Immanuel McElroy bangs his chest with Kenny Satterfield after McElroy made one of two foul shots to seal the victory. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        LOUISVILLE — The University of Cincinnati trailed by three points and was coming out of a timeout with 3:25 to go Thursday night when Steve Logan looked at teammate Kenny Satterfield and said: “In order for us to win, one of us is going to have to make a big play.”

        Logan was struggling all game. It was up to Satterfield to rescue UC.

        Which is exactly what he did. The sophomore point guard made three consecutive baskets in the final minutes to help the top-seeded Bearcats avoid a major upset.

        Cincinnati escaped with a 73-70 victory over No.8 seed Alabama-Birmingham and advanced to the semifinals of the Ohio Casualty Group Conference USA Tournament.

        UC (22-8) plays No. 4 Memphis at 8 p.m. today. The Tigers ousted No. 5 Marquette 71-64.

        No.3 Charlotte and No.2 Southern Mississippi play in today's 5:30p.m. semifinal.

Leonard Stokes is sandwiched by two UAB players. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        The Bearcats trailed 66-61 with 6:04 remaining but fought back.

        Satterfield tied the game on a 3-pointer with the shot clock running out with 2:39 left. After a 35-second violation by UAB, Satterfield gave the Bearcats the lead when he drove past Sidney Ball and scored on a layup from the left side.

        “I think he thought there was more time on the (shot) clock,” Satterfield said. “I looked up and I only saw eight seconds, so I had to make a move quick.”

        The Blazers called a time out with 1:20 to go.

        Will Campbell, in foul trouble most of the night, scored on an 8-foot jumper while being fouled. He missed the free throw. It was tied with 1:02 left.

        Satterfield got the ball into the paint on the right side, spun and hit a short jumper with 49.1 seconds to play for a two-point Bearcats lead. They would not trail again.

Jamaal Davis loses his balance as UAB's Will Campbell goes to the basket. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        “Satt does that well,” Logan said. “We just haven't seen it all year. That's what he can do. He knocked down shots and then he can get in the lane. He's a smart player. I'm happy for him.”

        UAB guard LeAndrew Bass backed in on Logan and drew a foul — Logan's fifth — with 29.3 seconds to play. Bass missed his first free throw, then made his second.

        UC led 71-70 and had its best free throw shooter (Logan) out of the game.

        After a timeout, Jamaal Davis tried to inbound to freshman Field Williams, who was fouled before he could get his hands on the ball. With 28.2 seconds on the clock, Williams missed his first, then made hit second.

        Alabama-Birmingham called a timeout with 22.6 seconds left, trailing by two. Bass started to penetrate, then looked to pass, but the ball went out of bounds off UC with 9.8 seconds left.

        UC called a timeout. The inbounds pass went to Campbell, who spun for a jumper in the lane but was called for traveling.

        It was Cincinnati ball with 8.2 seconds left. UAB was called for an intentional foul against Immanuel McElroy before the ball came into play. McElroy made one of two free throws, and it was 73-70.

Leonard Stokes had 16 points. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        UC's Leonard Stokes was fouled with 6.6 seconds to go but uncharacteristically missed two foul shots.

        Bass shot a 3-pointer at the buzzer that bounced off the rim.

        UAB had just one field goal in the final 7:49. It also was 5-of-9 from the foul line in the last seven minutes.

        The Bearcats have beaten UAB seven straight times, including a 90-83 victory Jan.17 at Shoemaker Center.

        UC had as balanced a scoring attack as it has had for some time. Four players scored in double figures. Satterfield scored 17, Stokes 16, McElroy 13 and Logan 12.

        P.J. Arnold led UAB with 21 points and also did a nice job defending Logan, the C-USA Player of the Year. UAB is 17-14 and can — - at best — hope for a National Invitation Tournament bid.

SULLIVAN: Bearcats don't let guard down
Best, worst of times for Logan
Other Conference-USA games
Conference-USA pairings

UAB (70)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Batchelor       14   0-3   0-0   1-1  1  3    0
Campbell        26   4-5   0-1   4-5  3  4    8
Nikolic         28   5-7   0-0  2-10  1  3   11
Bass            39  2-12 11-15   0-5  9  3   15
Arnold          33  8-18   1-2   2-3  2  1   21
Ball            29   3-4   0-1   2-9  0  5    6
Walker          28   4-7   0-2   2-7  1  4    9
Frericks         3   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 26-56 12-21 13-41 17 23   70
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.464, FT-.571. 3-Point Goals:
6-19, .316 (Batchelor 0-2, Nikolic 1-2, Bass 0-2,
Arnold 4-11, Ball 0-1, Walker 1-1). Team
rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 3 (Nikolic 2,
Campbell). Turnovers: 15 (Bass 4, Campbell 4,
Ball 3, Arnold 2, Walker 2). Steals: 5 (Arnold 2,
Walker 2, Campbell).


CINCINNATI (73)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Davis           21   0-3   0-1   2-3  0  3    0
Grove           25   3-4   0-2   0-2  0  2    6
Satterfield     38  7-15   0-0   1-3  5  3   17
Logan           30  4-15   3-3   1-2  5  5   12
Mcelroy         25   3-6  7-10   1-3  1  1   13
Stokes          27   5-9   4-7   1-4  2  4   16
Little          26   3-3   2-5   1-6  0  3    8
Jones            6   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  0    0
Crawford         1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Williams         1   0-0   1-2   0-0  0  0    1
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 25-55 17-30  7-24 13 21   73
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.455, FT-.567. 3-Point Goals:
6-16, .375 (Satterfield 3-7, Logan 1-5, Stokes
2-4). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 1 (Logan).
Turnovers: 5 (Little 2, Davis, Mcelroy,
Satterfield). Steals: 6 (Davis 2, Logan, Mcelroy,
Satterfield, Stokes).
__________________________________
Uab                38   32  -   70
Cincinnati         39   34  -   73
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. Officials: Tom Rucker,
Larry Ware, Sam Croft.

---

Bearcats Stories

Satterfield saves UC from disaster SULLIVAN: Bearcats don't let guard down Best, worst of times for Logan Other Conference-USA games Conference-USA pairings

Xavier's loss may cost NCAA berth
DAUGHERTY: Wait will be torture
Muskies fail to get it to West
Other Atlantic-10 games
Atlantic-10 pairings
Is Philly best place for A-10 tourney?
Kitna not assured starting job
Stubblefield mulls hometown offer
RADEL: Bengals fumble; we pay again
Graves grows into leadership role
Ballpark passes wind test
Injury won't keep Young out long
Larkin, Griffey return
Game report: Reds 8, Phillies 4
Miami upsets MAC favorite
Hunter's numbers mean trouble for RedHawks
Other Mid-American games
Mid-American Conference pairings
Ohio State enters Big Ten tourney on a roll
Big Ten pairings
Kentucky hopes to avoid upset
Southeastern Conference pairings
NKU men advance in tourney
Boys swimming all-star team
Girls swimming all-star team
Boys basketball coverage
Girls basketball coverage
McNicholas focused on state berth
Purcell Marian on to regionals
Roger Bacon wins district title
Boone Co. 'survives' against NCC
Campbell County falls in 10th Region
Holmes wears down Calvary Christian
N.Ky. boys regional preview
Ohio boys basketball scores
Ohio girls basketball scores
Kentucky boys basketball scores
Kentucky girls basketball scores
Cincinnati boys basketball schedule
Cincinnati girls basketball schedule
N.Ky. boys basketball schedule
N.Ky. girls basketball schedule
Ohio girls regional finals