By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati forward Jason Maxiell shoots over Oklahoma State defender Andre Williams. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

All season long, the University of Cincinnati coaching staff has waited for the front line to carry its weight.

During the last two games, the Bearcats' big guys have received the message.

Forward Jason Maxiell scored a career-high 24 points in UC's 61-50 victory over Oklahoma State on Sunday for his second straight 20-plus game.

Center Kareem Johnson grabbed nine rebounds for the second straight game, and forward Eric Hicks had seven rebounds and six points in 19 minutes.

"I thought our big guys just got outplayed by their big people," Cowboys coach Eddie Sutton said.

UC coach Bob Huggins was especially pleased by Hicks' play and forward Leonard Stokes' 10 rebounds.

"Lenny gets 10 rebounds," Huggins said. "He's had months where he didn't get 10 rebounds. Lenny going in and helping with rebounding has helped us a bunch."

LOCKER ROOM BAN: Huggins was non-committal about whether he would allow his players to return to their locker room after Sunday's victory. But it appears as if his decision to throw them out after last Saturday's loss to Marquette worked.

Still, Stokes said the Bearcats haven't earned readmission yet.

"That's just one game," he said.

FOUR CORNERS: With about eight minutes left in the first half, Oklahoma State went to a four-corners offense. The Cowboys ran the shot clock down under 10 seconds, then cleared out for a one-on-one situation, usually with point guard Victor Williams looking for a shot.

Oklahoma State committed three shot-clock violations using that strategy.

BOBBITT PLAYS: UC junior guard Tony Bobbitt played six minutes in his first game back since quitting the team last week. He missed both shots he took.

GOOD DEFENSE: Sutton was impressed with UC's defense. "You have to give them credit," he said. "I think they're comparable to Oklahoma and Texas and Kansas."

UC at a glance

Streak stopper

The Bearcats' victory snapped a three-game losing streak: at DePaul (56-52), to Marquette (82-76) and at Louisville (77-71). UC has never lost four straight in coach Bob Huggins' 13-plus seasons.

Not in our house

The victory kept UC from losing consecutive home games for the first time since moving into Shoemaker Center in 1989.

Quality victory

UC improved to 14-6 with its second victory over a Top 25 team. Oklahoma State was ranked 11th and entered Sunday's game No. 1 in the Ratings Percentage Index. The Bearcats entered the game No. 20 in the RPI. UC previously beat then-No. 5 Oregon 77-52.

The road ahead

Sat.	at Charlotte
Feb. 18	vs. St Louis
Feb. 22	vs. Louisville
Feb. 26	vs. E. Carolina
Mar. 1	at Memphis
Mar. 5	vs. UAB
Mar. 8	at Marquette
Mar. 12	C-USA tourn.

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com