The streamers showered down from the ceiling of the Bradley Center, blue and gold and silver streamers of celebration. Then, suddenly, as if conjured up by a genie, a raucous crowd surrounded the Marquette basketball team, and together they stood bouncing, bouncing, bouncing at half-court.
His head bent, Cincinnati guard Tony Bobbitt skirted the circle and headed toward his team’s locker room. A gold streamer landed on his shoulder. Immediately, as if it burned, he grabbed it and threw it aside.
Through the seven previous years of Conference USA’s existence, it was the Bearcats who had won the regular-season title and enjoyed just these kinds of celebrations. But on this Saturday afternoon, they were rudely shoved from their throne by Marquette (23-4, 14-2), which took that title outright with a grinding 70-61 win over Cincinnati (17-10, 9-7).
It was a triumph that was another showcase for the player-of-the-year candidacy of Dwyane Wade, the Golden Eagles star who notched 26 points and 10 rebounds, with five assists, three blocks and three steals.
Senior center Robert Jackson chipped in 17 points and nine rebounds, and sophomore forward Todd Townsend limited Bearcats star Leonard Stokes to 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
“It’s frustrating to have this happen as a senior,” Stokes said after Marquette’s coup was official. “But there’s nothing we can do about it now. They played well the whole season. They deserve it.”
Wade said the victory was “very sweet. What made it sweet was we beat the team that won it seven years in a row. They came to our house and we beat them.”
Cincinnati freshman guard Armein Kirkland said he hadn’t been used to ending the season as a conference champion.
“But for the rest of the guys and the coaching staff, they’re in shock,” he said. “It’s a surprise. They never experienced this before.”
Marquette coach Tom Crean called the victory “an incredible feeling” and then abdicated the postgame spotlight to his assistants.
“It’s really special,” said his special assistant, Trey Schwab, who has a rare disease and is awaiting a lung transplant. “A year and a half ago [when his disease was discovered], I didn’t know if I’d even be here, from what they told me.
“To be able to come to work each day,” he said, his voice cracking, “that’s so special.”
The day began with Marquette facing the prospect of having to share the title with Memphis, and with Cincinnati intent on making that happen.
These Bearcats, unlike their intimidating predecessors, lack a powerful inside game, yet they hit enough threes to rush off to an early 20-11 lead.
They were still up by four at halftime, but then their jump-shooting went sour. The Bearcats hit only 1-of-7 attempts through a four-minute stretch early in the second half, and along the way they also missed four consecutive free throws.
“They’re a Top 5 team in the country. You can’t beat a Top 5 team if you don’t make free throws or open threes,” Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins fumed. “When you miss four consecutive free throws, that’s demoralizing. They’re free! Then we don’t have anyone we can throw it into for a basket. They have three guys.”
Marquette has Jackson, Scott Merritt (12 points) and especially Wade, who took over as the Bearcats stumbled. He delivered three free throws, a dunk and a layup that pushed his team to a 45-39 lead at 12:50, and the Golden Eagles were never again truly threatened.
They simply kept Cincinnati from from getting any closer than three. Then they enjoyed a celebration that went on for 40 minutes.
