Steve Logan is fouled by Louisville's Marques Maybin. (Ernest Coleman photos) | ZOOM |

        LOUISVILLE — Steve Logan was set up behind the 3-point line, in front of the University of Cincinnati bench. When the ball arrived, he couldn't believe there were no defenders around.

        “I wanted to make them pay,” the UC guard said.

        As he had all day, Logan confidently sent the ball into the basket — with about six minutes left and the outcome already decided. Swish.

        The 6-foot junior finished with 27 points — one shy of his career high — as the Bearcats blasted Louisville 72-52 Saturday for their eighth consecutive victory over the Cardinals (5-11, 1-2 Conference USA).

        UC coach Bob Huggins made it a point to tell Logan and backcourt mate Kenny Satterfield how good Louisville guards Marques Maybin and Reece Gaines are. The best you'll face all year, Hug gins said. Maybe the best in Conference USA.

B.J. Grove scores on a layup. | ZOOM |

        Maybin, a 6-3 senior, and Gaines, a 6-6 sophomore, came in averaging 6.1 points a game more than the UC guards and shooting better from the field, the 3-point line and foul line. Both are taller and good defenders.

        So what happened?

        Logan and Satterfield (15 points) combined to outscore Maybin and Gaines 42-15. The Louisville duo was 6-of-22 from the field and 1-of-5 from 3-point range. Both left the locker room afterward before the media were allowed in. The UC pair had their highest combined total this season.

        “It was a motivating factor, I think, to sit there and say that to me and Satt when me and Satt work so hard at practice,” Logan said. “We just wanted to come out here and not just show the other team and the fans, but to really show (Coach) that, hey, you might have the two best guards right here in front of you.”

        Said Satterfield: “I think their coach was probably saying the same thing to them. He's just trying to motivate us and get us going, and it worked.”

Leonard Stokes's shot is blocked. | ZOOM |

        UC (11-4, 2-1) led by just six points with 12:42 remaining, then scored eight straight during a 12-2 run.

        After Satterfield took a pass from Logan and scored in transition to put Cincinnati ahead 59-43 with 7:35 left, some fans started booing and filing out of Freedom Hall.

        “The key was, we played hard and we never let them get into their offense,” UC junior Immanuel McElroy said. “We're not surprised. We had a talk before we came, and we wanted to make a statement about the way the Bearcats can play.”

        After leading 7-0, UC fell behind by as many as eight points in the first half. But the Bearcats made their last six field goals before intermission and Louisville missed its last seven shots. That allowed Cincinnati to go ahead 32-27 at the break, and it never trailed again.

        Logan finished 7-of-9 from 3-point range (.778), tying Roger McClendon for the second-best single-game 3- point percentage in UC history behind Darnell Burton (5-of-6, .833). Logan is 23-of-43 from the field (.535) over the past four games. When he came out of the game Saturday with 2:07 left, he had a big smile and slapped the hands of everyone on the bench.

Jamaal Davis celebrates a basket and a foul. | ZOOM |

        “He got great looks,” Huggins said. “I thought Satt did a great job penetrating. Our big guys screened better than what they've screened.

        “Lo's really worked hard at shooting the ball. He's really, really done a better job of coming in and concentrating and working hard. His attitude's been great the past couple of weeks. He's not going to do that all the time, but if he gets an open look, you kind of expect him to make it.”

        A key for the Bearcats was getting Gaines out early. He picked up his second foul trying to guard Satterfield just 2:12 into the game. Gaines did not return until the second half and never found a rhythm.

        “When you play against somebody taller than you and you go to the basket, they always try to block your shot,” Satterfield said. “I just pumped-faked, and when I went down, I went to shoot it and he hit my arm.

        “It doesn't matter if he stayed in the game or not. It doesn't matter who's in the game, we're going to play the same. We executed a lot better today. ”

        Senior Rashad Brooks came off the bench for a career-high 16 points and was the only Cardinal to score in double figures.

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CINCINNATI (72)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Davis           28   3-6   1-1   3-7  1  3    7
Mcelroy         27   3-3   1-2   2-8  2  1    8
Grove           25   2-3   2-3   3-3  0  2    6
Satterfield     35  4-13   5-6   1-5  4  2   15
Logan           32  9-15   2-2   0-1  2  3   27
Little          18   0-0   0-1   2-7  0  3    0
Peek             4   0-0   0-0   1-3  0  1    0
Stokes          21   3-8   0-0   2-3  2  1    6
Flowers          5   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Williams         5   1-2   0-0   0-0  0  1    3
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 25-50 11-15 14-37 11 18   72
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.500, FT-.733. 3-Point Goals:
11-18, .611 (Mcelroy 1-1, Satterfield 2-5, Logan
7-9, Stokes 0-1, Williams 1-2). Team rebounds:
None. Blocked shots: 3 (Little 2, Mcelroy).
Turnovers: 13 (Satterfield 6, Mcelroy 2, Davis,
Grove, Little, Logan, Peek). Steals: 5 (Davis 2,
Peek, Satterfield, Stokes).


LOUISVILLE (52)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Myles           29   3-4   3-5   4-7  1  3    9
Whitehead       15   1-5   0-0   0-1  3  1    2
N'sima          12   0-2   0-0   0-2  0  1    0
Maybin          26   2-9   2-3   4-5  2  2    7
Gaines          21  4-13   0-0   0-1  2  3    8
Northern        20   1-5   0-0   0-0  0  0    3
Lasege          28   1-7   0-1   3-4  0  2    2
Brooks          21   5-6   3-4   0-3  4  0   16
Brown           17   1-3   0-0   1-2  1  0    3
Wilkinson        5   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Turner           3   1-1   0-1   0-0  0  1    2
Green            1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Naydenov         2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 19-55  8-14 12-25 13 13   52
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.345, FT-.571. 3-Point Goals:
6-16, .375 (Maybin 1-2, Gaines 0-3, Northern 1-5,
Brooks 3-4, Brown 1-2). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked
shots: 4 (Lasege 2, Maybin, Myles). Turnovers: 12
(Maybin 5, Gaines 3, N'sima 2, Myles, Northern).
Steals: 3 (Gaines 2, Whitehead).
__________________________________
Cincinnati         32   40  -   72
Louisville         27   25  -   52
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 19,892. Officials:
Steve Olson, Bill Kennedy, Sam Croft.

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