MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Junior Rodney Crawford, who has been sidelined since undergoing surgery on a broken right ankle Dec.26, saw his first action since Dec.22 on Thursday night at Memphis.

        Crawford, who had missed 13 games, got in with 12:11 left in the first half against the Tigers. He scored the first time he touched the ball with a short spinning jumper in the paint with 9:55 remaining in the first half.

        The 6-foot-5 forward had participated only in some “guarded drills” this week but had not gone all-out in practice, trainer Jayd Grossman said. Naturally, Crawford is not in basketball shape, having been out almost two months.

        “We're going to keep pushing,” Grossman said. “We're going to take it day by day and let his ankle decide how much he can do.”

        Crawford accompanied the Bearcats to Memphis, his first road trip since the operation. He had averaged one point and four rebounds in six games before getting hurt.

        The walk-on from Withrow High School was helping out on the boards with a career-high 10 against Youngstown State and nine against Xavier. In his first game after gaining eligibility, Dec.11 against Oakland, he had five rebounds and two steals.

        WALKING WOUNDED: Power forward Jamaal Davis started Thursday night despite a sprained left ankle suffered Saturday. ... Sophomore center Donald Little fell during Monday's practice and ended up with five stitches in his elbow. He also played against the Tigers.

        BATTLE OF THE TITANS: Thursday night was a showdown between the sixth-winningest active coach in NCAA Division I (UC's Bob Huggins, .738) and the ninth-winningest active coach (Memphis' John Calipari, .730) entering the season.

        Huggins is now 3-0 against Calipari. The Bearcats defeated his Massachusetts teams in January 1993 (64-53 at UMass) and Jan uary '94 (76-74 at Shoemaker Center).

        MILESTONE: UC junior Steve Logan reached the 1,000-point club with his 19th point Thursday and now has 1,008 for his career. He's the 39th Bearcat to reach 1,000. Logan is two 3-pointers shy of ranking in the top five of that all-time UC list.

        MISSING LINK: Memphis four-year seniors Marcus Moody and Shyrone Chatman have defeated every team in Conference USA at least once — except the Bearcats. “They are still the team everybody goes after, even if you have a better record than them,” Moody told the Memphis Commercial-Appeal.

        UP NEXT: The Bearcats play host to Marquette at 9 p.m. Sunday (ESPN) in the first of three straight home games. The Golden Eagles lost at UAB 72-66 on Wednesday night and dropped to 12-10 (7-4 C-USA). First place in the Conference USA American Division will be on the line.

UC 66, Memphis 65 Crawford returns to action JC prospect to visit UC Sunday UC signs 6 for women's soccer Louisville to fire Crum, report says

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