HOUSTON - They lost their starting jobs without lifting a finger, except the one employed to punch the buttons on the telephone. But Kenyon Martin and D'Juan Baker were not so easily received back into the Cincinnati Bearcats lineup.
When practice began Friday afternoon, UC's last workout before traveling here for today's 7 p.m. Conference USA opener against Houston (7-4), sophomore Ryan Fletcher and senior Brent Petrus still were wearing the black jerseys that designate the first-teamers.
Martin's expected return as a starter against the Cougars is likely more because of Fletcher's health problems than any rush on the part of coach Bob Huggins to restore his original lineup. And Huggins may decide to leave Baker out of the starting lineup to give UC (8-2) the sort of scoring punch off the bench previously provided by Darnell Burton.
''We're going to go the best way we can win the game,'' Huggins said.
Martin and Baker both served three-game NCAA suspensions for making impermissible telephone calls, but the Bearcats' 3-0 record during that stretch made the inaction easier to handle.
Although Martin is UC's leading shot-blocker (1.3 average) and Baker is the leading scorer (20.4), it's also possible the two of them learned a little about basketball while they watched.
UC played much more carefully in their absence, turning over the ball an average of 12 times. It wasn't just that Winthrop and Eastern Kentucky offered little resistance; against Morehead State and Wright State in earlier games, the Bearcats averaged 18 turnovers. And UC had only 13 in an overtime win against Massachusetts, nine by point guard Michael Horton.
Along with the precision came the intensified effort that helped produce the UMass win.
''I felt I played hard at all times,'' Martin said. He scored in double figures just once and produced no double-figure rebounding games in between opening the season with a double-double and matching that in a home win against Minnesota, the last game before the suspension. ''But I guess to see how hard they played while we were out, I guess I have to lift my level of play.''
Martin and Baker continued to practice while they were out, as has suspended forward Ruben Patterson, who will have three more games to sit after this one.
They added some talent to the second unit, which helped Fletcher, Petrus and junior Shawn Myrick improve to the point where Huggins has confidence in them as part of his regular rotation.
''Bake's really tried to be a leader,'' Huggins said. ''He felt really bad about everything, because it's his senior year and he wants to lead.''
Baker claimed to still be shooting well during the time off. Or rather, to have returned to shooting well. He made just 3 of 10 shots from the field in the two games before the suspension began, whereas Martin had slapped 14 points and 13 rebounds on Minnesota in UC's 10-point win.
Houston will be the best rebounding team the Bearcats have faced, according to Huggins, who admits he would not be unhappy if his team were to battle to a draw on the boards.
The Cougars' backcourt, though, has struggled terribly during the current four-game winning streak. Senior Shamahn McBride adapted well to a move to shooting guard at first and averaged 21 points in the first four games, but he's slipped under 10 a game the last four.
The punishments for Baker and Martin ended just in time for the two of them to play in their home state of Texas before family and friends who will drive in to see them. Martin is from Dallas, Baker from Ft. Worth.
''My mother hasn't seen me play in person,'' Martin said. ''So that means a lot to me.''
The Bearcats will be playing on the road for only the second time this season, and the last was a 20-point defeat by Xavier.
''Going on the road is hard, because you don't have your home crowd behind you,'' Baker said. ''You've got to go into somebody else's place and play hard. That's all there is to it.''
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