BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Freshman Kenyon Martin slams and swings in the second half. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - This looked like some other basketball team. The part where forward Melvin Levett dunked at the close of the first half, the soles of his sneakers floating somewhere about eye level, that was pure Cincinnati Bearcats. The chest-bumping, high-fiving and primal screaming that followed were not.

''It's tournament time,'' said UC forward Ruben Patterson, who practically carried Levett to the locker room after the buzzer sounded. ''We know we can't lose any more.''

The emotion lasted only as long as necessary, long enough for the Bearcats to carry their 22-point halftime lead 12 minutes into the second half of Thursday's NCAA tournament opener at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Both dwindled by the time the game concluded, but the initial burst was sufficient to generate an 86-69 victory over Butler.

''We did a nice job the first half,'' coach Bob Huggins said. ''They run some great sets, do a nice job in the halfcourt offense, and we wanted to speed them up and get them out of that.''

The Bearcats (26-7) certainly managed that much, firing up 40 shots in the first half, a dozen more than their average. That they made 16 wasn't deflating in the least, not with guard Darnell Burton striking three times from three-point range on his way to 19 points.

UC was able to extend the lead over Butler (23-10) without much help from forward Danny Fortson, who played 10 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble and produced 16 of his 24 points and seven of his 12 rebounds following halftime.

''He not only is very big, he is very quick,'' said Jon Neuhouser, who scored 15 points to tie guard Kelsey Wilson for the Butler team lead. ''He is All-American. He deserves it. He wears on you. It takes a toll on your legs.''

Damon Flint is surrounded by Butler defenders | ZOOM |

UC attacked the basketball on defense with an uncommon sense of purpose during the first 20 minutes. Whereas recent opponents Marquette and Memphis were permitted to advance the ball comfortably into their offenses, the Bulldogs met with resistance nearly every time they approached midcourt.

UC succeeded at creating backcourt turnovers on consecutive possessions with the score 17-12, leading to layups by Patterson that put the Bearcats in front by nine. When Patterson pulled off the game's most amazing play 38 seconds later, tossing up an off-balance shot after running head-first into 7-foot-2 Bulldogs center Rolf van Rijn, UC had a double-digit lead for good.

''That's hard to sustain,'' center Bobby Brannen said. ''It's hard to stay enthusiastic when you're up 20.''

It's probably more difficult to be enthusiastic when you're down 20, but Butler found some motivation to recover in the second half. This has been a common problem for the Bearcats.

They gave up 57 points to Southern Cal in the second half of a January blowout win, 41 to Marquette on the way to winning by 21 at Shoemaker Center. The Bulldogs' 17-point first-half total was the lowest of any UC opponent this season; they rolled for 52 in the second half.

''I'm more concerned with our execution than I am the emotion,'' Huggins said. ''I think there are a lot of games where we've been enthusiastic, but it's our execution that matters.

''There's no question our emotion dropped the second half, but more important, our execution dropped.''

Ruben Patterson passes over Butler's Andrew Graves | ZOOM |

UC slumbered down the stretch, fumbling away five turnovers in the final 8 minutes, missing five of seven free throws at one point and allowing Butler to score on all but four of 13 possessions.

The lead was down to 79-69 with 41.6 seconds left, the Bearcats gradually growing disinterested and impatient. They were ready for dinner, or whomever the second round might bring.

''I guess we got real comfortable that they weren't going to come back,'' Fortson said. ''The first part, I thought we had a good game.''

The best defensive development for Cincinnati was Butler's three-point shooting, which wound up 0-of-8 in the first half, 5-of-28 for the game. How much of that was defense and how much poor marksmanship is difficult to say, but the Bulldogs missed nearly as many threes as the last three UC opponents who entered with winning records.

''If we have a lead, we have to stay on it,'' Brannen said. ''I think it's going to be like that for the rest of the tournament. We're happy to be here, and we're going to win it. Everyone was into it.''

IOWA STATE IS TALL ORDER
20 MINUTES ENOUGH FOR UC THIS TIME Daugherty column
MARCH MADNESS

BUTLER (69)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Dudukovich      26   2-2   4-5   2-3  1  2    8
Neuhouser       38  5-14   3-8   2-4  0  4   15
Van Rijn        10   0-3   0-0   0-1  0  0    0
Wilson          28  5-14   4-4   1-3  0  5   15
Rogers          34  3-11   6-6   4-4  6  4   13
M Graves        12   2-9   0-0   1-2  0  2    5
A Graves        10   0-1   1-2   0-2  0  0    1
Cantor           1   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Marshall        14   0-2   2-2   2-3  0  3    2
Perry           25   4-5   2-5   1-7  0  4   10
Gieseck          2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 21-62 22-32 13-29  7 24   69
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.339, FT-.688. 3-Point Goals:
5-28, .179 (Neuhouser 2-9, Wilson 1-8, Rogers
1-5, M Graves 1-5, Cantor 0-1). Team rebounds: 7.
Blocked shots: 1 (Wilson). Turnovers: 16 (Rogers
5, M Graves 2, Marshall 2, Perry 2, A Graves,
Dudukovich, Neuhouser, Van Rijn, Wilson). Steals:
13 (Wilson 4, Dudukovich 2, Marshall 2, Neuhouser
2, Rogers 2, M Graves).

CINCINNATI (86)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Patterson       22   3-8   0-0   2-5  0  2    6
Fortson         26  8-15   8-9  6-12  1  4   24
Julson           4   1-1   0-0   0-1  0  2    3
Flint           27   3-7   1-2   1-3  9  2    8
Davis           19   1-2   0-0   0-1  3  2    2
Martin          14   1-2   1-4   1-5  1  4    3
Baker           10   1-2   0-1   0-1  1  4    3
Levett          18   2-6   0-0   1-4  0  3    4
Burton          25  6-12   2-5   1-2  3  3   19
Brannen         25   3-5   6-6  6-10  0  3   12
Monroe          10   1-4   0-0   2-4  0  0    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 30-64 18-27 20-48 18 29   86
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.469, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
8-18, .444 (Patterson 0-1, Julson 1-1, Flint 1-4,
Baker 1-2, Levett 0-1, Burton 5-9). Team
rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 4 (Martin 2, Fortson,
Levett). Turnovers: 21 (Flint 5, Fortson 4,
Brannen 2, Burton 2, Levett 2, Martin 2, Baker,
Davis, Julson, Monroe). Steals: 11 (Patterson 3,
Brannen 2, Fortson 2, Burton, Flint, Levett,
Martin).
__________________________________
Butler             17   52  -   69
Cincinnati         39   47  -   86
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 21,020. Officials:
John Cahill, Jim Murphy, Kerry Sitton.
                                                                        

Previous NCAA Tournament stories

MARCH 12 1997
UC'S FORTUNES HINGE ON FORTSON
NCAA LETTER LED TO WILLIAMS INQUIRY
WILLIAMS PUNISHED BEFORE TRIAL Daugherty column
HUGGINS TO OSU? A COMMON QUERY

MARCH 12 1997
GUARD PROBLEMS PLAGUE BEARCATS
HUGGINS QUOTES GILLEN ON OSU JOB

MARCH 11, 1997
FORTSON ALL-AMERICAN
WILLIAMS PREPARES TO START
MARSHALL HAS THE MUSCLE TO CHECK FORTSON

MARCH 10, 1997
UC, XU ON COLLISION COURSE IN SWEET 16
LET FORTSON PLAY, REFS - IT'S HIS TIME Daugherty column
OPPONENT DOESN'T MATTER TO BEARCATS
BUTLER ROSTER HAS LOCAL FLAVOR