It was the single biggest shot of the season for the University of Cincinnati, and what was going through Donald Little's mind?

        “I was thinking about (Kenny) Satterfield,” the 6-foot-11 junior center said, referring to the former Bearcat. “I don't know why it came into my head.”

UC coach Bob Huggins talks with his players during a first half time-out. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

        Little was the improbable hero Friday night when he swished a 17-foot jump shot from the left side with three seconds left to give fourth-ranked UC a 63-62 victory over No.9 Marquette.

        The Bearcats were trailing by four points with 30 seconds remaining. UC senior Steve Logan got free when defender Cordell Henry fell — Henry said he was pushed — and nailed a 3-pointer in front of the UC bench to make it 62-61.

        “I just knew I couldn't miss that,” Logan said. “I probably would've packed my things up and left.”

        Cincinnati called a timeout with 22.4 seconds to play. Marquette sophomore Dwyane Wade was fouled right away, and he went to the line for a one-and-one situation with 20.2 seconds to go.

        He missed the first free throw. Little rebounded and ran down the court. Logan dribbled but couldn't get an open look. He sent the ball to Immanuel McElroy, who also was smothered.

        McElroy dribbled to the top of the foul line and passed to Little, who never hesitated. He fired up the winning jumper over 6-7 Oluoma Nnamaka.

        “No, it wasn't a play for Donald,” UC coach Bob Huggins said. “It was (for) Lo or Field (Williams).”

        “I was the last option,” Little said. “I didn't think I'd be shooting it; if anything, I thought I'd be offensive rebounding it and putting it back in. I was wide open and I just shot it and was hoping it went in, and it went in.”

        Marquette called a timeout to set up a final play. Shoemaker Center erupted when Henry's last-second shot from just inside midcourt bounced off the backboard, and the Bearcats mobbed Little.

        “I've got a bad back,” Logan said. “I wasn't going to try to pick him up.”

        UC (26-2) ended a three-game losing streak to Marquette and won its 16th straight at home. Most importantly, the Bearcats now lead Conference USA with a 13-1 record and are in better position to earn a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

        Cincinnati needs one victory in its final two regular-season games to clinch at least a share of the league's regular-season title for the seventh straight year and lock up the top seed in the conference tournament.

        The Bearcats play at Louisville Wednesday night and at home against Memphis on March 3. Marquette (23-4, 12-2) finishes at East Carolina Tuesday night and at home against DePaul next Friday. Those opponents are a combined 5-21 in league play.

        Logan led UC with 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting and added six rebounds and five assists. He solidified his chance at being named the league's player of the year for the second straight time. The 6- foot guard also moved into second place on UC's all-time assist list with 428, passing Oscar Robertson (425).

        Little had 12 points, eight rebounds and six blocks, which tied a career-high. He made all five of his field goal attempts, three of which were dunks.

        “We never gave up on the game, especially at the end,” Logan said. “We kept fighting.”

        UC was ahead 38-26 early in the second half, then Marquette scored 14 consecutive points, taking its first lead of the night on a Wade baseline jumper over Leonard Stokes to make it 40-38 with 14:39 left. UC went 4:53 without scoring.

        The game was tied at 38, 40, 43 and 51. Marquette took the lead on Henry's second straight 3-pointer. Logan pulled UC to 54-53 on a tough jumper ducking under the defender. Odartey Blankson scored inside for Marquette.

        The score remained 56-53 for 2 1/2 minutes as the nation's Nos. 6 and 7 defensive teams clamped down on each other. Logan stole an offensive rebound from Marquette center Scott Merritt. UC sophomore Field Williams tied it with a 3-pointer with 2:35 left.

        Merritt drew a foul on Jason Maxiell and hit two free throws to put Marquette ahead with 2:09 left.

        Then Wade blocked a McElroy jumper. With the shot clock running out, Marquette's Travis Diener faked Williams off his feet and ducked in for a short bank shot to put the Golden Eagles ahead 60-56 with 1:15 to go.

