BY PAUL DAUGHERTY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ruben Patterson embraces coach Bob Huggins while holding on to the trophy. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

A year like this will go one of two ways. Up or down, good or bad. Head in the shell or out. Either - or. There's no in-between when you're being scrutinized, criticized and penalized. (Or victimized, depending on your point of view.)

What a season for the UC Bearcats. What a winter. It was going to be a year to remember, one way or another. A team accustomed to dishing it out on the court had to take it off the court. And take it some more.

And now that UC has won its sixth conference title in seven years, here is the truth:

The Bearcats got what they deserved. All of it. All year. The rips, the suspensions, the wins. The title.

They took it. Took it all.

''So many terrible things went on this year, but we battled through them every time,'' Melvin Levett said.

Bob Huggins shares a hug with his dad Charlie. (Saed Hindash photo) | ZOOM |

The Bearcats could have taken the shots and gone rope-a-dope. But it wouldn't have been like them. They take their lead from their coach, who said this Saturday afternoon:

''They've been as resilient and competed as hard as any group I've had in my nine years here.'' Bob Huggins could not have been nicer if he'd given them a day off. Sweat is the coin of the realm in Clifton.

The Bearcats were ahead of UNC-Charlotte 34-32 at halftime, when Huggins asked them to remember who they were, and what had made them that way. The three-hour practices. The offseason weightlifting that gives every Bearcat the look of a tight end. The endless grind you agree to when you come to Cincinnati to play.

''We come in every day and work. We work the same every day. We work when we're tired. We work when we're sick. We work when it's the last thing we want to do,'' Levett said. ''That's what we do. Every day.''

''You've got 20 minutes to go,'' Huggins said at halftime. ''Nobody could be more prepared to handle fatigue than you are.'' Certainly not UNC-Charlotte, whose players didn't finish Friday night's semifinal until close to midnight.

UC led by 11, 51-40, when Huggins told his players to play as if they were behind by 11. Given what they'd handled this winter, pretending to play from behind must have seemed natural. When it was over, the Bearcats had run Charlotte into the wood. It ended 71-57, and it wasn't that close.

It was as fitting a tribute to the Huggins way as Huggins could have asked for. ''They just keep coming at you'' was how Charlotte center DeMarco Johnson put it.

Ruben Patterson wrote his mother Charlene's name on his shoes, with the words: "I miss you mom" (Saed Hindash photo) | ZOOM |

Ruben Patterson held the championship trophy and wouldn't let go. Talk about seasons to remember and forget. Patterson's wins the gold medal.

''Have you heard the expression, What doesn't kill you makes you stronger?'' I asked him.

''Nah,'' he said. ''But now that you've said it, it makes sense to me.''

The NCAA suspended him for 14 games. Ten games later, his mother died. The night of her passing, he played 37 minutes and scored 32 points. Patterson has lived a lifetime since November, and he's only 22.

He didn't play well this weekend. He felt rushed, he said. He wanted to do well, to honor his mother and to impress Magic Johnson. Magic runs a management company. He wants to represent pro prospects. He was here to check Patterson out.

''I just have to slow down,'' Patterson said. ''Things have been bothering me the last couple days.''

Still, he had the trophy. Good mingled with bad, again.

His teammates hugged everyone they could see. They slapped high-fives with the rest. Then they climbed the ladder, one step, two, three, and snipped pieces of net. Another conference championship is in the books. The scissors must be getting dull.

Patterson clutched the trophy the whole time.

''When did you let it go?'' I wondered.

''Not 'til I got in here,'' he said.

It's never easy at UC. We saw that again this year. Boy, did we ever.

Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at 768-8454.

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