The words “I'm sorry” weren't going to be enough. Jamaal Davis felt he had to show his University of Cincinnati teammates that he was back and that he felt bad for leaving them for two days last week.

Donald Little blocks a shot. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        He practiced harder Wednesday, Thursday and Friday than he could ever remember. And when he got on the court less than two minutes into Saturday's game against UNLV, Davis was energetic and active at both ends of the floor.

        The senior forward took charges and altered shots. He didn't start but ended up playing 30 minutes, finishing with 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting and six rebounds.

        “That's maybe as well as he's played since he's been here,” UC coach Bob Huggins said. “If he applies himself, he can do what he did tonight every night.”

        “I came out here and played for my team,” Davis said. “I think I owed that much to them.”

Immanuel McElroy (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        The Bearcats won 74-61 before 11,244 fans at Shoemaker Center, and Davis was the fourth-leading scorer.

        But his contributions signaled a positive end to a roller coaster week. Upon returning from UC's season-opening loss at Oklahoma State — in which he had one point and one rebound in 20 minutes — Davis left the Bearcats and did not practice last Sunday and Monday.

        He spoke with Huggins after Monday's practice and returned to the team Tuesday but did not play that night against Wright State.

        Huggins said he understood Davis' “issues with himself,” but added: “You have a responsibility to other people. I don't understand that part at all. What am I supposed to do: Say I don't want to coach today and take the day off?”

        Huggins let it be known Davis needed to work hard all week to get back on the court. Which he did.

Taron Barker scoops up the ball. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        “I don't bury people (on the bench),” Huggins said. “It's not my personality. The difference between me and a lot of people is other people let personalities interfere when they're doing their business, and I don't. There are guys I don't play that I really like a lot.

        “I probably wouldn't be here if people didn't give me a second chance once in awhile. I don't know that any of us would.”

        Davis said he was drained from basketball. He wasn't having any fun. And he didn't think he could help his team any more.

        “The Oklahoma State game really didn't help how I was feeling,” Davis said.

Steve Logan exults after hitting a 3. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        “I'm just happy we won today, and I came out and contributed as much as I could. I think it puts my feelings in perspective. It gives me a little boost of confidence and brings back a little more passion for the game. I let my team down in the past couple weeks ... I think they deserved my performance today more than anyone.”

        Said senior Steve Logan: “To see him have a big game like he did today, he deserves it. He's been working hard the last couple of days.”

        UC (2-1) needed Davis, and others, too.

        The biggest surprise Saturday might have been that the Bearcats were ahead 33-23 at halftime with Logan having scored just two points.

        It was Davis, Leonard Stokes and Donald Little who were leading the way offensively.

        Logan ended up as the top scorer, with 20 points. He connected on four 3-pointers in the first 6:10 of the second half and helped Cincinnati build a 21-point lead.

        “I wanted to put these guys away,” Logan said. “I didn't even want them to hang around for a while. Coach told me to just let it go whenever I get an open look and just have some confidence, and that's what I did the second half.”

        Little finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, and Stokes had 12 points and five boards.

        UNLV (2-1), which shot 58.5 percent from the field in its first two games, shot 40.3 percent Saturday.

        “I kept thinking we'd find a little bit of rhythm offensively, and to Cincinnati's credit, they never did let us do that,” Runnin' Rebels coach Charlie Spoonhour said.

 
UNLV (61)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
D Johnson       31  4-19   4-4   0-5  0  3   12
Richardson      25   3-8   0-0   1-7  0  3    6
Pearson          8   3-3   0-0   1-1  1  4    6
M Banks         31   3-7   0-0   1-2  2  3    6
Booker          28   2-3   0-0   0-0  1  1    5
J Banks          4   2-4   0-0   0-0  0  1    4
L Johnson       12   0-2   0-0   0-1  1  1    0
Bigby            5   0-2   0-0   1-1  0  0    0
Kelly           30   7-9   1-2   4-7  1  0   19
Amundson         7   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Turner           5   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Holden          14   1-3   1-2   2-4  0  1    3
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 25-62   6-8 10-28  6 18   61
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.403, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
5-17, .294 (D Johnson 0-3, Richardson 0-1, Booker
1-2, J Banks 0-1, L Johnson 0-2, Bigby 0-1, Kelly
4-6, Turner 0-1). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked
shots: 2 (D Johnson, Holden). Turnovers: 15 (M
Banks 4, Holden 2, Richardson 2, Amundson,
Booker, D Johnson, Kelly, L Johnson, Turner).
Steals: 11 (Booker 5, J Banks 3, D Johnson, M
Banks, Richardson).


CINCINNATI (74)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Mcelroy         29   2-7   1-2   2-6  3  3    5
Maxiell         13   1-4   0-0   0-2  0  1    2
Little          29   5-7   4-7   1-8  1  4   14
Stokes          26  6-12   0-0   2-5  3  1   12
Logan           34  7-16   2-2   0-3  3  2   20
Davis           30   5-8   0-2   4-6  1  1   10
Williams         8   2-3   0-0   0-0  0  0    5
Meeker           3   0-0   0-0   0-1  1  0    0
Lucas            2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Barker          14   0-0   2-2   0-0  3  0    2
Flowers          2   1-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    2
Crawford         8   1-1   0-0   2-3  0  0    2
Hubbard          2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 30-59  9-15 11-34 15 12   74
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.508, FT-.600. 3-Point Goals:
5-13, .385 (Mcelroy 0-1, Stokes 0-2, Logan 4-8,
Williams 1-2). Team rebounds: 6. Blocked shots: 3
(Stokes 2, Little). Turnovers: 19 (Logan 4,
Stokes 4, Davis 2, Little 2, Lucas 2, Barker,
Hubbard, Mcelroy, Meeker). Steals: 3 (Barker,
Mcelroy, Stokes).
__________________________________
Unlv               23   38  -   61
Cincinnati         33   41  -   74
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Cincinnati 1 (Logan).  A:
11,244. Officials: Tom O'neill, Steve Welmer,
John Higgins.

---

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