Donald Little accomplished one of his goals Saturday: He stayed out of foul trouble. Now, he wants to play better at the same time.

        The junior center finished with five points, three rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes in the University of Cincinnati's 81-53 victory over Northern Kentucky.

        He was just 1-of-3 from the field and 3-of-8 from the foul line and had three turnovers.

        “Not good at all,” he said in evaluating his day. “The first half, I was real fidgety. I was worried about not fouling. I was thinking too much. If you get two fouls in the first half, you're going to sit the rest of the half. I try not to do that.

        “The second half, I came out and tried to play a little better. But I've got to shoot free throws better.”

        GO FIGURE: Senior power forward Jamaal Davis has attempted just two 3-point field goals in his college career and missed both. But he nailed one Saturday with 3:37 left in the first half.

        That's as many as sharp-shooting sophomore guard Field Williams had in the game. Williams was just 1-of-6 from the field and 1-of-5 from 3-point range. Remember, Williams shot .438 from 3-point range last season.

        LET'S DO IT AGAIN: Though his team lost by 28 points, coach Ken Shields is hoping this won't be NKU's last game in Shoemaker Center. He said that before and after the game, UC coach Bob Huggins talked about scheduling the Norse again for an exhibition game.

        “I hope this is an annual thing,” Shields said.

        DENIALS ALL AROUND: Conference USA and UC officials vehemently denied a report this week that appeared in the Texas Christian student newspaper saying UC is among several schools in the league planning to leave the conference within a year.

        The Skiff quoted anonymous sources as saying UC, Memphis, Louisville, Tulane, UAB, Houston, TCU and South Florida are making plans to leave C-USA.

        “It's false, irresponsible journalism at its lowest form,” commissioner Mike Slive told the Enquirer. “It makes absolutely no sense and has no basis in fact.”

        The newspaper said its sources were “athletics administrators” from UC and Louisville.

        “I wouldn't even give that credibility,” UC athletic director Bob Goin said.

        TICKET INFO: Single-game tickets to UC basketball games go on sale Tues day (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Season tickets and mini-packages will still be sold. Tickets can be purchased at UC's athletic ticket office in Shoemaker Center or by phone (556-2287).

East Carolina 28, UC 26 UC 81, Northern Kentucky 53 Little wants better effort from himself

PREP FOOTBALL PAGE
Elder, St. X win doubleheader
Elder 35, Colerain 21
St. Xavier 6, Princeton 0
Record crowd enjoys games, bands
Hamilton Badin 42, Dayton Oakwood 35
Coldwater 24, Wyoming 7
Football finals won't come here soon
Ohio regional final pairings
Ohio playoff scores, schedule
Indiana playoff scores, schedule
Kentucky playoff scores
Bengals now have 2nd-half stakes
Key to today's game
McGee could be target
Who's got the edge?
Jaguars-Bengals by the numbers
Mark Curnutte's NFL power ratings
Picking today's NFL games
XU women lose second exhibition
Reds Q&A with John Fay
Locals win 3 state titles
Big title best for St. Ursula
Roger Bacon runner-up no more
Turpin's title has familiar look
Marshall 27, Miami 21
Ohio State 35, Purdue 9
Kentucky 56, Vanderbilt 30
Thomas More finishes 10-0
Capital 27, Wilmington 7
Georgetown 47, St. Joseph's (Ind.) 14
Two Bengals already super bowlers
PBA Tour final here today
High school bowling making a comeback
Best & worst of week in sports
Local college sports
Mighty Ducks 6, Albany 4
Sports events this week