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Russell Rice
CINCINNATI - The University of Kentucky basketball Wildcats, departing from coach Rick Pitino's pressing defensive tactics, but still firing from long range, overcame a disadvantage in height, speed and leaping ability to gun down Cincinnati, a 3'/2-point favorite, before more than 13,000 Bearcat fans in Myrl Shoemaker Center on the UC campus.
The victory, which came on Wednesday after the Wildcats had opened their 1990-91 season four days earlier with a win over Pennsylvania in Rupp Arena, was only UK's second road win since defeating Tennessee 66-65 at Knoxville in January of 1989.
The other road victory was a 78-74 win over a floundering Florida team at Gainesville last February.
"This is a great win for Kentucky," Pitino said of UK's first appearance in Cincinnati since UK won the famous Stall Game, 24-11, in 1983. "They're a lot more athletic than we are. The only advantage we had was shooting."
SHOOTING WAS KEY FOR UK
The Wildcats hit 28 of 58 shots from the field, including 10 of 24 three-pointers, while the Bearcats struggled offensively, hitting only 21 of 67 for 37 percent, including only two of eight from three-point range.
However. Cincinnati, which trailed the entire game, kept things close by forcing UK into 22 turnovers. The Bearcats' 11 steals in the first half, when they missed 13 of their first 15 shots while UK was six of 12 from the three-point range, allowed them to stay within striking distance (35-33) at the intermission.
Cincinnati's trapping defense forced UK point guard Sean Woods into committing eight of those UK first-half turnovers. He had none in the second.
"I was trying to dribble through," Woods said. "They were sagging. You can't attack that. All you do is run into more men. Coach gave me a little tip. Relax. Don't try to beat it every time. In the second half, I made the quick pass."
Pitino made an adjustment on Kentucky's press offense at halftime. Instead of bringing the ball up the court near the sideline into the teeth of the UC trapsas was the case early, Pitino instructed his guards to stay in the middle of the court in the second half. The 'Cats turned the ball over just six times in the final 20 minutes, none of the errors coming against the UC press.
Using a 20-8 run to open the second half, which was capped with a long three-pointer from starting shooting guard Jeff Brassow, the Wildcats went ahead 55-41 only 6V2 minutes into the second period. With 2:48 left, UC's Herb Jones scored eight straight points to cut the lead to 69-68.
Kentucky was leading 71-69 when Reggie Hanson drove around substitute Curtis Bostic to give UK a four-point lead with 28 seconds left.
The Wildcats were spreading the court out on offense at the time, using valuable seconds off the 45-second shot clock, but were still looking to attack the basket.
"We knew what to do," Pitino said. "We knew not to freeze the ball. Move the ball to score and don't let them foul you and get back into the game. We knew to cut back-door at the right time. Last year we were trying to learn what to do while we were out there.
FAST BREAK
TCP staff reports
BEWARE OF THE BEARCATS
Kentucky coach Rick Pitino predicts a bright future for Bob Huggins and his Bearcats.
"Cincinnati has just as much athleticism as any team on our schedule," Pitino said at his weekly press conference, one day before the UK-UC clash. "If you were to compare them, you'd compare them to Louisville: a lot of athletic talent. They have people 6-5 and 6-6 that can perform acts of a player 6-8 or 6-9.
"Cincinnati's greatest asset is they have mature players. With players in their junior and senior year, you have the potential to be an outstanding team. The potential to do some serious damage in the NCAA (tournament) is there."
The Bearcats are expected to give Metro favorite Southern Miss its biggest challenge for the conference title, along with Memphis State and Louisville.
WHERE'S THE TV GUIDE, HONEY?
After a year scrambled due to NCAA sanctions, Kentucky returned to live television (ESPN). Not since its loss at Syracuse in 1989 had the 'Cats been on national televison. The loss to the Orangemen was televised by CBS.
Pitino believes the eye of the camera is a vital recruiting tool. "TV introduces to the junior high and high school kids what big-time basketball is all about. We need to get in that arena once again. I go to a high school gym, I can't believe how many people imitate Dick Vitale. He does a lot for a program."
TIMEOUT: JAMAL MASHBURN
In his first two games, Kentucky freshman starter Jamai Mashburn has totalled 30 points while playing more than 25 minutes a contest.
