With Tony Bobbitt, you never know. The guy is a bomb in your hand. Sometimes his fuse is lit; sometimes it's wet. "We count on Tony about once a month," Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins said.

There is no explaining 29 points in one game, then 30 combined in the next six. That's Bobbitt. Three weeks ago, Bobbitt lit up Marquette for 16 points in 11 minutes. He celebrated by quitting the team for a game. You don't need a coach to figure him out. Try a Ouija board.

Bobbitt's delightful lack of shooting conscience Saturday punched the overrated, under-confident Louisville Cardinals right in the beak. Bobbitt buried three 3-pointers at the end of the first half, to stretch UC's lead from six points to 14.

Not that the Cards were very good before that. They weren't. "We were no good. I was no good," was coach Rick Pitino's appraisal.

The fourth-ranked Cardinals didn't do much but foul every Bearcat they could reach. Forty fouls made for 58 UC free throw attempts and 42 makes. It was like watching Pop-a-Shot. The only thing missing was quarters. All the fouls made for an artistic mudpie. At more than 2½ hours, the game looked like oxen, pulling something.

UC's Leonard Stokes can... finger roll. (Criag Ruttle photos) | ZOOM |

Jason Maxiell takes it strong to the hole. | ZOOM |

Tony Bobbitt gets the crowd going. | ZOOM |

Louisville coach Rick Pitino leaves the court after getting his second "T". | ZOOM |

Louisville was off its game from the beginning; Bobbitt's 3s simply confirmed it. "Instant offense," Pitino called him. "If he's on, you go with him. If not, you take him out."

We wanted to hear what Bobbitt had to say about it. But the UC players voted not to talk to the heathen media. Apparently, it has been some sort of rallying cry for them lately. Circle the wagons, stiff the press. Hey, whatever gets you through the night.

In the big scheme, what they're really doing is stiffing their fans, who might like to know how the players feel about a big win. If stiffing their fans is OK with the UC players, their coach and their athletic department, swell. If you want some player wisdom regarding Saturday's game, call the Bearcats basketball office, sports publicity office or the athletic director and have them track some down for you.

Anyway ...

A few things we learned Saturday

• By UC standards, this isn't a great team. But it still has enough occasional offense to be dangerous. Bobbitt's occasion was Saturday. He is the ultimate no ... no ... yes! shooter.

• Anybody who says he knows who's really good in college basketball this winter is lying, and;

• UC is a whole lot better when Leonard Stokes is asserting himself. Stokes had 31 points in 34 minutes, most of them while attacking the basket like Corey Dillon running between the tackles.

Finding significance beyond that is pointless, because the Bearcats could follow this magical win with an equally tragic-al loss to East Carolina on Wednesday. That's just how this team is.

Pitino white-flagged the game with 12 minutes left, UC ahead by 27, by filling the court with five reserves. The coach excused himself a minute later, drawing two technical fouls on what he thought was a terrible no-call. Pitino left quickly but not until he looked at all three refs and said, "That was a foul."

Maybe it was. They called everything else.

"We got a directive out of the blue from the league office two weeks ago that hand-checking won't be allowed," Pitino said afterward. "There was no mention of people being thrown out of bounds."

Now, that's a great quote.

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E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com