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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Uconn Runs Cincy Out Of Tournament

Associated Press

Connecticut is looking more like the No. 1 team it was a month ago.

Shrugging off 15 3-pointers by Cincinnati, Connecticut sprinted and soared to a 96-91 victory to earn a trip to the West Regional semifinals this week and a possible showdown against the current No. 1, UCLA.

Donny Marshall danced down the court near the end of Saturday’s game, delighting in the last of the brilliant plays he started and Ray Allen finished.

Marshall, who scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half, seemed to be everywhere offensively and defensively. With just more than 6 minutes left, Marshall poked away the ball for a steal, then watched Allen jam an alley-oop pass from Doron Sheffer to give UConn its biggest lead of the game, 82-66.

Allen scored 24 points for Connecticut, and Sheffer added 16 points.

“We had a quick basket and steal by Ray Allen at the start of the second half, and we were off to the races,” coach Jim Calhoun said. “We were beating them down the floor.

“The kids worked their hearts out to dissect what we feared most - their halfcourt trapping defense.”

That defense didn’t work because Connecticut was too quick. Cincinnati was left to shoot from the outside. Fifteen 3-pointers were impressive, but “not when you have to put up 30 of them,” Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins said. “We didn’t get the ball in the block (inside) enough. Thirty 3s is too many.”

LaZelle Durden, who hit six 3-pointers, led Cincinnati with 25 points. Darnell Burton hit seven 3-pointers for his 21 points.

In the second half, Connecticut surged from a 44-44 tie to a 75-60 lead.

“To beat a team like Connecticut, you have stop their penetration or their transition. We didn’t do either,” said Cincinnati’s Art Long, who had 22 points and 15 rebounds. “We had a lot of intensity coming out, but it didn’t last. Connecticut just outplayed us.”

UConn 96, Cincinnati 91

CINCINNATI (22-12)

Gregor 0-1 0-0 0, Fortson 4-10 2-3 10, Long 10-17 2-2 22, LeGree 0-1 0-0 0, Durden 8-16 3-3 25, Flint 4-10 0-0 10, Burton 7-13 0-0 21, Bostic 0-1 1-2 1, Jacobs 1-2 0-0 2, Brennan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-71 8-10 91.

CONNECTICUT (27-4)

Marshall 9-14 5-6 25, Allen 9-17 3-4 24, Knight 3-4 0-0 6, Sheffer 4-9 7-9 16, Ollie 5-8 3-3 13, Willingham 0-0 0-0 0, Fair 0-1 0-0 0, King 3-4 0-0 6, Hayward 2-5 2-2 6. Totals 35-62 20-24 96.

Halftime-Connecticut 44, Cincinnati 41. 3-Point goals-Cincinnati 15-30 (Burton 7-11, Durden 6-13, Flint 2-5, Long 0-1), Connecticut 6-13 (Allen 3-6, Marshall 2-2, Sheffer 1-2, Fair 0-1, Ollie 0-2). Fouled out-Fortson, Long. Rebounds-Cincinnati 33 (Long 15), Connecticut 35 (Marshall 7). Assists-Cincinnati 22 (Flint 8), Connecticut 20 (Ollie 9). Total fouls-Cincinnati 21, Connecticut 14. Technicals-Fortson, Marshall. A-13,521.

Maryland 82, Texas 68

All-American Joe Smith, back to form after a slow start in the NCAA tourney, had 31 points, 21 rebounds and seven blocked shots as the Terrapins beat the Longhorns (23-7). Smith, who struggled through a nine-point, four-rebound night against Gonzaga in Thursday’s first round, carried Maryland past ball-hawking, pressing Texas.

Smith, in foul trouble most of the night against Gonzaga, was an impact immediately Saturday, grabbing rebounds, intimidating Longhorns shooters and scrambling after loose balls.

Texas got 15 points from senior guard Terrence Rencher and 14 each from Roderick Anderson and reserve Reggie Freeman. But the Longhorns, very much in it with a 60-60 tie and 6:27 left, missed five free throws the rest of the way to allow Maryland to pull away.

TEXAS (23-7)

Wingfield 0-3 4-4 4, Dixon 1-2 0-0 2, McIver 2-4 0-0 4, Anderson 3-19 7-9 14, Rencher 7-13 1-6 15, Alvarado 3-3 0-0 6, Perryman 1-5 0-0 3, Penders 0-1 0-2 0, Freeman 4-11 5-7 14, Gilmore 0-0 0-0 0, Simpson 3-7 0-0 6. Totals 24-68 17-28 68.

MARYLAND (26-7)

Hipp 5-11 3-5 13, Booth 5-6 2-2 12, Smith 10-17 11-16 31, Simpkins 1-2 4-8 6, Rhodes 4-11 4-6 12, Kovarik 0-0 2-2 2, Lucas 3-4 0-2 6, Bristol 0-3 0-0 0, Judd 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 26-41 82.

Halftime-Maryland 35, Texas 30. 3-Point goals-Texas 3-21 (Freeman 1-4, Perryman 1-5, Anderson 1-9, Penders 0-1, Rencher 0-2), Maryland 0-4 (Hipp 0-1, Simpkins 0-1, Bristol 0-2). Fouled out-McIver, Freeman. Rebounds-Texas 39 (Simpson 11), Maryland 47 (Smith 21). Assists-Texas 5 (Anderson 4), Maryland 17 (Rhodes 6). Total fouls-Texas 28, Maryland 22. A-13,702.

xxxx West Regional Today’s games Utah (28-5) vs. Mississippi St. (21-7) Missouri (20-8) vs. UCLA (26-2)