By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LOUISVILLE - If playing hard is the sole requirement for gaining readmission to their locker room, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats should be back in their luxury digs before long.
The Bearcats lost to No. 5 Louisville 77-71 Wednesday night before 19,942 fans at Freedom Hall but regained their fighting spirit, outrebounding the Cardinals by two and refusing to fold after falling behind by 16 points early in the second half.
"Our effort was there," said UC coach Bob Huggins, who said he was undecided about the locker room. "If we'll come back and respond and have that kind of passion, we can get some things done (in practice) and get a whole lot better."
The Cardinals (17-1, 7-0 Conference USA) have won 16 in a row, the longest winning streak in the nation. UC (13-6, 6-3) has lost three straight for the first time since 1998-99 and now almost surely will not win its eighth straight league title.
With No. 11 Oklahoma State coming Sunday to Shoemaker Center, the Bearcats face the prospect of losing four in a row for the first time since the Tony Yates era in 1987-88.
But UC approaches that next obstacle with a lot more confidence after the way it competed against Louisville.
"We showed some signs of maturity," said senior forward Leonard Stokes. "We stayed together as a team."
That the Bearcats were feeling good after a loss because they played so hard shows just how low their expectations have become.
It may have been the first time during Huggins' tenure when a loss didn't seem so bad.
"That's a sad state of affairs," Huggins said, "if we've stooped that low that we're into moral victories."
UC, which entered the game leading the nation in fewest turnovers with just 9.9 per game, committed 13 in the first half, a season-high 22 for the game.
Louisville's full-court pressure has bothered most if its opponents, but it wasn't the full-court pressure that hurt UC, which consistently threw away the ball after crossing midcourt.
"We didn't throw the ball around because of the press," Stokes said. "We were making passes that weren't there."
UC's usually feeble inside game was more formidable, led by sophomore forward Jason Maxiell, who scored 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
But the Bearcats were burned from the outside by Louisville freshman Francisco Garcia, who scored a career-high 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting from 3-point range.
"We helped off of him, and we weren't supposed to do that," Huggins said.
UC played its first game without junior guard Tony Bobbitt, an outside shooting threat whose specialty might have come in handy against Louisville, which held UC to 39.3 percent shooting.
Bobbitt left the team Monday.
"If we had Field (Williams) and him out there at the same time, they couldn't guard them both," Maxiell said. "He was a good teammate and a good friend. I'm upset with him."
The Bearcats trimmed Louisville's 16-point lead to 53-48 on a Stokes follow shot with 8:17 left and were still within seven with 2:39 to go when Garcia nailed a 3-pointer. UC then turned over the ball and Stokes fouled Larry O'Bannon, who converted two free throws to spread the lead to 11.
It was too much for UC to overcome.
Again, it was the Bearcats' full-court pressure that ignited the comeback. "I think you'll see us getting back to pressing," said associate head coach Dan Peters.
Huggins said only that it's something he'll look at, depending on the situation and whether the Bearcats continue to play with the fervor they demonstrated against Louisville.
"The sad part is if we played that hard the last two games, the outcome would have been different," Huggins said.
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| Cincinnati | M | FG | Att | FT | Att | R | A | F | TO | TP |
| Maxiell | 34 | 8 | 14 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 21 |
| Johnson | 19 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| Williams | 36 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 14 |
| Stokes | 38 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 |
| Barker | 31 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| Land | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Moore | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Hollman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Lucas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hicks | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Flowers | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kirkland | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Totals | 200 | 24 | 61 | 16 | 24 | 41 | 8 | 23 | 22 | 71 |
Team rebounds - 2.
| Louisville | M | FG | Att | FT | Att | R | A | F | TO | TP |
| Myles | 20 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| Brown | 25 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Stone | 33 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Dean | 20 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Gaines | 31 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 17 |
| Dartez | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Northern | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Whitehead | 20 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Garcia | 25 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 24 |
| O'Bannon | 10 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Totals | 200 | 25 | 61 | 18 | 24 | 39 | 15 | 25 | 19 | 77 |
Team rebounds - 1.
| Cincinnati | 25 | 46 | -71 |
| Louisville | 37 | 40 | -77 |
3-pointers - UC 7-15 (Williams 4-9, Stokes 0-1, Barker 2-2, Moore 0-1, Flowers 0-1, Kirkland 1-1), L 9-24 (Brown 0-1, Dean 0-4, Gaines 1-7, Northern 0-1, Garcia 8-11). Technicals - None. Officials - Welmer, O'Neill, Thornley. Attendance - 19,942.
