By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

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LOUISVILLE - Kenyon Martin wasn't good enough. Neither was Steve Logan nor Danny Fortson.

In fact, not one player who has ever played a game in Conference USA was good enough to make ESPN's Silver Anniversary C-USA team that was announced at halftime of the University of Cincinnati's 93-66 loss at Louisville on Wednesday night.

The team included Louisville's Darrell Griffith and Memphis' Penny Hardaway at guard, DePaul's Mark Aguirre and Houston's Clyde Drexler at forward, and Houston's Akeem Olajuwon at center.

All five of those players played at their respective C-USA schools before the league began competition in 1995.

OFFENSIVE FRUSTRATION: UC coach Bob Huggins took some of the blame for not having his players in their proper places when they pressed and for not having them ready to play against a Louisville team that dominated them in every area Wednesday night.

Mostly, though, he was frustrated, especially by the Bearcats' lack of execution on offense.

"We had four or five possessions in a row ... when we took it and tried to run it through five guys," Huggins said. "They're not Corey Dillon. Pass the ball."

KIRKLAND RETURNS: Sophomore forward Armein Kirkland, who missed UC's previous three games with a sprained left knee, entered the game with 12:11 to go in the first half, and although he was clearly not 100 percent, he was agile enough to bring the ball up the court against the Cardinals' pressure.

He played 15 minutes and scored five points with four rebounds.

"It's all right with the brace on," Kirkland said. "It limits my mobility a little bit, but it keeps the leg in its place."

HUGGINS TECHNICAL: Huggins, who went through UC's first 12 games without a technical foul, was whistled for his second in as many games when official Ed Hightower slapped him with one at the 15:57 mark of the first half after Huggins protested a foul call on Tony Bobbitt.

The Bearcats went on a 9-0 run immediately after the technical.

BOBBITT'S NIGHT: Making his first appearance against Louisville in Freedom Hall, Bobbitt had a rough night.

He scored just eight points, breaking a string of six straight double-figure scoring nights, and fouled out with 5:50 to go.

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com