trying to keep calm," said Holland, who finished 9-of-11 from the line. "I looked at the sideline and saw everybody, the emotion. We had come so far. Being a senior, I didn't want to come this far and miss a free throw at the end."

Holland hit them both, then got down the floor and swatted away Sidney Ball's baseline jumper with 0.3 left. Ball passed to Demario Eddins for an alley-oop attempt that didn't come close at the buzzer.

"I can't believe we lost," said Blazers point guard Carldell Johnson, who had 14 points and tied the tournament record with 11 assists.

Morris Finley led the Blazers with 20 points, including a three-point play and a floating jumper that tied it at 68 at the end of regulation.

UAB (20-9) and DePaul were two of the five teams that shared the conference's regular-season championship, with the Blue Demons getting the top seed by virtue of the tiebreakers. The Blazers lost to Louisville in the tournament title game last year.

NO. 13 CINCINNATI 66, SAINT LOUIS 46

CINCINNATI — Tony Bobbitt led a 3-point blitz that carried Cincinnati to a 66-46 victory over Saint Louis in the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament Friday night.

No. 13 Cincinnati (23-6) went 5-of-6 from behind the arc during a 19-point run in the second half that sent the Bearcats to the championship game for the third time in the past four years.

Bobbitt made four 3s for a team-high 12 points, and Cincinnati went 10-of-21 from behind the arc against a packed-in defense.

The tournament is being played at a downtown arena a short drive from Cincinnati's campus. The Bearcats won the tournament in 1996, 1998 and 2002 — the last two times in the same arena.

To return to the title game, Cincinnati had to beat a team that it manhandled on Feb. 25. Saint Louis (18-12) looked intimidated, got outrebounded by 22 and lost by 25 points, a defeat so one-sided that coach Brad Soderberg compared it to boys playing against men.

He demanded a tougher showing from his team this time around, and got it. All it did was slow Cincinnati for one half.

James White and Field Williams hit consecutive 3s as Cincinnati pulled away and Saint Louis went cold early in the second half. The Billikens missed eight consecutive shots and had three turnovers, helping the Bearcats pull off their decisive 19-point spurt.

Bobbitt had consecutive 3s in the middle of it - Billikens point guard Anthony Drejaj dove all-out to try to steal one pass to him on the perimeter, but missed and landed hard on his chest, skidding across the floor as Bobbitt shot. Armein Kirkland finished the run with a jumper for a 50-30 lead.

Soderberg called a timeout to steady his team, but it was too late. Saint Louis never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way.

Hot action in Cincinnati extends to band bus

CINCINNATI — The charter bus for the University of Louisville pep band caught fire Thursday night outside U.S. Bank Arena, where the men's basketball team was playing in the Conference USA tournament.

No one was aboard the parked bus when the fire started about 8 p.m. EST and no one was injured, said District Fire Chief Steven Phillips of the Cincinnati Fire Department.

Phillips said the fire apparently was sparked by an electrical short in the engine. The bus sustained significant damage on the outside, but none on the interior, Phillips said.

The fire occurred while the Cardinals were losing in a 64-62 thriller to Cincinnati in the tournament quarterfinals.

The band and the cheerleaders used the same company, but went to Cincinnati on separate buses, sports information director Kenny Klein said Thursday night. The company sent another bus to bring the band back to Louisville.

He did not have the company's name.

Hanky-panky nets stiff discipline for BYU players

PROVO — Brigham Young kicked one player off the football team and disciplined five others Thursday for violating the school's strict honor code policy.

Three players were suspended until at least the spring semester of 2005 and two were placed on probation Thursday, school spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said.

BYU would not release any of the players' names because they had not given permission.

Police received a complaint after an off-campus party Jan. 16 from a woman who claimed to have been raped by several football players. The woman later told police the sex was consensual, but she had said she was raped because she was embarrassed and did not want to get in trouble for violating the honor code.

All BYU students pledge to live by the code, which doesn't allow alcohol or pre- or extramarital sex. Although criminal charges were never filed, the school continued the investigation because of the honor code violations.

"Serious misconduct in violation of the honor code by anyone at this university will not be tolerated," Jenkins said. "The review has been thorough. The sanctions applied have been appropriate given the circumstances."

BYU dean of students Vern Heperin had the final say in the honor code reviews Thursday. A committee investigates the initial allegations and students are allowed to appeal.

Heperin's decisions were final, Jenkins said.

Coach Gary Crowton had no comment, spokesman Jeff Reynolds said.

The Cougars open spring practice on Monday.

Big 'D' ponies up to keep Red River Shootout

DALLAS — The annual Red River Shootout between Texas and Oklahoma is staying put at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas for at least the next five years.

The schools had threatened to abandon the stadium and start rotating the game between Austin and Norman, Okla., if the State Fair of Texas, the city of Dallas and other private groups didn't come up with enough money to keep the game in Dallas.

Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said Wednesday that a five-year contract has been approved. The previous contract was to expire in 2006.

Under the new deal, the city will provide $250,000 a year for expenses and will waive the $94,000 Cotton Bowl rental fee. The deal also calls for 4,000 seats to be added to the end zones at the stadium.

The football game adds as much as $20 million to the local economy each year.

Oklahoma President David L. Boren said that while he was pleased, he considered the agreement only an interim one. He said more progress would be needed before the contract is re-evaluated over the next three to four years.

Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said there had been a "collective investment in the game and its future success."

"The improvements at the Cotton Bowl, which includes the expansion of the seating capacity, has been our top priority," he said. "The facility and its hosts must be responsive to the enormous fan interest in the game."

Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds also was pleased with the deal.

"It's a home run for the city, and it's a home run for us," Dodds said. "I like the game in Dallas. It's where it belongs."

Ticket sales from the Red River Shootout generate $1 million for each school, but the schools had asked for an additional $350,000 to cover the rising cost of insurance and travel and lodging expenses for their bands and cheerleaders who attend the game.

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News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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