B.J. Grove and Marquette's Oluoma Nnamaka battle for a loose ball. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        MILWAUKEE - Each offensive possession was an excruciating exercise no matter who had the ball. There were few easy baskets for either the University of Cincinnati or Marquette on Wednesday night.

        The Golden Eagles were the survivors, bouncing the Bearcats 47-44 before 11,771 fans at the Bradley Center.

        Cincinnati's last field goal came with 4:29 remaining. It was outscored 13-5 the rest of the way.

        UC coach Bob Huggins vowed afterward to get a book on rebounding and find every drill he can for his players. Marquette won the battle of the boards 36-24 and had 20 offensive rebounds.

        “We're going to spend more time on it,” Huggins said. “We may not be able to ever make a shot again, but we're going to get rebounds. We're going to rebound the ball and rebound the ball and rebound the ball. Part of it is we're so physically weak. We just get knocked all over the place. We're not strong enough.

        “... When we rebound the ball, we win, and when we don't rebound the ball, we lose. It's pretty much that simple. I'd like to tell you something that is proverbial or earth-shattering, but I can't do that.”

Field Williams trips over Nnamaka. | ZOOM |

        UC, which fell out of the Associated Press Top 25 this week after being ranked in 54 consecutive polls, dropped to 10-4, 1-1 C-USA. The Bearcats' nine-game confer ence road winning streak came to an end, as did their overall league regular-season winning streak (at 21).

        The game was a grind-it-out affair with good defense at both ends.

        Think Princeton minus the back-door cuts. Think college basketball before the shot clock.

        “It felt weird out there,” Marquette senior Brian Wardle said. “I'm sure the Cincy players were as frustrated as we were. I mean, open looks not going in. It was defense and toughness. We had some big blockouts and some big free throws. Some loose balls. When you're playing a game and both teams are struggling, those are the things you've got to get to win.”

        It was the fewest points scored by UC since a 40-38 victory over UAB on Jan. 23, 1993. Its 20 second-half points were a season-low. The Bearcats came in second in the league in free throw shooting but made just 11 of 20 from the foul line.

Marquette's Brian Wardle shoots in front of Immanuel McElroy. | ZOOM |

        Marquette improved to 7-5, 2-0 and is in first place in the American Division. It was coming off a 20-point victory at DePaul and won despite shooting only .314 from the field against UC.

        “Defense isn't any good if you don't end up getting the ball without them scoring in the end,” Huggins said.

        UC was ahead 40-34 with 3:44 left, then Marquette charged back. A 3-pointer by senior Brian Barone from right in front of the Golden Eagles' bench tied the game with 1:30 to play.

        Cincinnati point guard Kenny Satterfield was called for a charge, and Odartey Blankson made 1 of 2 free throws for Marquette's first lead (45-44) since the opening minutes of the second half.

        The Bearcats called a timeout with 1:07 left. Then they worked the ball around until they found freshman Field Williams, who had a good look on a 3-point attempt but missed it.

        Marquette worked the clock down and called time with 26 seconds remaining — and 12 on the shot clock.

        Barone attempted a 3-pointer that came short off the front of the rim. UC's Leonard Stokes and Blankson were on the floor tied up for the rebound. A jump ball was called. The possession arrow pointed to Marquette. There were 14.1 seconds to go, and UC called another timeout.

        Jamaal Davis fouled Oluoma Nnamaka with 11.1 seconds left. Nnamaka made his first free throw. Cincinnati called time out. Nnamaka hit his second.

        On UC's final possession, Satterfield forced up a 3- pointer from the left side that missed. Like the Toledo game, UC did not run the play called in the huddle.

        There was a double-screen set up for Williams, or Satterfield was supposed to penetrate and kick the ball out to Logan.

        Didn't happen.

        “If we make any free throws or get any rebounds, it doesn't come down to that,” Huggins said.

        Satterfield finished with 12 points and was the only Bearcat in double figures. Barone led Marquette with 10 points.

Jones' whereabouts a mystery to Huggins


CINCINNATI (44)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Davis           28   1-3   1-2   0-1  1  4    3
Stokes          23   0-3   2-3   1-2  1  0    2
Little          35   3-5   1-3   2-4  1  1    7
Satterfield     38   3-9   6-8   0-4  2  4   12
Logan           28   3-8   0-2   0-2  3  2    8
Williams        14   1-4   0-0   1-1  1  0    3
Peek             1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Mcelroy         16   2-4   1-2   2-4  1  3    5
Flowers          5   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Grove           12   2-3   0-0   2-4  0  3    4
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 15-39 11-20  8-22 10 19   44
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.385, FT-.550. 3-Point Goals:
3-13, .231 (Stokes 0-2, Satterfield 0-3, Logan
2-4, Williams 1-4). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked
shots: 5 (Little 3, Davis, Flowers). Turnovers:
13 (Little 3, Davis 2, Logan 2, Satterfield 2,
Stokes 2, Grove, Peek). Steals: 2 (Little,
Stokes).


MARQUETTE (47)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Blankson        18   0-4   3-4   4-5  0  2    3
Nnamaka         34   2-9   4-6   3-6  3  1    9
Mueller         19   3-5   0-0   0-1  0  2    6
Henry           24   1-3   0-0   0-2  2  5    2
Wardle          34  2-10   3-5   2-4  4  2    7
Merritt         11   0-5   0-0   2-3  0  1    0
Barone          29   3-7   2-2   2-7  1  2   10
Harris          24   4-7   0-0   5-5  1  1    8
Clausen          7   1-1   0-2   0-0  0  3    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 16-51 12-19 18-33 11 19   47
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.314, FT-.632. 3-Point Goals:
3-12, .250 (Blankson 0-1, Nnamaka 1-4, Henry 0-2,
Wardle 0-2, Barone 2-3). Team rebounds: 3.
Blocked shots: 2 (Nnamaka, Merritt). Turnovers:
11 (Barone 2, Clausen 2, Henry 2, Blankson,
Harris, Merritt, Mueller, Nnamaka). Steals: 4
(Harris 2, Henry, Mueller).
__________________________________
Cincinnati         21   23  -   44
Marquette          24   23  -   47
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 11,771. Officials: Ed
Hightower, David Hall, Paul Janssen.

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