Jason Maxiell is pretty sure he is just scratching the surface of his talent. He has put together the most productive three-game stretch of his brief college career, yet he insists he is not in any kind of groove yet.

        We have witnessed the blocked shots, the seemingly out-of-reach rebounds, the soft turnaround jumper and the ferocious dunks.

        What else is there to see?

        “Plenty,” Maxiell said.

        The University of Cincinnati freshman has averaged 14.3 points and 9.7 rebounds and has shot 79.2 percent from the field over the past three games — all in an average of just 21 minutes a game.

        The Carrollton, Texas, native is coming off his second double-double (15 points, 13 rebounds vs. Charlotte) and is heading back to his home state for the 10th-ranked Bearcats' game at Houston on Saturday. He expects about 25 friends and family members to make the three-hour drive.

        The way Maxiell has been playing, he is not likely to disappoint.

        “What I like the most is he's gotten better and better and better,” UC coach Bob Huggins said Thursday. “He's really a good listener. In that regard, he's similar to Kenyon (Martin). Kenyon absorbed everything that you tried to teach him, and Max is that way. The guys who do that are the guys who improve a lot more, and he certainly has done that.”

        For at least the first two months after practices started in October, Huggins repeatedly answered questions about Maxiell by saying how much he had to learn about basketball.

        Maxiell, a 6-foot-7 reserve forward/center, said, “There's a lot more to defense than I thought there was.” And he can feel himself making strides, playing better off the ball, finding himself in better position for rebounds.

        “He's in the right place offensively and he's in the right place defensively more often,” Huggins said.

        “I just understand the game a lot better,” Maxiell said. “I'm relaxed on the court instead of uptight and thinking too much. I'm used to Huggs a lot more. If I keep on doing what I'm doing, I can help out the team a lot more.”

        Maxiell is second on the team in blocked shots (19) and dunks (11) this season. His overall field goal percentage (.598) ranks third in Conference USA.

        And with three solid big men, Huggins has the ability to bench someone who is not playing hard or not playing well, and UC doesn't have to panic should Jamaal Davis or Donald Little get in early foul trouble.

DAUGHERTY: Have local prep stars slipped by? Maxiell says best yet to come

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