It is Louisville's title to lose, thanks to Juan Palacios. The freshman forward banked in a 22-footer with 1:18 remaining to give his team a decisive 71-64 lead against Cincinnati Wednesday night.
No. 9 Louisville, which entered the game with a 24.5-point average margin of victory, defeated No. 18 Cincinnati — its closest rival — for the second time this season.
The shot from Palacios, who finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, came after Cincinnati guard Jihad Muhammad missed a pair of rushed three-pointers that would have cut the lead to one.
For Cincinnati, Wednesday's 77-70 loss at Freedom Hall wasted a 21-point effort from unheralded forward Eric Hicks. While frontcourt mate Jason Maxiell had a quiet nine points, Hicks carried the Bearcats on 9-for-10 shooting with eight rebounds and five blocks.
Cincinnati trailed 38-3 at halftime but took a 44-42 lead with 14:09 left in the game.
Louisville's defense, which had held opponents to 36.7 field goal percentage entering the game, was as effective as usual and limited the Bearcats to 23-for-61 (37.7 percent) from the field.
Francisco Garcia, who was named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason All-America Team Saturday, proved his worth when he drove past the Bearcats for a reverse layup to cap off a 7-0 run late in the first half. However, he fouled out with 2:51 left in the game after scoring just 11 points. Taquan Dean led the Cardinals with 19 points, connecting on five three-pointers.
Not quite North Carolina versus Duke
Charlotte suffered an embarrassing 54-51 loss at intrastate rival East Carolina on Saturday. Charlotte led for most of the game, but ECU held the 49ers scoreless in the final 6:41 of the game.
ECU center Moussa Badiane scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half comeback and broke a record as well. Badiane's three blocks set the new Conference USA career blocks record with 294, surpassing former Cincinnati standout Kenyon Martin's 292.
Charlotte's home game against Cincinnati Saturday may decide second place in C-USA. Charlotte will have had a week to prepare and think about avenging its 80-58 loss at Cincinnati on Jan. 19, so coach Bobby Lutz's squad should be a little more mentally focused this week.
Unproven Blue Demons
DePaul has effectively taken wins from the bottom feeders of C-USA so far, but its 6-2 record does not look as impressive upon a glance at the remaining schedule. Games at Charlotte, Marquette and UAB plus home games against Cincinnati and Louisville loom ahead of the Blue Demons.
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Feb. 3 2005.