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Bearcats broken No. 1 Cincy loses game, star Martin
Posted: Thursday March 09, 2000 08:22 PM
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Kenyon Martin knew his season was over before he hit the floor. Cincinnati's star player, perhaps the best in college basketball, was setting a screen in the opening minutes of Cincinnati's Conference USA tournament opener Thursday when he bumped into Saint Louis' Justin Love. Martin's ankle turned underneath him as he fell, breaking his right fibula and ripping several ligaments. Gone in that instant -- his dreams of leading top-ranked Cincinnati to its first national championship since the 1960s and the days of Oscar Robertson.
"I didn't have any control over it," Martin said quietly after Cincinnati's 68-58 loss to Saint Louis. Sitting in a wheelchair with his foot in a cast, Martin said he told Dr. Angelo Colosimo that his leg was broken as soon as the doctor came onto the floor. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Martin was selected the Conference USA player of the year Wednesday, and is the favorite for national player of the year honors. He led the conference with 19.5 points and 10 rebounds a game. He also had the top field-goal percentage (57 percent) and is the career blocked shots leader for both Cincinnati and Conference USA with 292. He set the single-season mark with 107. With Martin, Cincinnati set a regular-season record with 28 victories. The Bearcats also had the first undefeated record in conference play at 16-0. Martin will play again. Colosimo said doctors will insert a screw into Martin's ankle, and that he should be able to starting running again in eight weeks. That won't be soon enough for the Bearcats, who had been looking for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. "This was their chance," coach Bob Huggins said. "You just have very few chances I think in life to be special, and we've gone through a lot." Huggins said his Bearcats will regroup, and other players will have to work to replace Martin. Senior Ryan Fletcher said it won't be easy. "One person isn't going to be able to be Kenyon Martin. But together we can all contribute what he brought to us," Fletcher said. Martin, who returned to The Pyramid late in the game to cheer his teammates, thinks the Bearcats still have a chance at winning a national title. The forward, who hasn't missed a game since he was a freshman, plans to be with them every step even if he has to pay his own way. "I've been here since day one. I just can't suit up. I can't get on the court," he said. "I can still get a ring. I can still get a banner. I just can't
play."
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