BY PAUL DAUGHERTY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Nothing personal, but the maid would have been even money against Butler yesterday. The Bulldogs shot 29 percent in the first half, 33 for the game. They stumbled through the University of Cincinnati's press. The Bulldogs were a 14th seed. They behaved like it.

So if you're the Bearcats, leading by 22 at halftime, maybe you shouldn't beat yourselves up for letting down in the second half. It's human nature.

''It is human nature,'' Danny Fortson agreed. ''But human nature can get you into trouble.''

At least the Bearcats know themselves. They let Butler edge back to within 10 points late in the game, before winning, 86-69. It wasn't that close.

Still, with a UC team convinced it belongs in Indianapolis at the end of the month, a win is no longer a win. It has to come with style points attached, and there was nothing stylish about the second half Thursday, which Butler won, 52-47.

Darnell Burton, who enjoys shooting far more than talking, summed it up nicely: ''We didn't run our offense. We didn't play defense. We was up 20 and relaxed. We knew we could beat them.''

''I don't know what happened. It was poor on our part, and it's happened too many times this year for it to keep happening,'' said Melvin Levett, sounding dangerously like his coach, Bob Huggins. ''Say it happened against Iowa State. We keep having those mental lapses, it's going to kill us.

''Don't you think the other teams were watching us? We don't handle the ball strong when (Butler) was pressing us. Other teams are going to see that.

''Major mishaps,'' Levett decided.

Butler all talk

Actually, the only major mishap

I saw came in the second half, when Butler's T.J. Perry wrestled Fortson for a rebound, then talked smack to Fortson after a foul was called.

The refs called a technical foul on Perry for that. They should have given him a bodyguard.

Woofing Fortson? Are you kidding me?

''(Perry) really didn't want nothing to do with me,'' Fortson decided later.

''He can talk all he wants with the ref around. I'm not going to say anything. I'm a good sport,'' Fortson said, tongue languishing in cheek.

Beyond that, it was a first-round game begging for a 10-run rule. If UC only played for 20 minutes, well, that was all that was required.

Not great, but enough

Observations? The Bearcats didn't handle the ball well. Twenty-one turnovers against a slower team that didn't press until it had to is not encouraging.

Take away Fortson and Burton, and UC didn't shoot very well, either. Ruben Patterson reinjured his ankle slightly early on, playing just 22 minutes, scoring six. The Bearcats will not go much longer with only Fortson and Burton making noise.

And this team does have a tendency to daydream when things run smoothly, no matter the opponent. The Bearcats blew a 16-point lead against Kansas that way.

''That's just the way we are,'' Fortson conceded. ''I hate to admit it. It's a mistake. We're working on it.''

Another observation: It's possible to be called for walking when your feet aren't on the ground. Levett levitated over a prone Bulldog late in the game, attempting a layup. The whistle sounded while Levett was in midair. This would not happen to Michael Jordan.

''I fell over top of the dude. I thought they'd call a foul on him,'' Levett said.

Other than that, this scrum proved nothing. You figured the Bearcats attention spans might be affected after they heard a reporter say this to Butler coach Barry Collier on Wednesday, after the Bulldogs shoot-around at The Palace.

''Barry,'' he said, ''I worked the crowd, and I couldn't find anybody who knew where Butler was.''

Sometimes, the first round is a minefield. Other times, it's a sleepwalk. The Bearcats saw it as both.

And Butler is in Indianapolis. I looked it up.

You can call Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty at 768-8454.