By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Point guard Taron Barker had no points, one assist and no turnovers in 20 minutes. (Mike Simons photo) | ZOOM |

Maybe somewhere amid all the elements on the Shoemaker Center court Saturday night there's a decent Cincinnati basketball team. But it's difficult to fathom now.

UC slapped a 71-51 exhibition defeat on outmanned Division II Northern Kentucky, at times displaying an effective defense but frequently appearing lost on offense.

What was obvious before the game remained obvious afterward: UC has not found a replacement for Steve Logan at point guard.

And, if you're wondering, UC coach Bob Huggins was his old animated self, just as he promised. He screamed at officials, berated his players and kicked the scorer's table when NKU's Mike Kelsey, who led the Norse with 19 points, hit an open 3-pointer late in the game.

Bob Huggins sat calmly, (Mike Simons photo) | ZOOM |

spoke calmly and (Mike Simons photo) | ZOOM |

argued with a ref (Mike Simons photo) | ZOOM |

He also kept his players in the locker room for the entire halftime, allowing them to return only in time to peel off their warm-ups and walk onto the court for the start of play.

"I wasn't so much upset as frustrated," Huggins said. "We didn't do anything we worked on. It was kind of like open gym."

Newcomer Eric Hicks dunks. (Mike Simons photo) | ZOOM |

For NKU, which lost by 28 points to UC last year, this was an improvement.

"We hung in there," said NKU coach Ken Shields. "But needless to say, they have a lot of new personnel at the University of Cincinnati."

Senior forward Leonard Stokes led UC with 19 points. Field Williams had 12 and Jason Maxiell 11. But the Bearcats shot only 34.8 percent from the field and committed 16 turnovers.

"It was horrible," said Taron Barker, the leading candidate for the starting point guard position.

Perhaps some of the sloppiness can be attributed to the numerous combinations of players Huggins utilized. In addition to Barker at point guard, he tried freshmen Armein Kirkland and Chadd Moore and sophomore Jamaal Lucas.

Leonard Stokes had 19 points. (Mike Simons photo) | ZOOM |

Barker had no points, one assist and no turnovers in 20 minutes.

"I know a little bit better what Taron can do, so I wanted to see some other guys," Huggins said. "We've got to have a backup. But I don't think anybody played very well."

Neither did Stokes, the senior leader of this group.

"We do have a lot of new guys," Stokes said. "But that's no excuse."

Huggins knew it would be difficult to come out of the gate swinging with seven newcomers this season. He's looking for two or three veterans to help the rookies.

This year, he's counting on Stokes and Maxiell to fill that role.

"I thought Lenny was really good in the second half," Huggins said. "Max is a sophomore, but if we're going to win, he can't play like a sophomore. He has to play like a junior or senior and he didn't do that today."

NKU	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Smith	33	5	13	0	0	7	1	3	5	10
St-Preux	17	0	8	1	2	3	0	2	3	1
Seabrooks	25	3	7	3	4	6	1	4	3	9
Kelsey	33	5	8	4	5	1	0	2	2	19
B.Stowers	36	0	9	3	5	4	5	2	3	3
J.Stowers	17	0	1	0	1	4	2	1	1	0
Howell	15	0	2	0	0	1	2	3	3	0
Rowland	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Murphy	2	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0
Rupe	21	4	6	1	3	8	0	3	1	9
Totals	200	17	55	12	20	38	12	20	22	51

Team rebounds - 3.

Cincinnati	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Stokes	28	6	12	7	8	2	3	3	3	19
Maxiell	26	4	11	3	4	9	0	2	1	11
Flowers	11	1	4	0	0	2	0	0	3	2
Williams	28	4	9	0	0	6	3	2	3	12
Barker	20	0	4	0	2	4	1	2	0	0
Land	10	1	4	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Moore	9	2	2	0	0	1	3	1	2	4
Meeker	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Hollman	16	0	1	0	0	4	0	4	0	0
Lucas	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hicks	9	2	2	1	2	3	1	0	0	5
Bobbitt	18	3	8	1	2	0	3	3	0	8
Kirkland	10	1	2	2	2	0	0	0	2	4
Johnson	9	1	4	0	1	4	0	3	2	2
Totals	200	26	65	14	21	43	14	20	16	71

Team rebounds - 6.

NKU	22	29	--51
UC	34	37	--71

3-pointers - NKU 5-13 (St-Preux 0-1, Kelsey 5-8, B.Stowers 0-2, Howell 0-2), UC 5-16 (Stokes 0-2, Williams 4-7, Barker 0-1, Meeker 0-1, Bobbitt 1-4, Kirkland 0-1). Technicals -None. Officials - Steve Welmer, James Breeding, Brent Hampton. Attendance - 10,820.