Steve Logan was on the preseason list of candidates for the John R. Wooden Award, but when the list was trimmed to 30 players, the Bearcats senior was not on it.

        That changed Tuesday when Logan replaced Texas' Chris Owens, who suffered a season-ending knee injury.

        So why wasn't Logan — the best player on the 10th-ranked team in the country — among the contenders to begin with?

        Mike Solum, director of the Wooden Award, said votes were due Dec.15, which was before Logan went on a tear during the Las Vegas Classic and before the Bearcats made their move into the top 25.

        Early next month, an additional list of players will be sent to the award's National Advisory Board for review. The final ballot comes out Feb.28.

        RATINGS GAMES:

        Logan was on the five-man preconference All-America team selected by the on-air cast of ESPN's College Hoops 2Nite. Joining Logan was Xavier's David West, Jason Williams (Duke), Maurice Baker (Oklahoma State) and Rasual Butler (LaSalle). ... ESPN.com's Power 16 rankings this week has Cincinnati as a No.1 seed along with Duke, Florida and Kansas.

        NOTABLE NUMBERS:

        UC's first two C-USA opponents have shot a combined 6-of-41 (.146) from 3-point range. ... Donald Little has made 14 of 17 free throws over the past two games and averaged 13 points and 13 rebounds.

        ... The Bearcats are 7-0 in Conference USA home openers and have won eight league openers in a row.

        QUICK HOOK:

        Junior center B.J. Grove got into Tuesday night's game with eight minutes left, fired up an airball as soon as he touched the ball and was pulled after 11 seconds.
       ONCE IS ENOUGH:

        Athletic director Bob Goin, who joined the Bearcats in Greenville, N.C., Saturday for their Conference USA opener, said that from now on UC will take a charter to its games at East Carolina. The team flew into Raleigh, N.C., and took a bus ride that lasted more than three hours when they arrived last Friday.

        “We don't need to charter that much in basketball,” Goin said. “But that one that makes logistical sense to me. I experienced it first-hand.”
        Charlotte 2434— 58 Cincinnati 4031— 71

        Attendance—12,496. 3-point goals— Charlotte 3-19 (Nash 0-3, Brown 2-7, Thomas 1-6, Johnson 0-2, Niparavicius 0-1). Cincinnati 6-17 (Davus 1-1, McElroy 0-2, Stokes 2-4, Logan 2-5, Williams 1-3, Barker 0-2). Technical fouls— None. Officials— Ed Hightower, Tom O'Neill, Steve Olson.

Bearcats roll on, win 14th in a row UC notebook Women: Syracuse 70, Cincinnati 68

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