By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

VALPARAISO, Ind. - As the final seconds ticked away, University of Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins looked to the press table and said, "Less than artistic, huh?"

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Tuesday's game

The 19th-ranked Bearcats (4-0) were putting the finishing touches on a 68-49 victory Tuesday night over Valparaiso (1-3), a team that entered the game with a 113-14 record in the Athletics-Recreation Center over the last 10 years.

UC committed 19 turnovers, missed 11 free throws and shot just 39.2 percent from the field, but Huggins can live with a little less artistic flair as long as the effort is there.

And it was Tuesday in a tough environment where 5,126 fans jammed into a tiny facility and cast their verbal aspersions on the Bearcats from just a few feet away.

"We didn't play particularly well," Huggins said, "but we played hard, and that's a start."

Jason Maxiell led UC with 20 points and 11 rebounds, his second double-double of the season. Tony Bobbitt scored 15 for the Bearcats, all in the first half, and Field Williams added 14 points with a career-high nine rebounds.

UC played without junior center Robert Whaley, who stayed back in Cincinnati. He's scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee today in Cincinnati.

Senior Kareem Johnson started in Whaley's place and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Whaley injured his knee two weeks ago before the Akron game but has been bothered by a torn meniscus. With the Bearcats off until Feb. 17, the UC staff and Whaley agreed this would be the ideal time to have the surgery.

"We didn't want to jeopardize his future, whatever that it is," Huggins said, "and we didn't want it to happen January or February."

Buoyed by Johnson's rebounding effort, the Bearcats outrebounded Valpo, 42-26, after getting outrebounded by Coppin State last Saturday.

"If you don't rebound, there's a lot of running going on," Maxiell said. "The last game we got outrebounded, so we've got to make that up tomorrow on our day off."

Maxiell said the Bearcats probably will serve their penance in the cardio room, which is where they usually end up if they are either outrebounded or fail to outrebound their opponents by 15 or 20 rebounds.

The Bearcats didn't press and trap as much as they had in their previous three games but played solid half-court defense, forcing Valpo into 20 turnovers and limiting the Crusaders to 36.2 percent shooting.

Valparaiso coach Homer Drew said it was hard to tell that the Bearcats were missing their starting center.

"They just reloaded with someone else," he said. "There was just one less in the rotation."

Drew, whose team lost to Marquette by five and South Florida by two, said UC is better than both of its Conference USA rivals.

"Cincinnati has the edge just in depth," he said.

This time the Bearcats also had the edge in effort.

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E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com

Cincinnati	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Kirkland	19	2	5	0	0	1	0	3	4	5
Maxiell	22	4	7	12	20	11	1	1	2	20
Johnson	22	2	3	0	0	10	1	2	3	4
F.Williams	37	5	13	2	2	9	2	1	1	14
N.Williams	22	2	7	6	8	2	0	3	1	10
Moore	12	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	2	0
Lucas	7	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	2	0
Hicks	24	0	1	0	0	2	0	2	0	0
Bobbitt	29	5	14	0	1	4	4	1	3	15
Totals	200	20	51	20	31	42	10	16	19	68

Team rebounds - 2.

Valparaiso	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Howard	16	4	10	1	1	2	1	3	0	9
D.Oppland	23	1	3	0	0	2	0	2	1	2
Gomes	29	3	7	4	4	5	1	4	3	10
Nieves	14	0	5	1	4	0	0	3	1	1
Berdiel	28	3	7	2	3	1	5	5	7	9
Miles	27	1	5	2	2	4	2	2	4	5
Sylla	10	0	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	0
Mbaye	10	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	1	2
Colclasure	19	2	2	2	3	2	0	1	1	7
M.Oppland	5	0	1	0	0	1	0	2	0	0
Harris	18	2	4	0	0	2	1	1	1	4
Totals	199	17	47	12	18	26	11	26	20	49

Team rebounds - 6.

Cincinnati	37	31	-68
Valparaiso	24	25	-49

3-pointers - UC 8-23 (Kirkland 1-1, F.Williams 2-9, N.Williams 0-3, Bobbitt 5-10), V 3-17 (Howard 0-3, Gomes 0-3, Nieves 0-2, Berdiel 1-3, Miles 1-3, Colclasure 1-2, M.Oppland 0-1). Technicals - None. Officials - Rose, Croft, Sanders. Attendance - 5,126.