Wrestling Report

By Rohith Nandagiri
Sports Editor

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- If UH hopes to extend its season past today, it must beat a respectable UNC Charlotte team in the first round of the Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament.

The No. 12-seeded Cougars will take on the No. 5 UNC Charlotte 49ers today at 2:30 p.m. in Birmingham, Ala.

The Cougars come into post-season play having lost their last two games by a total of five points. UH head coach Clyde Drexler said it was a bad way to end the season. "It was a letdown because we were playing well and we didn't make the plays to win."

UNC Charlotte has a solid player in senior forward Galen Young, who was named to the first all-conference team Monday after averaging 14.7 points per game and completing six rebounds.

In the backcourt for the 49ers, Diego Gueverra has come on strong lately. UNC Charlotte head coach Bobby Luts, who is coaching in his first tournament, is happy with Gueverra's progress. "Diego is playing a lot better now. At the beginning of the season, he was shooting too much and not taking good shots. Now he is taking less shots and making more of them."

Gee Gervin (first team, all-conference) and Kenny Younger (third team) will have to attack the basket early and often for the Cougars to win. Tandem efforts need to go smoothly, and an increase in successful shots from the outside will help rack up the points.

A higher success rate for free-throws also would be helpful. The Cougars missed several free throws in their Saturday night game against Marquette, coming up short because of it. Younger missed six free throws, including one with zero time remaining that could have sent the game into overtime.

The Cougars need to score more than 75 percent of their free throws and keep 49er forward Kelvin Price off the glass. The 49ers have a very high rebound rate, being bested only six times all season.

Since the Cougars lack a dominant low-post scoring threat, they will need to be hot from beyond the arc. Treva Crosby has not shown the consistency with his perimeter shooting that he displayed his freshman year. That leaves the burden of scoring to Younger and Gervin.

The Cougars have been successful this season when one of their role players has had a huge offensive performance. Torrence Botts and Chad Hendrick could certainly enhance the Cougars' chances for victory with an accurate shooting performance.

The game will be broadcast at 2 p.m. on 740 KTRH, and will be televised as part of ESPN's regional basketball coverage on Channel 55 "The Tube" in Houston.