It was a long night for Bob Huggins and Kenny Satterfield. (Ernest Coleman photos) | ZOOM |

        Like everyone else, University of Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins doesn't know what to expect from his basketball team. Game by game. Practice by practice.

        He can't predict who will play well, who will play hard. And it's getting tougher and tougher.

        UC's season hit a low point Wednesday night. A struggling Louisville team, off to its worst start in 60 years, gave the Bearcats their second straight loss, 63-54, and there was even a smattering of boos from the Shoemaker Center crowd during the final minute.

        “This is a gigantic step backward,” Huggins said. “Not in losing, either, just in effort.

        “I've had teams lose 16 games. I've had one lose 14 games. But they tried. They played. We didn't play.”

Donald Little reacts to a goaltending call. | ZOOM |

        UC's 12-6 record is its worst after 18 games since 1989-90, when it started 11-7, and 1990-91, when it was 12-6. It was only the second time this season the Bearcats (3-3 Conference USA) had no chance of winning in the final seconds.

        The Cardinals (7-12, 3-3) did not trail after taking an 8-6 lead just 3:12 into the game.

        “Well, I guess we needed that one more than they did,” Louisville coach Denny Crum said. “That's one of the few times this year that we've all stayed together and played 40 min utes as hard as we could play.”

        Louisville won the battle of the boards 31-25, including a couple key offensive rebounds in the closing minutes. Cincinnati is 1-6 when it has been outrebounded.

        It was a bit of revenge for UofL. Cincinnati blasted the Cardinals 72-52 on Jan.13.

        “It was more of a personal pride thing tonight to at least let them know we were going to be here for the whole 40 minutes,” Louisville sophomore Erik Brown said.

Cardinals crash the boards. | ZOOM |

        Louisville's biggest lead was 44-34 with 14:08 remaining. Then UC made its best effort at a rally with a 12-2 run.

        Junior guard Steve Logan hit a 23-foot 3-pointer to tie the game with 10:24 left. The crowd came alive. The team? Well ...

        “I never thought we were in good shape, because I didn't think we played with any emotion,” Huggins said. “We were just as flat as — I can't ever recall a team being any worse.”

        The Cardinals surged back with three straight baskets. The Bearcats were within 53-50 with the shot clock winding down on a Louisville possession. A pass inside was deflected, and freshman walk-on Bryant Northern found himself with the ball and a wide-open 3-pointer. He nailed it.

        It was the basket that broke the Bearcats. That gave the Cardinals a six-point lead with 5:13 to play, and UC never challenged again.

        “Every time we got close, they made big shots,” Huggins said.

        Want evidence of why this team puzzles Huggins — and its fans?

Little competes for a rebound. | ZOOM |

        Sophomore center Donald Little, who had not scored in double figures since the third game of the season and lost his starting job to B.J. Grove, came off the bench for 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and six rebounds in 35 minutes.

        Sophomore point guard Kenny Satterfield, UC's leading scorer (15.6 ppg), was held to single digits for the third straight game with just two points on 1-of-6 shooting. It was the second-worst output of his UC career; he had zero points against North Carolina on Dec.8, 1999. He also had five turnovers and no second-half assists.

        Logan led the Bearcats with 17 points but was just 4-of-14 from the field. The team was 2-of-13 from 3-point range.

        Guys who have been playing well, such as Grove, Antwan Jones and Immanuel McElroy? A combined 3-of-9 from the field with eight points.

        UC trailed most of the first half and was behind by as many as nine points with 11:40 to go. Over a nine-minute stretch, no Bearcat scored except Little (six) and Grove (two). “I don't know what to tell you,” Huggins said. “I don't know what's in their minds.”

        Nobody did. Players refused to speak to the media afterward.

No Gaines, no problem for Louisville

LOUISVILLE (63)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
N'sima          36   4-6   1-2   2-6  2  1    9
Lasege          14   1-3   0-0   3-3  0  4    2
Brooks          28   3-6   2-2   0-2  3  1   10
Maybin          36  5-13  7-10   1-3  4  3   19
Gaines           3   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Myles           28   0-0   2-4   1-4  2  4    2
Northern        16   1-4   0-0   1-2  2  3    3
Turner           1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Naydenov         1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Whitehead        4   1-2   0-0   0-0  0  0    2
Brown           33  7-10   0-1   2-6  0  1   16
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 22-44 12-19 10-26 13 17   63
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.500, FT-.632. 3-Point Goals:
7-14, .500 (Brooks 2-3, Maybin 2-7, Northern 1-2,
Brown 2-2). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 6
(N'sima 3, Brown 3). Turnovers: 16 (N'sima 4,
Lasege 3, Maybin 3, Myles 3, Brooks, Northern,
Turner). Steals: 3 (Maybin 3).


CINCINNATI (54)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Davis           22   3-4   0-0   2-3  1  2    6
Grove           11   1-2   1-1   0-0  0  0    3
Satterfield     27   1-6   0-0   2-3  4  5    2
Logan           36  4-14   8-8   2-2  2  3   17
Mcelroy         17   1-3   1-3   2-4  1  1    3
Williams        12   1-2   0-0   2-3  0  0    3
Jones           10   1-4   0-0   0-0  0  1    2
Stokes          30   3-9   0-0   0-3  2  1    6
Little          35   6-8   0-0   2-6  0  2   12
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 21-52 10-12 12-24 10 15   54
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.404, FT-.833. 3-Point Goals:
2-13, .154 (Satterfield 0-1, Logan 1-5, Mcelroy
0-1, Williams 1-2, Jones 0-1, Stokes 0-3). Team
rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 4 (Davis 2, Little
2). Turnovers: 13 (Satterfield 5, Logan 4, Jones
2, Davis, Williams). Steals: 4 (Davis 2, Logan,
Stokes).
__________________________________
Louisville         30   33  -   63
Cincinnati         28   26  -   54
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Louisville 1 (Maybin).  A:
13,176. Officials: Scott Thornley, David
Maracich, Mike Thibodeaux.

---

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