Tony Bobbitt celebrates one of his six three-pointers. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Tony Bobbitt has been promising that one of these nights he would find his shooting range and University of Cincinnati fans would find out what he could do on a basketball court.

Tuesday night the junior guard made good on his promise, scoring a career-high 29 points to lead UC to a 77-52 victory over No. 5 Oregon in the Jimmy V Classic at Continental Airlines Arena.

"I just did what Coach (Bob) Huggins told me to do," Bobbitt said. "He told me to be patient. The only thing I had to concentrate on was getting my confidence back. He told me to stop worrying about mistakes and just play."

The loss was Oregon's first in seven games. UC, which had been looking for a convincing win over a good team to emerge from its early-season mediocrity, improved to 5-2.

Jason Maxiell had a career-high 20 points and 13 rebounds. Leonard Stokes scored 15 for UC.

Leonard Stokes looks for help after his headband fell over his eyes. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Former UC star Kenyon Martin showed up for the final minutes of the game after playing for the NBA New Jersey Nets against their rival, the New York Knicks, in New York's Madison Square Garden.

The UC defense tied Oregon's high-powered offense into knots, forcing 12 first-half turnovers and limiting the Ducks to 36.4 percent shooting.

Oregon, which averaged 92.7 points in its first six games, scored 40 fewer against UC, which staged one of the major upsets of the young season.

"I'd have been shocked if I wasn't there," Huggins said, "if I hadn't seen it.

"They shot 36 percent. I hope some of that is our defense. If we can shoot 48 percent, we're going to beat a lot of people."

Bobbitt goes in for a dunk. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

For six games, Bobbitt was one of the most disappointing newcomers on a UC team that had struggled to score points.

A junior college All-American who averaged 17.8 points last year at the College of Southern Idaho, he had been so bad he had trouble getting on the court for more than a few minutes at a time.

But against Oregon, he was a star on one of those nights where everything he touched turned to gold.

"Coach Huggins told me to stop shooting the ball with my head back," Bobbitt said. "If I keep my head up, it goes in."

With Bobbitt firing away from long-range, UC built a 23-point lead in the first half and continued to dominate in the second half, at one point building its lead to 35 points against one of the nation's elite teams.

Taron Barker on a fast break. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Bobbitt, who entered the game shooting just 27.6 percent and averaging 4.7 points, made his first two shots after being summoned from the bench several minutes into the game.

Once he found his rhythm, he played with more confidence than he has displayed this season. He was 9-for-14 from the field, 6-for-11 from 3-point range. UC shot 47.5 percent, well above its season mark of 38.4.

The Bearcats didn't sit on their 20-point halftime lead. They continued to attack, outscoring Oregon, 9-4, at the outset of the second half to take a 25-point lead at the 15:09 mark on a Taron Barker 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down.

Then Bobbitt went to work again, knocking in a fadeaway shot in the lane and a 3-pointer in transition to give UC a 60-30 lead with 11:59 to go.

Stokes rebounds. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

UC got off to a surprisingly good start, breaking out to an 11-4 lead in the first five minutes. Oregon committed two turnovers and with UC shooting well out of the gate was unable to unleash its vaunted fast-break attack.

"We had to make things a fistfight," Huggins said. "We had to get back and make them play five against five and be as possibly as we physically could."

UC outrebounded Oregon, 43-31.

The Bearcats expanded their lead to 17-4, scoring 13 straight points, six on a pair of 3-pointers by Bobbitt.

Oregon, which shoots 48.5 percent, made only two of its 13 shots, while the usually cold-shooting Bearcats made seven of their first 12.

A Barker free throw with 10:41 left in the half gave UC its biggest lead at 20-6 before the Ducks began to chip away, beginning with a 3-pointer from James Davis that sent Oregon on a 9-2 run to pull within seven, 22-15, on two Luke Ridnour free throws with 8:24 to go.

Barker gets a hug from Bob Huggins. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

They were the first two points of the game for Ridnour, who averages 20.2 points per game.

Just when it appeared the Ducks were about to make their move, Bobbitt unleashed a flurry of points that included two 3-pointers, three free throws and a 2-pointer. He also fed Stokes under the basket for a layup.

In less than five minutes, the UC lead had grown to 37-17.

In the first game, Gonzaga defeated North Carolina State 69-60, handing the Wolfpack their first loss of the season.

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com

OREGON (52)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
R Johnson           26   3-4   0-0   0-0   0   1    6
L Jackson           28  4-10   1-2   1-7   3   3    9
B Helquist          18   4-4   0-1   1-1   0   4    8
J Davis             32   2-9   2-2   0-3   6   1    8
L Ridnour           33  3-13   2-2   0-3   6   1   10
M Short              5   1-2   0-2   1-2   0   1    2
I Crosswhite        18   1-4   2-2   1-5   1   2    4
B Lincoln            7   2-4   0-0   1-1   1   0    5
A Joseph            22   0-5   0-1   3-6   1   3    0
J Anderson          11   0-0   0-0   0-1   1   0    0
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 20-55  7-12  8-29  19  16   52
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.364, FT-.583. 3-Point Goals:
5-27, .185 (L Jackson 0-2, J Davis 2-7, L 
Ridnour 2-10, I Crosswhite 0-1, B Lincoln 
1-2, A Joseph 0-5). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked
Shots: 1 (I Crosswhite). Turnovers: 17 (L 
Jackson 6, L Ridnour 5, J Davis 4, I 
Crosswhite, A Joseph). Steals: 9 (J Davis 2, 
L Jackson 2, L Ridnour 2, R Johnson, A 
Joseph, B Lincoln).

CINCINNATI (77)

                          fg    ft    rb             
                   min   m-a   m-a   o-t   a  pf   tp
L Stokes            37  6-14   1-2   2-4   3   1   15
J Maxiell           36  8-15   4-7  6-13   0   0   20
K Johnson           19   0-1   1-3   0-7   0   4    1
F Williams          15   0-4   0-0   0-1   0   2    0
T Barker            35   4-5   1-3   0-4   3   3   10
E Land               9   1-3   0-0   2-3   0   2    2
J Meeker             3   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   1    0
D Hollman           10   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   1    0
J Lucas              4   0-0   0-0   0-0   1   0    0
E Hicks              4   0-1   0-0   1-1   0   0    0
T Bobbitt           23  9-14   5-5   0-4   2   2   29
R Flowers            2   0-1   0-0   0-1   0   0    0
A Kirkland           3   0-1   0-0   1-1   0   0    0
  
_____________________________________________________
TOTALS             200 28-59 12-20 12-39   9  16   77
_____________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.475, FT-.600. 3-Point Goals:
9-18, .500 (L Stokes 2-3, F Williams 0-3, T 
Barker 1-1, T Bobbitt 6-11). Team Rebounds: 
4. Blocked Shots: 2 (J Maxiell, E Land). 
Turnovers: 11 (T Barker 2, T Bobbitt 2, L 
Stokes, F Williams, J Maxiell, E Land, E 
Hicks, J Meeker, J Lucas). Steals: 11 (J 
Maxiell 3, T Barker 2, T Bobbitt 2, L Stokes,
D Hollman, K Johnson, E Land).


-----------------------------------
OREGON               24  28   -  52
CINCINNATI           44  33   -  77
----------------------------------- 

Technical fouls: None. A: 8,867. Officials: Bryan 
Kersey, Duke Edsall, Rick Crawford