From the Conference USA website

Louisville's Francisco Garcia was named the Conference USA Men's Basketball
Player of the Week after leading the 25th-ranked Cardinals to home wins over
Seton Hall and No. 1 Florida. The last time a C-USA school upended the country's
top-ranked team was Nov. 28, 1998, when Cincinnati defeated then-No. 1 Duke,
77-75, in the Great Alaska Shootout. Louisville's victory also marked head coach
Rick Pitino's 400th career win as a collegiate mentor. Charlotte's Bobby Lutz is
one victory shy of his 100th triumph at the school following the 49ers' 85-64
win over Appalachian State on Saturday. Read about this and more in the C-USA
Men's Basketball Notebook.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Louisville forward FRANCISCO GARCIA has been named the Conference USA Men's
Basketball Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 14.

Francisco Garcia, Louisville
F, 6-7, So., Bronx, N.Y.

Garcia helped 25th-ranked Louisville to a pair of home victories last week,
including a 73-65 win over No. 1 Florida on Saturday in the Billy Minardi
Classic. The sophomore was named the Most Outstanding Player for the event,
which is played to honor U of L head coach Rick Pitino's brother-in-law who died
in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. He tallied 21
points, five rebounds, four assists and a career-high four steals against the
Gators. Garcia open the week by matching his career-high with a 24-point effort
in an 80-71 defeat of Seton Hall on Dec. 10. He played both games last week
after learning of the death of his younger brother, Hector Lopez, in New York
City last Monday. Garcia was also named The Sporting News National Player of the
Week.

PITINO GETS CAREER WIN 400
Louisville head coach RICK PITINO earned his 400 career victory with the
Cardinals' 73-65 win over top-ranked Florida on Saturday. He has won 64 percent
or better of his games at Boston University (91-51, .641), Providence (42-23,
.646), Kentucky (219-50, .814) and U of L (48-21, .696). Pitino owns a career
winning percentage of .734 (400-145) in 18 seasons.

Last year, he became the fourth coach in history to take four different schools
to the NCAA Tournament, joining Eddie Sutton, Lefty Driesell and Jim Harrick.
Pitino previously advanced teams from Boston University, Providence and Kentucky
to the NCAA's.

Coach Schools In the NCAA Tournament
Rick Pitino Boston Univ., Providence, Kentucky*, Louisville
Eddie Sutton Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State
Lefty Driesell Davidson, Maryland, James Madison, Georgia State
Jim Harrick Pepperdine, UCLA^, Rhode Island, Georgia

*Won the 1996 national championship
^Won the 1995 national championship

FRIENDLY FOES
Louisville head coach RICK PITINO is 2-0 this season when facing a former
assistant coach or player. Pitino's Cardinals defeated his former player and
protégé Billy Donovan, now head coach at top-ranked Florida, 73-65, in the Billy
Minardi Classic at Freedom Hall.

Pitino also faces former assistants Tubby Smith and Mick Cronin, head coaches at
No. 2 Kentucky and Murray State, respectively. The Cardinals and Wildcats square
off in their annual meeting on Dec. 27 in Lexington, then Louisville hosts the
Racers on Jan. 3.

Pitino's Cardinals defeated Holy Cross, 56-40, on Dec. 7. The Crusaders are
coached by Ralph Willard, the father of current U of L assistant KEVIN WILLARD,
who assisted Pitino at Kentucky

DE PAUL HONORS RAY AND MARGE MEYER
At halftime of DePaul's home game on Sunday versus Notre Dame, the Blue Demon
family honored two of its most-beloved members by naming their home court at
Allstate Arena for legendary coach Ray Meyer and his late wife Marge.

A 1979 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Meyer spent 42 years at the
helm of the DePaul basketball program, amassing a record of 724-354 (.671). His
724 wins ranks 11th on the all-time list. Meyer's teams made 13 trips to the
NCAA Tournament and seven to the NIT. His 1943 and 1979 squads advanced to the
Final Four. The 1945 team, Meyer's first at DePaul, which featured fellow Hall
of Famer George Mikan as player, won the NIT crown.