UC presented a tough test for Mashbum underneath. It's something he can expect every night in the Southeastern Conference.
"They were giving of elbows and pushing us when we jumped up," Mashburn, not yet a year removed from his prep days in the Bronx, said. "They got dirty under there.
"A little holding. A little shoving...throwing you off balance. But they are a real good team, though."
In Kentucky's opener before a friendly crowd, Mashburn was free of butterflies. And against Cincinnati, his first college test away from Rupp Arena, Mashburn said he wasn't a bit nervous.
"I just go out to play," he said. "That's what coach wants us to do, go out and play hard. There is a lot of thinking going on out
on the court as far as where to go. where to be at and stuff like that. So you don't really have a chance to get nervous because Rick is always on your back.
THE TURNOVER BUG
During the first 20 minutes, a much quicker Cincinnati team created havoc in UK's offensive scheme. UK turned the ball over !6 times in the first period.
What did Rick Pitino say at halftime?
"He was really upset about the turnovers and their second shots." Mashburn answered. "In the second half we kept the ball a little more and we reduced their second shots by boxing out."
Kentucky kept its cool in the second half, committing only six miscues.
MORE THAN JUST STATS
UK players did know first-hand about one particular UC player. Junior College All-America transfer Herb Jones had played in pickup games this summer in Lexington. Jones is friends with some of the 'Cats.
Eric Davis and Chris Sabo, members of the World Champion Cincinnati Reds, were in attendance.
From the hard-to-believe department: Kentucky has a friend at Cincinnati radio station WLW in talk show host Andy Furman. While a handful of callers were saying the Bearcats were the better team, Furman differed, praising Rick Pitino's coaching and the Wildcats' defense.
Pitino's Bombinos remain alive. In two games they've drilled 20 of 54 treys for 37 percent.
Kentucky now leads the series with the Bearcats, 26-10. UK-UC first played in 1904.
That never works out."
Louis Banks, Cincinnati's All-Metro Conference forward, then missed his 15th shot in 20 tries. With UK awarded the ball out of bounds under the Bearcat basket, Richie Farmer was fouled after taking the in-bounds pass.
Farmer, who had missed two free throws just before intermission, calmly sank the two that iced the game.
NO PRESS? NO SWEAT
The Wildcats surprised Cincinnati by departing completely from their trademark full-court pressing defense.
"That is the first time as a coach I did not press," Pitino said.
Instead, the Wildcats elected to sag into a sticky, active, half-court defensemostly man-to-manand give Cincinnati the outside shot.
The reasons?
Pitino said because of the Bearcats' athletic ability, poor outside shooting and the fact that UC is itself a full-court pressing team, he was afraid UK's press would allow UC to get too many easy baskets in transition.
"At every position except Reggie (Hanson), they were more athletic and jumped higher," Pitino said. "At every position except (Sean) Woods, they were quicker and could get up and down the floor faster. So I went in thinking I might use a half-court defense. And we played outstanding. We had to make sure they shot from the perimeter."
A key to UK's defense was Brassow, who drew the assignment on Banks. The Wildcat
DATE: NOV. 28, 1990
VISTORS (Last name first)
SITE: CINCINNATI
KENTUCKY (2-0)	Fg	3-pt	Ft	Reb	PI	TP	A	To	Blk S	Mln
Mashourn. Jamal	8-16	1-4	1-2	5-2 7	3	18	2	2	1 0	28:33
Pelphrey, John	4-6	3-4	0-0	0-7 7	4	11	T	4	0 0	25:50
Hanson, Reggie	7-9 .	1-1	5-6	1-5 6	3	20	2	4	1 2	35:19
Wooos, Sean	2-5	0-0	0-0	0-3 3	4	4	3	8	0 2	31:55
Brassow, Jeff	4-12	4-10	0-0	3-1 4	5	12	3	0	0 0	33:54
Feldhaus, Deron	0-6	0X3	1-2	1-1 2	4	1	4	2	1 0	25.37
Farmer, Richie	2-3	1-2	2-4	0-1 1	1	7	1	2	0 0	14:11
Martinez, Gimel	1-1	OO	0-2	0-1 1	1	2	0	0	0 0	4:41
Team Rebounds				2-7 9						
Totals	28-58	10-24	9-16	12-28 40	25	75	16   22   3 4			200
Total FG%: 28-58, 48.3% 1st half: 13-26, 50.0%2nd half: 15-32, 463% 3-pt FG%: 10-24, 41.7% 1st half: 6-12, 50.0% 2nd half: 4-12, 333% FT%: 9-16. 56.3%      1st half: 3-10. 30.0%      2nd half: &S, 100.0%
Deadball Rebounds
HOME (Last name first)
soph said the strategy was "getting in his face and forcing him to take tough shots."
