By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The game wasn't even two minutes old and already Bob Huggins' ire had been raised. "Give me five!" he yelled down the bench.

Oakland's Cortney Scott is hounded by Jason Maxiell (right) and Chadd Moore. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

Tony Bobbitt jumped up as soon as he heard those words. So did Chadd Moore, Eric Hicks, Jamaal Lucas and Kareem Johnson.

"I was surprised when he called for five," Moore said. "I was the first one to jump up."

"I practically ran over the ref to get in," Bobbitt said.

The second five immediately swarmed all over Oakland, outscoring the Grizzlies 13-2 over the next 3:13 to turn a 4-4 tie into a 17-6 lead, and the 19th-ranked Bearcats (2-0) were on their way to an 89-60 win over the Grizzlies Monday night before 10,266 fans at Fifth Third Arena.

But the performance, although dominating at times, left Huggins contemplating changes.

"I wasn't very happy with the five we started," Huggins said. "We may be starting the wrong guys. We're starting too many guys who don't play with any energy and you can't start a game with no energy, so we're going to take a hard look at the guys we put out there first."

Oakland (2-3) lost to Xavier last week 76-66 in the championship game of the BCA Classic, and to Michigan 84-58 last Friday.

Junior forward Jason Maxiell led UC with a career-high 26 points and 12 rebounds, his 10th career double-double. Moore scored a career-high 15 points off the bench. Eric Hicks had a double-double with 11 points and career-high 10 rebounds.

"Eric gave us some energy," Huggins said, "but it's got to be an all-the-time thing. That's what we're trying to get through to him. A lot of people play some of the time. We want to get back to where we play all the time."

Nick Williams loses control of the ball during a fastbreak. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

Maxiell scored 12 points and had nine of his rebounds in the second half.

"We need it from Max," Bobbitt said. "Max is our leader. He came out in the second half and demanded the ball."

Maxiell said the massive substitutions so early in the game gave the starters a bit of a jolt.

"It got us a little upset," Maxiell said. "That's why we came back and played harder."

But not hard enough to suit Huggins.

UC led by as many as 27 in the first half and by 22 at halftime, but lost its focus midway through the second half and allowed the Grizzlies to get within 69-55 with 8:19 left before Moore drilled a 3-pointer to stop a 9-0 run.

The good news for UC is that Huggins has the depth to enable him to use so many players.

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E-mail: bkoch@enquirer.com

Oakland	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Marshall	40	7	14	7	10	7	1	0	5	24
Scott	31	4	12	2	3	3	1	3	1	10
Sabourin	6	2	2	1	2	1	0	2	0	5
K. Williams	17	0	3	0	0	0	1	2	2	0
Helms	30	4	18	4	6	2	4	4	6	13
Gilmore	10	1	1	2	2	0	1	1	0	4
Ishmeal	21	0	0	1	2	1	0	1	4	1
Dukes	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
C. Williams	18	0	2	1	2	6	1	3	1	1
Ritzema	5	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0
Hopes	18	1	4	0	0	3	1	4	1	2
Totals	200	19	57	18	27	30	10	22	21	60

Team rebounds - 5.

Cincinnati	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Kirkland	18	2	4	2	2	1	4	2	0	7
Maxiell	30	10	15	6	6	12	0	2	2	26
Whaley	13	3	7	0	0	2	3	3	2	6
F. Williams	32	3	6	0	0	2	1	2	1	7
N. Williams	18	1	5	0	0	1	2	3	3	3
Moore	16	7	10	0	0	1	4	0	3	15
Meeker	6	0	2	0	2	2	1	1	0	0
Lucas	16	0	1	1	2	2	2	1	0	1
Hicks	21	5	5	1	8	10	2	3	4	11
Bobbitt	13	4	7	0	0	3	2	3	1	8
Johnson	17	2	2	1	2	2	3	1	1	5
Totals	200	37	64	11	22	43	24	21	17	89

Team rebounds - 5.

Oakland	30	30	-60
Cincinnati	52	37	-89

3-pointers - Oakland 4-20 (Marshall 3-7, K. Williams 0-1, Helms 1-9, Dukes 0-1, C. Williams 0-2), Cincinnati 4-15 (Kirkland 1-2, F. Williams 1-4, N. Williams 1-3, Moore 1-2, Meeker 0-2, Bobbitt 0-2). Attendance - 10, 266.