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  Wednesday, Dec. 22 9:00pm ET
Kenyon grand in lifting Cincinnati
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Four days after toppling from No. 1, Cincinnati was back on its game Wednesday night.

The fourth-ranked Bearcats put their superior depth and athleticism on display against No. 21 Oklahoma, controlling things from the outset in a 72-57 victory.

Kenyon Martin
Cincinnati 's Kenyon Martin shook off a bad first half and returned to form in the final 20 minutes Wednesday.
Cincinnati got very little from All-American Kenyon Martin and Pete Mickeal in the first half, but freshman DerMarr Johnson and others picked up the slack. Martin returned to form in the second half as Cincinnati rebounded from Saturday's 66-64 loss to Xavier.

"They've got to play without me sometimes. You never know what happens," Martin said. "Tonight I got into foul trouble early and they adjusted to me not being on the court."

Johnson scored 10 of his 12 points and grabbed six of his 11 rebounds in the first half, when the Bearcats (9-1) opened as much as a 15-point lead on their way to a 10-point lead at halftime.

Martin, limited to six minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half as the Bearcats handed Oklahoma (9-1) its first loss. Kenny Satterfield added 16 points.

Oklahoma's Eduardo Najera, a preseason All-Big 12 player who is being touted by the school as an All-America candidate, had 16 points and 11 rebounds but missed 15 of his 21 field goal tries. He fouled out with 4:29 remaining and the Sooners trailing by 13.

"We may not play a team as good the rest of the year until we get to the NCAAs," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. "They exposed us and we haven't been exposed this year."

The Bearcats scored the first nine points and barely skipped a beat when Martin went to the bench with his second foul with 13:56 to play.

They were 9-of-12 from the floor eight minutes into the game and wound up shooting 52 percent.

"We wanted to be assertive," coach Bob Huggins said. "I didn't think we had been as assertive as we needed to be, particularly offensively."

While Martin sat, the Bearcats controlled the backboards at both ends of the floor and used their superior athleticism to challenge most every Oklahoma shot. A 13-2 run -- Ryan Fletcher, Johnson and Jermaine Tate scored all the points -- gave Cincinnati a 34-19 lead with 7:13 left before halftime.

"DerMarr played wonderful," Martin said. "He made some big shots, he penetrated. They kept it going until I could get back in there. Then I got back in there and I just tried to help as much as I can."

Oklahoma used a 3-pointer by J.R. Raymond at the start of the second half to cut Cincinnati's lead to 39-32, and the Sooners still trailed by seven five minutes into the half.

Then Martin scored on an alley oop dunk to start a 14-2 run that gave the Bearcats a 59-40 lead and made the final eight minutes incidental. Martin wound up 11-of-13 from the field, with nine rebounds and three blocks.

Mickeal, arguably Cincinnati's second-best player, didn't score until there was 5:30 left in the game and finished with just four points.

 


ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard

Cincinnati Clubhouse

Oklahoma Clubhouse


AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Kenyon Martin prevents the shot attempt in the lane.
avi: 408 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 Kenny Satterfield scores off a loose ball against the Sooners.
avi: 626 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1