He is 19 years old and a marked man. Kenny Satterfield, the University of Cincinnati's point guard, has not played as well since the Bearcats returned from the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic — where he was named tournament MVP — as he did through the season's first 10 games.

        Satterfield, who still leads UC in scoring, assists and steals and is second in rebounding, does not believe his recent shooting struggles have anything to do with mechanics, or opposing defenses, or added pressure. Nope, to him, it's this simple:

        “I'm just missing shots,” he said Monday. “There's no excuse for that. I think a lot of people are making more out of it than what it is.”

        The 6-foot-2 sophomore is averaging 11 points over the last seven games, down from 18.9 points over the first 10. His shooting percentage (.329) and 3-point percentage (.269) since Christmas also are down.

        There are several reasons:

        • Opponents have had more time to scout the Bearcats. It doesn't take a Titanic-length film session to know that Satterfield and Steve Logan are the only consistent offensive threats. A lack of scoring inside and small forward Leonard Stokes' dropoff (4.8-point average over the last five games) have not helped.

        • Opponents sometimes use taller, stronger and more physical players to defend Satterfield. If he starts hitting shots, they use gimmick defenses designed to shut him down and force the rest of the team to score. Logan faces the same.

        • Contrary to what he says, the coaches believe Satterfield has placed a lot of pressure on himself. That may be evidenced by his insistence at keeping the ball and taking last-second shots in losses to Xavier, Toledo, Marquette and Saint Louis. “You can tell it bothers him during the game,” assistant coach Keith LeGree said. “You can just look at his body language; he doesn't look like he's having enough fun.”

        • The coaches also do not think Satterfield has worked hard enough and put in enough extra time to overcome the new challenges he faces this season.

        “It's going to take steps to get to where he wants to be, and you've got to be willing to take those steps,” LeGree said. “If you're not willing to take those steps, it's not going to happen.”

        Satterfield has scored fewer than 10 points in three of the past six games, and UC is 3-3 during that time.

        “To think that he was never going to have a tough stretch would've probably been foolish,” assistant coach Mick Cronin said. “It's not like when things get tough we can just throw it in to Kenyon Martin. He's not getting a lot of wide-open shots, so he's got to work a lot harder to get what he does get.

        “For us to be good, he's going to have to play better than he's played the last few games. He's going to have to get back to being the guy who was MVP in San Juan.”

        TICKETS REMAIN: A limited number of tickets for the UC men's basketball game against Louisville on Wednesday (8:05 p.m., Shoemaker Center) will go on sale at 9 a.m. today at the UC athletic ticket office. Tickets, which were returned from Louisville's allotment, are $20. Call 556-CATS.

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