By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Armein Kirkland had started both of the University of Cincinnati's exhibition games and was listed as a starter for the season opener on the note sheet put out by the UC sports information office.

But when the starting lineups were announced Saturday, the sophomore swingman found himself on the bench as Jamaal Lucas took his place at center court for the opening tipoff.

"He played better in practice," UC coach Bob Huggins said of Lucas after the game, "and I was tired of watching some guys walk around."

Huggins had wasted no time in showing his players that things are going to be different this year, that he has enough depth to bench those who don't put forth a maximum effort all the time.

"Last year we were searching just to find five of them who go out there and play," Huggins said Sunday. "We're worlds ahead of where we were a year ago. I think they understand that there's a lot of competition."

The 18th-ranked Bearcats (1-0), who play Oakland (2-2) at 7:30 p.m. today at Fifth Third Arena, not only understand that there's more competition, Kirkland said, they welcome it.

"Personally I'm happy that I've got other guys on my team that, if I'm not doing my job, there's other guys that can play," Kirkland said. "You don't go into a game thinking that I've got to play hard or I'm going to come out. I play hard so I can win. That's all I think about when I'm out there."

Kirkland played well when he did get into UC's 88-66 win over Akron. In 17 minutes, he scored nine points, grabbed four rebounds and recorded two assists.

"He was really unselfish," Huggins said. "He should be the guy everybody wants on their team instead of the guy they don't want on their team. He can pass the ball, he can see over the defense. He can do a lot of things. If we can get Armein to that point, he has a chance to be a special player."

Huggins sent another message with 8:04 left. The Bearcats led by 20 at the time, but Akron had just scored on two uncontested layups, so the UC coach benched all five of the players on the floor at the time and replaced them with fresh troops, a luxury he didn't have last year. "It's all about getting wins," Kirkland said. "That's what we did last night. Everybody played and everybody played good. That's all that matters."

Huggins used 11 players against Akron. Eight played at least 15 minutes. Three scored in double figures and three others scored nine points apiece. Only point guard Nick Williams played as many as 30 minutes.

"We've got a lot of players who can make shots," said guard Tony Bobbitt, who led UC with 21 points. "It's not like last year. Coming down the court last year you didn't know who could score. You could put different guys in situations and they couldn't score."

Oakland at UC

Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. today, Fifth Third Arena (13,176).

Records: UC 1-0, Oakland 2-2.

Radio: WLW-AM (700).

TV: None.

UC

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Armein Kirkland	So.	6-8	9.0
Jason Maxiell	Jr.	6-7	9.0
Robert Whaley	Jr.	6-10	9.0
Field Williams	Sr.	6-3	12.0
Nick Williams	Jr.	6-4	14.0

Coach: Bob Huggins (350-112, 15th year; 518-184 overall.)

OAKLAND

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Kelly Williams	Sr.	6-5	5.8
Cortney Scott	Jr.	6-6	10.3
Jordan Sabourin	Sr.	7-0	0.5
Mike Helms	Sr.	6-0	21.8
Rawle Marshall	Jr.	6-7	19.8

Coach: Greg Kampe (325-221, 20th year; same overall.)

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E-mail: bkoch@enquirer.com