Marshall's Tamar Slay was setting up well above the top of the key to go one-on-one against Leonard Stokes for the game-winning shot.

        He backed up, juked left and went right. Stokes' hand deflected the ball off Slay's foot and out of bounds with 8.6 seconds left.

        That defensive play helped preserve the University of Cincinnati's one-point lead and allowed the 16th-ranked Bearcats to escape with a 79-75 victory over the Thundering Herd on Tuesday night at Shoemaker Center.

UC's Donald Little (left) and Jamaal Davis battle for a loose ball with Marshall's Latece Williams. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        Stokes, a sophomore forward, had put UC ahead 75-74 with two free throws with 31.4 seconds remaining.

        Marshall called a timeout, then worked down the clock and got the ball to its star player.

        “I watched a lot of tape, and it was similar,” Stokes said. “That was really his go-to move. He takes two steps back and then he'll cross the ball over. When I saw him take the two, I was waiting for it.”

        Said Slay: “He was sitting on my crossover. I shouldn't have given him the crossover on that play. It went off my foot. That's basketball. I've just got to refocus now.”

        “I've never seen him do that before,” Marshall coach Greg White said. “He doesn't just lose the ball for the sake of losing it.”

        Stokes hit two free throws with 8.6 seconds left, and Steve Logan made two more foul shots with 4.5 seconds remaining to secure the victory.

        UC improved to 2-0. Marshall, which led by as many as five points and was ahead as late as 38.7 seconds to play, dropped to 1-1.

        Sophomore center Donald Little, going against preseason all-Mid-American Conference player J.R. VanHoose, had a double-double to lead UC with 18 points and 14 rebounds, both career highs.

THE GAME

Cincinnati: 79 Marshall: 75 Next for UC: Vs. Notre Dame, 1 p.m. Saturday, Indianapolis

        “He's more athletic than what their guys are,” UC coach Bob Huggins said. “If he catches it down there, he's going to get a pretty good shot. We wanted to do that ... Donald's worked. He's put the time in to get better. His work habits have gotten better.”

        Said Little: “All week we've been hearing about VanHoose, VanHoose. I prepared myself to go against him, watching film. They hyped him up. I got real excited coming out.”

        Stokes added a career-high 15 points for the Bearcats. Jamaal Davis had 13 points and eight rebounds. Kenny Satterfield finished with 12 points and seven assists, and Logan scored 11.

        Slay, a potential NBA player featured in Sports Illustrated as one of the nation's hidden talents, was as good as advertised.

        The 6-foot-9 junior was 9-of-15 from the field and finished with a game-high 28 points — the fourth-highest total of his career. He was one of four Marshall players in double figures.

        “I made a statement, but I didn't make the statement that I wanted to,” Slay said. “I wanted to come in here and get a win. I'm very upset. I thought we should've won that game tonight.”

        It was clear in the first half that UC was in for a fight, and that's what it had until the final buzzer. There were five ties and 11 lead changes.

        The Bearcats dominated the first six-plus minutes and rolled to a 21-6 lead.

        “We wanted to come out and just jump on Marshall because we heard that they were pretty shaky when guys come in and get after them pretty good,” Davis said.

        The Shoe was rocking, but Marshall was unfazed. The Herd came thundering back with 17 unanswered points while Cincinnati went scoreless for almost five minutes. UC had success early pounding the ball inside; Little had 10 points in the first 5 1/2 minutes. Then Marshall went to a zone defense that stymied the Cincinnati offense, mostly because it was not making outside shots — UC was 2-of-12 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.

        When Slay hit two free throws with 8:59 left in the half, it put Marshall ahead for the first time at 23-21.

        “The difference in the game was rebounding,” White said of UC's 41-32 advantage. “We had to zone them. They're just too big. We're not deep enough. Those guys, they're as big as any centers and forwards in the country. They play above the rim.

        “Even though they hit some shots, they didn't like that zone.”

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UC moving up with Motor City bid

MARSHALL (75) 
                      fg    ft    rb 
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp 
Vanhoose        32   5-9   2-2   1-6  0  4   12 
Williams        37   6-9   2-4   3-8  0  3   14 
Slay            40  9-15   6-6   2-5  2  2   28 
Young           38  6-11   4-7   0-7  2  2   16 
Jackson         34   2-4   1-2   1-3  1  3    5 
Wright           2   0-0   0-0   0-0  1  1    0 
Burgess          8   0-4   0-0   0-0  1  2    0 
Wuller           9   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  4    0 
_______________________________________________ 
TOTALS         200 28-52 15-21  7-30  7 21   75 
_______________________________________________ 


Percentages: FG-.538, FT-.714. 3-Point Goals: 
4-17, .235 (Slay 4-10, Young 0-2, Jackson 0-1, 
Burgess 0-4). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 3 
(Williams 2, Young). Turnovers: 22 (Slay 8, 
Jackson 4, Vanhoose 3, Williams 3, Burgess, 
Wuller, Young). Steals: 5 (Young 2, Slay, 
Williams, Wright). 


CINCINNATI (79) 
                      fg    ft    rb 
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp 
Davis           38  6-13   1-2   5-8  1  2   13 
Stokes          24   5-8   4-5   1-3  0  2   15 
Little          29  9-15   0-4  8-14  0  3   18 
Satterfield     37  4-18   2-2   2-2  7  4   12 
Logan           36  3-11   5-6   1-7  3  4   11 
Williams         2   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0 
Jones            6   1-2   0-0   0-0  1  1    3 
Mcelroy         16   1-4   0-0   1-1  1  2    2 
Flowers          5   1-2   0-0   1-2  0  1    3 
Grove            7   0-0   2-2   1-1  0  0    2 
_______________________________________________ 
TOTALS         200 30-74 14-21 20-38 13 19   79 
_______________________________________________ 


Percentages: FG-.405, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals: 
5-23, .217 (Stokes 1-4, Satterfield 2-9, Logan 
0-5, Williams 0-1, Jones 1-2, Flowers 1-2). Team 
rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: None. Turnovers: 13 
(Little 3, Logan 3, Mcelroy 2, Satterfield 2, 
Stokes 2, Grove). Steals: 8 (Logan 2, Mcelroy 2, 
Satterfield 2, Davis, Stokes). 
__________________________________ 
Marshall           39   36  -   75 
Cincinnati         41   38  -   79 
__________________________________ 
Technical fouls: None.  A: 12,503. Officials: Tom 
O'neill, Terry Moore, Jim Jenkins.