Terriers To Face Top-Seeded Cincinnati In NCAA First Round
March 10, 2002 | Men's Basketball
BOSTON - Fresh off its dominating win over Maine in the America East championship game, the Boston University men's basketball team found out who it will play in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night. The 16th-seeded Terriers will travel to Pittsburgh to play Cincinnati, the top seed in the West Region and this season's Conference USA Tournament champions.
The Terriers and Bearcats will meet each other on Friday, March 15 at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. Tipoff is set for 7:40 p.m. EST.
The winner of the game will move on the face the winner of the N. 8 UCLA - No. 9 Mississippi contest.
The Terriers (22-9) earned an invitation to the NCAA Tournament by defeating Maine, 66-40, in the America East Championship on Saturday. Cincinnati (30-3) is ranked fifth in the country in both the ESPN and Associated Press national polls. The Bearcats, the top seed in the Conference USA tournament, were 77-63 winners over Marquette in the title game.
It may turn into a defensive battle, as Cincinnati is the number one team in the country in field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot 37.4 percent. B. U. is just as tough, ranking fifth in the same category at 38.5 percent.
For the Terriers, the NCAA Tournament appearance marks the sixth in the program's history. They last made a trip to the tournament in 1997, losing to Tulsa, 81-52, in the first round.
B. U. and Cincinnati have met twice. The two teams split meetings during the 1980-81 and 1981-82 seasons. The Terriers lost in Cincinnati, 102-82, on Jan. 12, 1981. The Bearcats fell, 52-50, in an overtime game at Case Gym on Feb. 6, 1982.