"He'll get his points," he said. "I wanted to get him out of his rhythm."
It worked.
"We missed more layups than we did all year last year," Banks said. "I know I did."
The other Bearcats did, too. Though Cincinnati held a 46-40 advantage on the boards, including a huge 27-12 edge on the offensive glass, the hosts had trouble converting them into points.
"Oh, my, they just ate up the glass," Hanson said. "When we blocked out, we didn't push out. We put a body on them, but we didn't push back."
"We knew they weren't a good shooting team," Brassow said. "But they are one helluva offensive rebounding team. That's the only reason we almost lost."
Offensive rebounds, though, without ensuing points, won't get the job done. Cincinnati did get 23 second-chance points, but it wasn't enough to offset its woeful shooting effort.
"It's tough to shoot it that bad and win," UC coach Bob Huggins said. "Early on, we were out of our offense. We had to much one-on-one play. Later on, we had plenty of opportunities. We didn't react in transition and finish the play."
CINCINNATI (2-1)	Fg	3-pt	Ft	Reb. Pt	TP	A	To	Blk S		Mln
Robinson, Levertis	5-10	0-0	9-12	5-16 4	19	1	3	0	2	32.06
Jones, Herbert	5-10	1-1	3-4	5-6 11 0	14	1	1	0	3	37:54
Starks, Keith	4-11	00	2-2	50 5 4	10	0	3	0	0	24:36
Gibson, Tarrance	0-2	0-0	1-2	1-2 3 1	1	1	1	1	1	19:23
Banks, Louis	5-20	0-3	9-14	4-15 2	19	2	4	1	2	38:53
Bostic, Curtis	0-6	00	1-2	1-3 4 1	1	0	0	0	1	16:43
Jackson, Allen	2-8	1-4	2-2	6-4 10 3	7	1	3	0	4	26:13
Reicheneker, Mike	OO	0-0	0-0	0-1 1 0	0	0	0	0	0	4:12
Team Rebounds				0-1 1						
Totals	21-67	2-8	27-38	27-19 46 15	71	6	16	2	13	200
Total FG%: 21-67, 31.3% 1st hall: 9-38, 23.7% 2nd hall: 12-29, 41.4%							Deadball			
3-pt FG%: 2-8, 25.0%	1st half: 0-4, 0.0%			2nd hall: 2-4,	50.0%		Rebounds: 3			
FT%: 27-38, 71.1%    1st half: 15-22, 68.2%				2nd half: 12-16. 75.0%						
Officials: John Clougherty, Wally Tanner, Don Rutledge										
Technical fouls: Jones, Herbert		- 1								
Attendance: 13,176										
Points off turnovers										
KENTUCKY 16, CINCINNATI 23										
				Score by halves	1st	2nd		OT		Final
Second chance points				KENTUCKY	35	40				75
KENTUCKY 9, CINCINNATI 18				CINCINNATI	33	38				71
Instead, it was Kentucky that finished the play, something the 'Cats could not do on the road last season.
"This was a helluva road win for Kentucky," Pitino said. "Obviously, we're ecstatic. A lot of times last year (on the road), with the fatigue factor being there, when the crowd got going and the other team made its run, it got to us a little bit. Tonight, all the tough losses paid off for us."
Hanson was the game's leading scorer with 20 points, while adding six rebounds. Freshman Jamal Mashburn hit eight of 16 from the field and one of two from the line for 18 points. Sean Woods (12) and John Pelphrey (11) also were in double figures for the Wildcats. Mashburn and Pelphrey had seven rebounds each.
Levertis Robinson and Banks led the Bearcats with 19 points each. Herbert Jones had 11 rebounds and Allen Jackson added 10 for the Bearcats, who lost for the first time in three starts.