Students camped out for tickets for the final Conference USA match-up between would-be rivals (at least, Charlotte fans think so) Charlotte and Cincinnati. In one of the best games of the C-USA season, Eddie Basden and Brendan Plavich were heroes in Charlotte's 91-90 home triumph Saturday.
Basden, the senior forward who rebounded from a two-point performance in last week's loss at East Carolina, pulled the strings for Charlotte on both ends. His steal and fast-break dunk early in the second half sparked an 8-2 run that gave Charlotte its biggest lead (66-61) at that point.
Basden hustled his way to five offensive rebounds against an imposing Bearcat frontcourt and contributed to Charlotte's 43-34 edge on the boards. He finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Plavich merely drained 8-of-17 three-pointers and scored a game-high 26 points.
Forward Curtis Withers still leads Charlotte in scoring at 14.9 ppg, but he has been conspicuously anonymous in the big games this year. He shot just 2-for-10 from the field at UAB, 3-for-13 at Cincinnati and 3-for-8 Saturday.
Armein Kirkland, who had drained a running three-pointer at the end of the first half to give the Bearcats a 51-47 lead, missed a 15-footer as time expired.
Cincinnati opened the game 13-for-19 from the field and led 32-27 before 10 minutes were up. Forwards Eric Hicks and Jason Maxiell dominated the low post with 20 and 17 points, respectively. Forward James White, whose three-pointer tied the game at 89 with 1:55 left, finished with 18 points and six assists.
Cincinnati awaits an always dicey game against intrastate rival Xavier on Thursday.
Garcia's wingspan are where game-tying shots go to die
The two highest scoring teams in the conference squared off Saturday night, and a defensive play, fittingly, decided the outcome.
Louisville's Francisco Garcia blocked a shot from Alabama-Birmingham forward Demario Eddins that would have tied the game with eight seconds remaining. Garcia's intervention sealed a 77-73 victory in front of a record crowd (9,354) at Bartow Arena in Birmingham.
A high-octane opening period gave way to a scrappy second half, but Louisville always seemed in control of UAB's relentless pressure defense. The Cardinals committed only 14 turnovers against the team that leads the nation in steals.
Larry O'Bannon, who had his best game since he torched Marquette with 30 points Jan. 26, led Louisville with 21 points, and Garcia added 19. UAB's Eddins contributed 18 points, including a basket that tied the score at 73 with 59 seconds left.
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Feb. 8 2005.