Meyer is a 1938 graduate of Notre Dame.

WORKIN' OVERTIME
Conference USA teams are 1-1 in overtime contests this year. Charlotte defeated
Old Dominion, 105-102, in double overtime on Dec. 6, while Louisville fell to
Iowa, 70-69, in overtime in the Cardinals' season opener at the Wooden Tradition
on Nov. 29.

Date Team Opponent Score Site
12/6 Charlotte Old Dominion W, 105-102 A
11/29 Louisville Iowa L, 70-69 N

COACHING MILESTONES
Charlotte's BOBBY LUTZ is one win shy of his 100th victory as the mentor of the
49er program and 280th as a collegiate head coach. In six seasons at Charlotte,
Lutz is 99-68 (.593) and 279-159 (.637) in his 15-year career. When he hits the
century mark, Lutz will join Jeff Mullins as the only coaches with 100 victories
on the 49ers bench. Mullins was 182-142 (.562) in 11 seasons at Charlotte, the
most wins by a 49er mentor.

Marquette head coach TOM CREAN needs one victory to reach his 90th at the school
and 11 to reach his 100th. Crean is 89-42 (.679) in five seasons with the Golden
Eagles. He would become the fifth coach in the program's history to reach the
100-win plateau.

QUOTABLES:
Check out what's being said around Conference USA:

Charlotte head coach BOBBY LUTZ on his 49ers making a statement and using their
size in Charlotte's 85-64 victory over Appalachian State on Saturday: "We wanted
to make a statement that this is a different year. Our size was something we
wanted to take advantage of. We felt if we didn't turn it over, we could do
that."

Former DePaul coach and Hall of Fame member RAY MEYER on having the Blue Demons'
court at Allstate Arena named for he and his late wife, Marge, on Sunday: "Today
is one of the highlights of my career, no question about it. I have been looking
forward to today since I first heard about it. I am proud of the honor bestowed
upon Marge and myself. I'm glad it's over, it was overwhelming with all the
fans. DePaul will have their day again, just give them some time, they will come
around with the talent they have on this team."

Louisville head coach RICK PITINO on his team's 73-65 win over No. 1 Florida in
second annual Billy Minardi (named for Pitino's brother-in-law that died in the
Sept. 11 attacks): "It was a great win for our program. My brother-in-law (Billy
Minardi) and Francisco's brother are smiling somewhere because we got a great
victory and my brother-in-law loved Billy Donovan. We were playing so hard
defensively but when you see teams miss free throws, they are fatigued. We
wanted to press effectively without fouling. They are an excellent ball club."

Pitino on forward FRANCISCO GARCIA playing in two games after learning of his
(Garcia) brother's death and then attending he funeral in New York last week:
"When we played Seton Hall, we didn't know. When he traveled to New York, he
didn't know there was going to be a wake and a funeral. The next day he couldn't
come out for practice. I told him to sit out the next game. About 20 minutes
later he said he wanted to play."

TCU head coach NEIL DOUGHERTY on his team building confidence after defeating
North Texas, 62-58, on Saturday: "We needed to prove that we could win a game
like this. Our kids have played so hard all year and this will go a long way for
their confidence levels."

DID YOU KNOW?
Prior to Louisville's 73-65 win over No. 1 Florida last Saturday, the last time
a Conference USA team defeated the top-ranked team was in 1998. Cincinnati
upended then-No. 1 Duke, 77-75, on Nov. 28, at the Great Alaska Shootout.

The last time that Louisville knocked off the top team in the country was 1986,
when the Cardinals defeated the Blue Devils, 72-69, to win the national
championship.

