B.J. Grove (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        BAYAMON, Puerto Rico — Steve Logan wasn't even supposed to play Thursday.

        The University of Cincinnati junior had been wearing a boot with ice water circulating through it on his sprained left ankle. He had six treatment sessions from the time he was injured Wednesday.

        After he warmed up before the Bearcats' game against Clemson, Logan knew he could go.

        But nobody anticipated 18 points in 31 minutes. That's what Logan gave UC in an 88-80 victory over the Tigers in the semifinals of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.

        Logan, who said “I never stopped feeling pain,” scored 11 points in the final 4:19, including the biggest shot of the game.

        “Based on looking at it on the bench after the injury, I'm amazed,” UC athletic trainer Jayd Grossman said. “Most of it is he's a tough kid.”

Jamaal Davis | ZOOM |

        “I didn't think there was any way he'd play,” coach Bob Huggins said. “That's how much I know. Lo's a great competitor. He's always been that way. Jayd did a great job. Jayd was with him pretty much all night trying to take the swelling out of it.”

        The only two ranked teams in the Holiday Classic field — No.22 Cincinnati (7-2) and No.17 Alabama (9-0) — meet for the championship at 6:30 p.m. today.

        Clemson (7-3) plays Washington for third place at 4 p.m. today.

        The Tigers rallied from an 18-point deficit and were within 71-69 with 4:42 remaining after a 3-pointer by Will Solomon.

        After a Cincinnati timeout, Logan nailed a big 3 for the Bearcats.

        “That's my job,” Logan said. “I came here to play basketball, and when I get an open look, I'm trying to hit it, I'm not trying to miss it.”

        Freshman Tony Stockman turned over the ball on Clemson's next possession. That led to a baseline jumper from UC's Immanuel McElroy, and on the shot Stockman fouled UC guard Kenny Satterfield. Satterfield sank two free throws to make it 78-69 with 3:43 to play.

        “We just couldn't finish it off,” said Solomon, who scored a game-high 32 points. “We didn't run out of gas. They hit big shots when they needed them, and that's what it takes to win.”

        Solomon had 16 of his team's 18 points during the run, which cut the UC lead to two. But he did not score again.

        “We knew he was good coming in,” Huggins said. “We ran a lot of people at him.”

        Satterfield finished with 22 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. McElroy added a career-high 12 points, and Leonard Stokes scored 11.

        Logan was hurt early in the second half Wednesday against Youngstown State and went to a hospital for X-rays. He did not sleep much overnight because he was too uncomfortable.

        He was walking around Thursday and participated in the team's afternoon shootaround. Logan did not start but entered just 3¹/₂ minutes into the game. In the first half, he hit a fade-away jumper in the paint, a 3-pointer and a driving bank shot.

        “Am I a tough guy or what?” Logan said. “The doctor told me I wasn't supposed to play in the whole tournament. But I felt like I could go. I wanted to be there for my teammates. I wanted to go no matter what. ... It's just part of me being mentally tough. I've been through this program. I know what it's about. I've seen tough guys come through. I just wanted to set an example for my teammates.”

        The Bearcats grabbed an early 27-12 lead and were ahead by as many as 17 in the first half. They were ahead 58-40 with 13:10 left. Clemson charged back in the final 9¹/₂ minutes.

        “We got tentative,” Hug gins said. “We quit attacking them. We've got to stay on the attack offensively.”

        Said Satterfield: “We're a real young team, but we're learning. In the Xavier game, we made the same kind of mistakes. We couldn't hold on to a lead; today we held on to it. We kept our composure and didn't panic.

        “We knew what we had to do. That's just like a ritual: If you come out and play bad one game, the next game you've got to come out and give it all you've got.”

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CLEMSON (80)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Henderson       18   5-5   2-5   2-6  1  3   12
Bains           14   2-3   0-0   0-1  0  1    4
Allenspach      18   0-4   1-2   1-5  1  3    1
Solomon         33  9-21  9-11   1-1  3  3   32
Scott           29   1-2   1-2   0-3  2  3    4
Stockman        19   3-6   4-6   0-2  0  3   12
Hobbs           14   0-1   6-6   0-2  0  5    6
Braddick        29   1-5   0-0   4-7  1  2    2
Nagys            1   0-2   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Clifton         25   3-4   0-2   2-4  2  4    7
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 24-53 23-34 10-31 10 27   80
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.453, FT-.676. 3-Point Goals:
9-19, .474 (Bains 0-1, Solomon 5-10, Scott 1-2,
Stockman 2-4, Clifton 1-2). Team rebounds: 6.
Blocked shots: 4 (Solomon 2, Henderson,
Allenspach). Turnovers: 18 (Allenspach 3, Bains
3, Braddick 3, Hobbs 3, Solomon 3, Stockman 3).
Steals: 4 (Hobbs, Scott, Solomon, Stockman).


CINCINNATI (88)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Davis           35   2-4   2-2   2-5  1  4    6
Jones           17   2-6   0-0   3-4  0  2    4
Grove           11   1-4   1-2   3-4  0  1    3
Satterfield     35  6-17   7-8   3-5  8  3   22
Stokes          21   3-8   3-3   0-0  0  2   11
Williams        13   2-4   0-0   0-0  0  2    5
Logan           31  5-11   6-8   0-2  0  3   18
Mcelroy         14   6-7   0-2   0-4  0  2   12
Flowers          7   0-3   1-2   2-4  0  1    1
Crawford         1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Little          15   0-1   6-6   2-5  0  5    6
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 27-65 26-33 15-33  9 26   88
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.415, FT-.788. 3-Point Goals:
8-23, .348 (Jones 0-4, Satterfield 3-6, Stokes
2-5, Williams 1-2, Logan 2-5, Flowers 0-1). Team
rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 6 (Little 5, Jones).
Turnovers: 13 (Satterfield 4, Little 2, Davis,
Grove, Jones, Logan, Mcelroy, Stokes, Williams).
Steals: 6 (Satterfield 4, Jones 2).
__________________________________
Clemson            28   52  -   80
Cincinnati         41   47  -   88
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. Officials: Jd Collins,
Mike Cabral.

---

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