UC 103, OAKLAND 78

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24 x 3 = Rout

Sunday, December 6, 1998

BY MIKE DeCOURCY BR>The Cincinnati Enquirer

UC's Steve Logan guards Oakland's Brad Buddenborg. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

It's probably true an investor can never be too rich and a model can never be too thin, but a basketball player looking to launch a jumpshot can, apparently, be too open.

Cincinnati Bearcats point guard Steve Logan struggled to make a jumpshot in the first five minutes of Saturday night's home opener against Oakland. Backcourt partner Melvin Levett was even worse. Which was pretty much the way Oakland coach Greg Kampe had it figured.

"They're sixth in the country, and we're not," Kampe said. "We didn't think they shot well, and we'd give them the three. We thought if we scored, they wouldn't hit. Early on, there was some tightness in them."

The No. 6 Bearcats relaxed after a lineup switch improved their pressure defense and their eagerness to shoot, and Logan and Levett returned to eventually make eight three-pointers each and finish with matching 28-point totals in a 106-78 victory before 13,176 at the Shoemaker Center.

The Bearcats earned school and Conference USA records with 24 three-point field goals. Their 48 attempts was a school mark. Oakland's 15 threes and 34 attempts tied records for UC opponents.

"Once they saw they could dominate defensively," Kampe said, "they relaxed."

Kenyon Martin flips a pass downcourt. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Kampe was a bit defensive about his defensive strategy, and it was unusual enough to require some explanation.

UC appeared to be a weak-shooting team on the stat sheet after four games, hitting .314 (16-of-51) from three-point range. Oakland figured the Bearcats would be worse with junior guard Alvin Mitchell, their most accurate long-distance shooter, possibly out with an ankle injury.

Ordinarly, Oakland plays a 1-2-2 zone and tries to pressure players on the wings. Against UC, which Kampe considers the best offensive rebounding team in the country, the Golden Grizzlies (2-5) set up in a 1-1-3 alignment that concentrated all their defenders in the lane.

That left Logan and Levett free to fire from the wings and corners. Of UC's first 13 shots, 10 came from long distance. Of the 10, the Bearcats made only two, both by Logan.

"With any person, you miss a couple shots, you tend to be hesitant on that third one," Levett said. "It was so surprising they never sent anyone to even contest any shot at all."

Falling behind 14-8, coach Bob Huggins sent in Mitchell along with guards Michael Horton and Shawn Myrick. Mitchell made four three-pointers in his cameo appearance. He shot UC into the lead, and using three small guards in a pressure defense put a stop to Oakland's three-point attack.

Oakland wasn't convinced to alter its zone until Mitchell made all four of his threes. Myrick complemented those with a couple more for a 18-4 Bearcats run and a 26-18 edge.

"If I had it to do all over again, as soon as 14 (Mitchell) came into the game, I'd go to the box-and-one," Kampe said. "But the problem wasn't him making them. The problem was that we panicked and couldn't score. We can score points, but we weren't getting shots."

3s breeze for Logan Tim Sullivan column
Notebook: Mitchell makes minutes count
Season in stories

OAKLAND (78)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
D Champagne     40  7-11   2-2   4-6  1  3   19
Buddenborg      35  7-18   0-0   3-8  1  2   19
J Champagne     28   3-5   0-0   2-4  2  4    6
Thom            38  7-16   0-0   0-9  2  1   19
Carlson         27   1-5   0-0   0-6  3  1    2
Rozycki         21   3-5   5-6   0-2  1  2   13
Reynolds         3   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Covington        6   0-1   0-0   0-2  1  0    0
Williams         1   0-0   0-2   1-1  0  1    0
Hiller           1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 28-62  7-10 10-38 11 15   78
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.452, FT-.700. 3-Point Goals:
15-34, .441 (D Champagne 3-3, Buddenborg 5-10,
Thom 5-12, Carlson 0-3, Rozycki 2-4, Reynolds
0-1, Covington 0-1). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked
shots: None. Turnovers: 23 (Carlson 6, Buddenborg
4, Thom 4, D Champagne 3, Rozycki 2, Williams 2,
J Champagne, Reynolds). Steals: 1 (D Champagne).


CINCINNATI (106)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Fletcher        25   2-2   0-0   2-7  0  0    4
Mickeal         27  5-14   2-2   4-7  1  3   14
Martin          24   0-2   2-2   2-7  0  2    2
Levett          27 10-20   0-0   0-1  0  3   28
Logan           26 10-16   0-0   0-2  8  0   28
Mcghee           9   3-4   1-2   1-4  0  1    7
Land            12   0-1   1-2   1-2  0  2    1
Horton          16   1-5   0-2   0-1 10  1    2
Mitchell         7   4-6   0-0   0-1  1  0   12
Myrick          12   2-7   0-0   0-0  4  1    6
Little          15   1-1   0-0   0-2  0  1    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 38-78  6-10 10-34 24 14  106
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.487, FT-.600. 3-Point Goals:
24-48, .500 (Mickeal 2-3, Levett 8-16, Logan
8-14, Mcghee 0-1, Horton 0-1, Mitchell 4-6,
Myrick 2-7). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 2
(Martin, Little). Turnovers: 6 (Horton 2, Martin
2, Levett, Logan). Steals: 13 (Horton 4, Fletcher
3, Logan 2, Mickeal 2, Little, Martin).
__________________________________
Oakland            27   51  -   78
Cincinnati         54   52  -  106
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 13,176. Officials:
Mark Whitehead, Terry Moore, Jackie Sanders.