AROUND C-USA


CHARLOTTE (6-2, 0-0): Charlotte posted an 85-64 win over Appalachian State last
Saturday for its sixth victory of the season. KEVIN "BUTTER" JOHNSON led the
49ers in scoring for the first time this season with 16 points. Johnson is the
top shooter in C-USA, hitting 76 percent of his attempts from the floor. CURTIS
WITHERS and MARTIN ITI registered identical double-doubles with 15 points and 10
rebounds each. It was Withers fourth double-double effort and the first for Iti,
with both outputs being career bests. Charlotte also won the battle on the
boards, outrebounding the Mountaineers, 50-34. The 49ers will have the week off
for exams before the court at Rhode Island on Dec. 23.

CINCINNATI (4-0, 0-0): No. 17 Cincinnati improved to 4-0 on the season with a
68-49 road win at Valparaiso on Tuesday. It was UC's first road victory of the
year. JASON MAXIELL led all scorers and rebounders with his second double-double
of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds. TONY BOBBITT came off the bench to
add 15 and FIELD WILLIAMS chipped in 14, pushing him over the 700-point plateau
for his career. Williams also grabbed a career-high nine boards. KAREEM JOHNSON
posted a career-best 10 rebounds. The Bearcats now have a break before taking on
Clemson at home on Wednesday.

DE PAUL (5-2, 0-0): DePaul fell to visiting Notre Dame, 82-69, on Sunday. The
Blue Demons and Irish played in front of 14,198 fans, the largest crowd for a
DePaul game since February 10, 2001 when 12,236 turned out to see UCLA. The
tandem of DELONTE HOLLAND and ANDRE BROWN combined for 55 points. Holland, the
league's leading scorer averaging 20.6 points per game, tallied 23, while Brown
had 22 and added 11 rebounds for his league-best sixth double-double of the year
and the 23rd of his career, tops among active C-USA players. The Blue Demons are
off until Saturday when they host Toledo.

EAST CAROLINA (4-1, 0-0): East Carolina improved to 4-0 at home and 4-1 overall
with an 86-53 win on Wednesday. The Pirates had six players score in double
figures led by 15 points from MOUSSA BADIANE and DERRICK WILEY. Badiane also
collected his second double-double of the year by grabbing 11 rebounds. Freshman
MIKE COOK scored a career-high 13 points off the bench, while JAPHET McNEIL,
GABRIEL MIKULAS, and ERROYL BING each contributed 10 points. Mikulas became the
21st player in ECU history to eclipse 1,000 career points. East Carolina returns
to action on Friday when it takes on Gardner-Webb at home.

HOUSTON (1-3 0-0): Houston fell to UTEP, 88-61, in its first road test of the
season on Monday. BYRAN SHELTON came off the bench to score a career and
team-high 16 points to lead the Cougars. ANDRE OWENS added 13 points. ANDREW
FRANCIS pulled down eight rebounds, tying him for game-high honors.
Houston hosts Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday.

LOUISVILLE (4-1, 0-0): No. 25 Louisville upended top-ranked Florida, 73-65, in
Billy Minardi Classic at home on Saturday led by 21 points from FRANCISCO
GARCIA. The sophomore was named the Most Outstanding Player of the event, which
honors the brother-in-law of U of L head coach RICK PITINO who died in the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Garcia was playing his second
game of the week after learning of the death of his younger brother last Monday.
TAQUAN DEAN added 14 points. It was career win 400 for Pitino and ran his
Cardinals win streak to four since losing their season opener. Louisville
entertains Austin Peay on Saturday.

MARQUETTE (6-1, 0-0): No. 21 Marquette suffered its first setback of the season
at No. 9 Arizona, falling 85-75, on Saturday. TRAVIS DIENER and STEVE NOVAK each
scored 21 points. Diener had 10 assists to give him his first double-double of
the year and the fourth of his career. The junior guard also did not commit a
turnover in the contest, the 27th time he has accomplished this feat. Novak hit
a career-high six three-pointers. SCOTT MERRITT also scored in double figures,
notching 10. In the loss to the Wildcats, the Golden Eagles connected on a
team-high 12 treys. Marquette hosts Canisius on Monday at the Bradley Center,
where the Golden Eagles are 35-1 in their last 36 games.