        Logan hit a fadeaway jumper for UC.

        Henry got free off a screen and hit a jumper for Marquette. It was 62-58.

        That set up the final shots by Logan and Little.

        Logan and McElroy both said they went to the basket to rebound in case Little missed.

        “It looked good, but coming from a big fella like D, you don't know what's going to happen,” Logan said. “... Actually, he's got a nice touch in practice when nobody's looking.”

        Wade led Marquette with 19 points, but he did not score in the final 10 minutes. He finished 9-of-19 from the field. Henry scored 13, and Merritt and Diener added 10 each for Marquette, which saw its 12-game winning streak come to an end.

        “I don't think there's any question they're a national championship contender,” Marquette coach Tom Crean said of UC. “Our guys battled the entire night, as did the Cincinnati guys. It turned out to be the kind of game hopefully people were expecting to see.”

        The first half was a series of runs. UC scored the game's first nine points and opened up a 20-4 lead as Marquette started 2-of-19 shooting from the field.

        Then the Bearcats went 5:05 without scoring. The Golden Eagles scored 13 in a row during a 20-4 run of their own.

        Marquette went cold again. It was outscored 10-0 in the final 4:18 of the half as the Bearcats trapped the ball all over the floor. Cincinnati went into the locker room with a 34-24 lead.

        “I was a little disappointed in the first half and a little bit in the second half,” Huggins said. “I thought we kind of let down at the defensive end. That's kind of what happened up there (in Milwaukee). And we've got to stop doing that.”

        Shoemaker Center had a Crosstown Shootout feel to it. The fans were as consistently loud as they've been all season, standing at the start of many timeouts and cheering loudly for big defensive stops.

        It was the first game between two top-10 Conference USA teams since No.8 Louisville beat No.7 UC 81-70 Jan.30, 1997.

Box Score

MARQUETTE (62)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Blankson        21   1-4   1-2   0-3  0  0    3
Nnamaka         32   2-8   1-1   3-5  2  1    5
Merritt         24   4-6   2-4   6-8  1  3   10
Wade            36  9-19   0-1   3-6  3  3   19
Henry           38  5-16   0-0   0-0  0  2   13
Diener          26   4-7   0-0   1-5  1  3   10
Diggs            4   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Harris          15   1-2   0-0   0-1  0  1    2
Sanders          4   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 26-63   4-8 13-28  7 14   62
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.413, FT-.500. 3-Point Goals:
6-17, .353 (Blankson 0-1, Nnamaka 0-1, Wade 1-2,
Henry 3-9, Diener 2-4). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked
shots: 3 (Merritt, Nnamaka, Wade). Turnovers: 9
(Merritt 4, Wade 2, Blankson, Henry). Steals: 5
(Wade 3, Blankson, Harris).


CINCINNATI (63)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Davis           37   4-8   0-0   2-4  2  1    9
Mcelroy         39   2-9   2-2   4-9  4  1    6
Little          18   5-5   2-2   3-8  0  4   12
Stokes          28   3-9   2-3   1-5  2  4    8
Logan           36  7-17   2-2   1-6  5  1   19
Williams        14   2-4   0-0   0-0  0  1    6
Barker           5   0-0   0-0   1-1  0  0    0
Crawford         1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Maxiell         22   1-5   1-2   2-5  0  3    3
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 24-57  9-11 14-38 13 15   63
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.421, FT-.818. 3-Point Goals:
6-18, .333 (Davis 1-2, Mcelroy 0-2, Stokes 0-3,
Logan 3-7, Williams 2-4). Team rebounds: 3.
Blocked shots: 9 (Little 6, Maxiell 2, Mcelroy).
Turnovers: 16 (Mcelroy 5, Little 4, Logan 3,
Stokes 3, Davis). Steals: 3 (Logan, Maxiell,
Williams).
__________________________________
Marquette          24   38  -   62
Cincinnati         34   29  -   63
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 13,176. Officials: Jim
Burr, Larry Ware, Steve Olson.

       

---

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