The regular season for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats is 25 percent complete, but they are halfway home at this point. Seven basketball games down, seven more until star forward Ruben Patterson returns from his NCAA suspension.
Although there is no guarantee there will be a smooth transition, UC coach Bob Huggins has not been averse to defining his season in this manner. He talks without hesitance about what the Bearcats might look like with Patterson in the lineup starting Jan. 18 and what effect his absence has on the squad as it is now.
Huggins may play them one at a time, but that is not how he builds a team.
''If it wasn't Ruben coming back, it would be how much progress we're going to make,'' Huggins said. ''We're going to be good in March. We always are.''
An important part of getting to that point is making proper use of games such as today's 1 p.m. exercise with Eastern Kentucky (0-6). They may not be popular with fans or talk-show hosts, but playing low-major opponents already has helped UC shooting D'Juan Baker emerge as an offensive threat and point guard Michael Horton in his transition to Division I.
EKU is one of two such games remaining on the schedule, along with a Dec. 30 game against Winthrop. There is a meeting with Massachusetts (5-3) in between, and after Jan. 1 comes a steady diet of heavy hitters.
The Bearcats (5-2) will play major conference teams with a combined record of 26-5 before Patterson rejoins them. To get through that grind in presentable shape will require still more improvement.
Huggins did not see the progress he wanted in games against Morehead State and Alcorn State - ''After we got ahead, we stopped playing,'' he said - which followed UC's stunning loss to Arizona State in the second round of the Preseason NIT.
In an 85-60 win over Wright State two weeks ago, the Bearcats kept their intensity longer and avoided slipping into bad habits that could prove damaging in more challenging games.
''We want to get more sound,'' Huggins said. ''We give up too many easy baskets, and we want our half-court execution to be better.''
In Wednesday's victory, UC permitted Minnesota to shoot .460 from the floor, a figure weighed down by the Gophers' dreadful 4-of-20 three-point shooting.
Huggins mentioned problems he noticed with UC's defense away from the ball. Power forward Bobby Brannen said there were too many instances where defenders ''fell asleep'' and permitted layups or failed to get in position to man the back of the full-court press.
It was nice to employ the press for more than a few trips. ''Usually, we have to call it off because we're not doing it right,'' Brannen said. And he liked the consistency with which Minnesota was limited to one shot. The Gophers got only 14 offensive rebounds, while UC took 24 rebounds off the same board.
''We have to make people work for everything they get,'' Brannen said, not bothering to mention the corollary to that, which is that the Bearcats' offense must work for everything it gets, regardless of the opposing defense.
Patterson figures to make scoring less of an effort when he returns. His 13.7 scoring average in limited playing time last season projects to 20.6 per game for a 35-minute load, which he figures to carry most nights.
He could better that, given the apparent improvement in his game and his effort. ''He may be the best player in the conference,'' Huggins said. ''If not the best, he's close. Or should be, anyway.''
SCOUTING REPORT
SEASON IN STORIES