MEMPHIS (4-2, 0-0): Memphis dropped a 74-64 road decision at No. 14 Illinois on
Saturday. Both Tiger losses this season have come at the hands of ranked
opponents. Memphis opened the year with an 85-76 setback to then 20th-ranked
Wake Forest. RODNEY CARNEY led the Tiger efforts with 18 points, while ANTONIO
BURKS added 16. Memphis entertains Belmont on Wednesday.

SAINT LOUIS (3-3, 0-0): Saint Louis fell at 10th-ranked Georgia Tech, 75-62, on
Saturday. It was the Billikens' second straight loss to a ranked foe (SLU lost
to No. 9 Arizona, 68-67, on Dec. 6). JOSH FISHER led Saint Louis with a
team-best 14 points, while REGGIE BRYANT chipped in 14 and TOM FRERICKS added 10
points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. The Billikens will try to snap
their three-game slide on Wednesday when they host Grambling.

USF (3-3, 0-0): USF suffered its third straight loss and its first home defeat,
70-58, to Richmond on Saturday. MARLYN BRYANT came off the bench to lead the
Bulls with 16 points. JIMMY BAXTER had 15 and TERRANCE LEATHER had his second
double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, all of them on the
defensive glass. BRANDON BRIGMAN returned to the USF rotation after missing the
last three games with a hernia, logging 16 minutes in a reserve role and posting
five points and six rebounds. The Bulls travel to 20th-ranked Michigan State on
Tuesday.

SOUTHERN MISS (4-2, 0-0): Southern Miss was upended at Arkansas State on
Saturday, 78-71, in its only game last week. The Golden Eagles top scorer was
CHARLES GAINES with a game-high 19 points. Gaines, who has 535 points this year,
is on pace to become the first USM player to score a 1,000 in only two seasons.
DAVID HAYWOOD had 18 points on a school-record tying six threes. It's the 27th
time that a Southern Miss player has accomplished the feat. Former USM standout
Bernard Haslett had 13 games with at least six threes. JASPER JOHNSON rounded
out the Southern Miss players in double figures with 17. The Golden Eagles plays
their first home contest since Nov. 25 on Wednesday when they take on Georgia
Southern.

TCU (3-5, 0-0): TCU improved to 3-1 against in-state opponents following a 62-58
victory over North Texas on Saturday. It was the seventh time in the Horned
Frogs eight games that they have held their opponents under 80 points. CHUDI
CHINWEZE scored a game-high 18 points with 10 coming from the free-throw line.
COREY SANTEE added 12, while MARCUS SHROPSHIRE contributed 11. TCU has the week
off for final exams, returning to action on Dec. 22 when it hosts Grambling.

TULANE (5-1, 0-0): Tulane improved to 5-1 on the year with an 83-66 home victory
over Northwestern State on Tuesday. BEN BENFIELD and MARCUS KINZER paced the
Green Wave with 15 points each. Tulane also had double-figure scoring from
QUINCY DAVIS and VYTAS TATARUNAS with Davis tallying 11 and Tatarunas
registering 10. Tatarunas also grabbed 13 rebounds for his third double-double
of the year. After an exam break, the Green Wave returns to action on Saturday
against Southeastern Louisiana, which will conclude Tulane's season-opening
seven-game home stand.

UAB (3-1, 0-0): UAB dropped its first game of the season, an 86-84 loss at
Mississippi State on Saturday. Preseason all-conference selection MORRIS FINLEY
had career-best 38 points in the loss, the most by a Blazer on an opponent's
home court since Carlos Williams had 35 at Auburn in 1995. Finley's point total
is the most by a Conference USA player this season. The twin brother duo of
RONELL and DONELL TAYLOR combined to score 24 for UAB with Ronell posting 13 and
Donell adding 11 points. The Blazers have a break for fall exams and return to
action on Monday at the Coors Classic in Mobile, Ala., against Western Michigan.


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