Friday, January 28, 2000

UC 75, Louisville 65

Satterfield gets nod at point; Johnson stars

BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

[johnson]
DerMarr Johnson hit his first eight shots and scored all 21 of his points in the first half.
(AP photo)
| ZOOM |
        LOUISVILLE — If the Cincinnati Bearcats had arrived at this point in the season with an unbeaten record, perhaps it would be appropriate to say they messed with perfection.

        There was that one crosstown loss, however. So UC was at least slightly flawed when coach Bob Huggins decided to shift freshman Kenny Satterfield into the starting lineup at point guard for Thursday night's Conference USA game at Louisville.

        The No. 1-ranked Bearcats were still the dominant team they'd been in the previous 10 games, but Satterfield was rejuvenated as a player and led UC with his second career double-double to a 75-65 victory over the Cardinals.

        “I just played my game,” said Satterfield, who scored 11 points, passed for 10 assists, grabbed five rebounds and did not commit a turnover. “I didn't rush anything. I let everything come to me. I was just ready to play.”

[satterfield]
Kenny Satterfield
| ZOOM |
        Huggins said the change did not signal a major strategic decision, but rather the result of practice work by Satterfield and the player he replaced, sophomore Steve Logan. “Whoever plays the best in practice, plays,” Huggins said. “It's been that way for 11 years. It's not going to change now. ”

        Perfection became kind of a theme as the night developed. Freshman shooting guard DerMarr Johnson started 8-of-8 from the field before missing his first shot with 1:22 left in the first half. He scored all 21 of his points before the break and was the primary reason UC (19-1, 7-0) took a 39-27 advantage into halftime.

        This was UC's 11th consecutive regular-season victory in C-USA games, which broke the record it had set and tied during the previous two seasons. It also was their third win in a row in this building, once the venue for so many UC defeats.

        The Bearcats now have a three-game lead in Conference USA. Louisville got 19 points from small forward Nate Johnson, but its fourth defeat in the past five games dropped the Cardinals (11-7, 3-4) to last in the American Division.

[martin]
Kenyon Martin
| ZOOM |
        “They are trying,” coach Denny Crum said. “When we got down 15, they didn't quit and hung in there. There was a point where if Nate makes a three, then anything could have happened. But good teams aren't going to let you do everything you want to do.”

        The UC coaching staff had discussed the possibility adjusting the lineup, but the Bearcats' strong starts in nearly every recent game made it unnecessary.

        Satterfield learned just before game time he would start. After the lineups were introduced, Logan was embraced by assistant coach Rod Baker, who gave him a short talk before the teams took the court. Logan scored seven points in 19 minutes.

        Although Satterfield is viewed by scouts as one of the most gifted point guards in college, he had slumped in recent weeks, with only six field goals in his past 28 attempts. He made 4-of-8 in this game.

[logan]
Steve Logan
| ZOOM |
        “The guy that hurt us the most was Satterfield,” Crum said. “When your point guard plays that good, it's hard to beat.”

        Having his good friend Satterfield in the lineup seemed to energize DerMarr Johnson, however.

        After forward Pete Mickeal opened the Bearcats' scoring and gave them a 3-2 lead with a 3-point shot from the left wing, Johnson scored the next eight UC points and 13 of the next 15. When Satterfield assisted on Johnson's fifth 3-point shot, the Bearcats gained their first double-digit lead at 29-17.

        “He can do that every game,” Johnson said.

Another in the fold; UC still recruiting


CINCINNATI (75)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Tate            23   1-1   0-0   0-0  1  1    2
Mickeal         37   4-6   2-2   0-3  2  0   11
Martin          37  7-12   0-0   1-7  0  0   14
Johnson         35  8-12   0-2   0-1  4  2   21
Satterfield     28   4-8   2-2   0-5 10  3   11
Fletcher        20   4-4   0-0   2-3  1  4    9
Logan           19   2-5   2-2   0-1  1  2    7
Stokes           1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Little           0   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 30-48   6-8  3-20 19 12   75
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.625, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
9-19, .474 (Mickeal 1-2, Johnson 5-8, Satterfield
1-4, Fletcher 1-1, Logan 1-4). Team rebounds: 3.
Blocked shots: 8 (Martin 5, Tate 2, Johnson).
Turnovers: 9 (Mickeal 5, Johnson 2, Logan,
Martin). Steals: 4 (Johnson 2, Satterfield 2).


LOUISVILLE (65)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Williams        33  4-10   0-1   4-5  5  1   10
Johnson         37  8-16   0-0   1-5  3  4   19
Edward          31   2-5   0-0   5-6  3  1    4
Maybin          27   2-2   0-0   0-3  2  4    4
Gaines          38  5-12   0-1   0-1  3  1   11
Hopper          12   4-6   0-1   0-1  0  2    9
Bailey          17   2-5   2-2   2-3  3  1    6
Brooks           5   1-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 28-57   2-5 12-24 19 15   65
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.491, FT-.400. 3-Point Goals:
7-14, .500 (Williams 2-4, Johnson 3-5, Gaines
1-2, Hopper 1-2, Bailey 0-1). Team rebounds: 2.
Blocked shots: 2 (Williams, Johnson). Turnovers:
13 (Gaines 5, Johnson 2, Williams 2, Bailey,
Edward, Hopper, Maybin). Steals: 6 (Gaines 2,
Johnson 2, Brooks, Edward).
__________________________________
Cincinnati         39   36  -   75
Louisville         27   38  -   65
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 19,886. Officials: Jim
Burr, Ted Hillary, Tim Higgins.

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