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Wednesday, March 21
Whistles worry Montgomery vs. Cincy
Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The one thing Stanford coach Mike Montgomery worries about not being able to control in the NCAA tournament is foul trouble.
The Cardinal (30-2) found out just how much they could miss one of their starters when point guard Michael McDonald sat down with four fouls in the second half against St. Joseph's.
Without McDonald to run the offense, the Hawks erased a double-digit deficit and took the lead, giving the West Regional's top-seeded team a huge scare. So desperate was Stanford that Montgomery had to put McDonald back in, and the Cardinal went on to a 90-83 second-round victory.
"We've never really not had Mike as the result of foul
trouble," Montgomery said. "Sometimes you get into circumstances
that only happen very rarely and that can be enough to skew the
outcome of a game."
Fifth-seeded Cincinnati (25-9) hopes its emphasis on defense and
rebounding will produce a victory in Thursday night's regional
semifinal that few believe the inexperienced Bearcats can pull off.
"Nobody's expecting us to win but ourselves," guard Kenny
Satterfield said. "We feel we can, in your eyes, make it an
upset."
His backcourt mate, Steve Logan, added, "The underdog is fine
with us. We don't put pressure on ourselves because we feel as
though we're a big-time team just like they are. We have to go out
there with the same intensity and the same confidence that they
have."
The job of guarding Stanford's top shooter, Casey Jacobsen, will
likely fall to Immanuel McElroy, a junior averaging seven points to
Jacobsen's 18.
"Mac is a pretty good defender, but we have to be there to stop
the twins down low. They're so tough," Logan said. "We have to go
out there and play team defense."
The twins are 7-footers Jarron and Jason Collins, who've posted
impressive numbers in Stanford's first two tournament wins. Jarron
combined for 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Jason had 47 points
and 17 rebounds in the two games.
Keeping them off the boards will be a challenge for the
Bearcats, who were outrebounded by 16 of their 34 opponents,
including three of their four Conference USA tournament games.
"They play very well together as far as playing high-low and
feeding each other in the post," Satterfield said. "If we
pressure them, it makes it real hard for them to get the ball down
low."
When the Collins twins get near the basket, they'll see B.J.
Grove, who at 6-11 is Cincinnati's tallest player, along with
reserve center Donald Little.
"I never know what to expect from them," Cincinnati coach Bob
Huggins said of his big men. "They continually surprise me. We've
got to somehow find a way to stay close on the glass."
Huggins hopes Stanford's big men are occupied helping chase
Logan and Satterfield, leaving Grove and Little free to grab some
rebounds.
Huggins sounded downright depressed when comparing his team to
Stanford. The Cardinal shoots 51 percent from the field, averages
37 rebounds, and scores 83 points a game. The Bearcats shoot 44
percent, average 35 rebounds, and average 74 points.
"Trying to figure out which hurts us the least, I haven't
figured that out yet," he said. "I'm running out of time."
These Bearcats are the youngest and least experienced players in
Huggins' 12 years at Cincinnati. But they surprised him by winning
the school's sixth Conference USA title, and reaching the final 16
for the first time in five years.
"They had opportunities where they could have settled for where
they were, and they haven't," Huggins said. "It's one thing to
talk about it, and it's another to really do it. We're not near as
athletic as what we used to be, and we're not near as skilled as
what we were the last couple of years. But they've compensated for
it by really playing very well together, very unselfishly."
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