USC Never Gets Off the Ground Against Cincinnati in 85-53 Loss

CINCINNATI —  Art Long emerged from a monthlong slump Sunday and brought No. 5 Cincinnati along with him.

Long ended his seven-game shooting slump by scoring 15 points and leading a devastating first-half run that carried the Bearcats to an 85-53 victory over road-weary USC.

USC (10-9) has been blown out in its last two games. The Trojans have been home for only two of their last 12 games and have played seven ranked teams in that span.

The fatigue showed on the Trojans, who lost at UCLA, 99-72, Wednesday night and had trouble getting a flight East to play a game at 10 a.m. California time. USC was a step slow, dribbled right into the heart of Cincinnati’s traps, and had nothing on its shots.

“We had a tough time getting here,” Coach Charlie Parker said. “Our flight was canceled. That took away from our practice time. We could have been more prepared for that type of pressure. We had trouble handling their half-court pressure.”

Cincinnati (14-1) put together its first complete game in a month, winning by its biggest margin since a 103-69 victory over McNeese State Dec. 30. That game marked the start of Long’s shooting slump--he shot only 34% in the next seven games.

Long and the Bearcats found themselves Sunday.

“Art was just so much more active today,” Coach Bob Huggins said. “I think he’s feeling better. His family was here to watch him play. And I think Art was tired of playing bad. I’m tired of watching him play bad.”

Long, who has been sick the past month, asserted himself in a game-opening 12-3 run that put the Bearcats in control. The Trojans never got closer than six and languished behind a double-digit deficit the final 31 minutes.

Long, a 6-foot-9 center, scored the Bearcats’ first eight points and had 10 at halftime--only his third double-digit game in the last 12.

Long also had three blocks in the game’s first five minutes to rattle the Trojans, who made only one of their first 15 shots.

Long also had 12 rebounds. Danny Fortson scored 19 and Damon Flint 17 for Cincinnati.

Brandon Martin scored 21 for USC, which shot a season-low 31% from the floor, missed its nine three-point attempts and had 22 turnovers.

“Once it got out of hand, we couldn’t get into the flow of our offense,” Parker said. “Nobody in our conference plays their pressing style [of defense]. We had a lot of problems breaking it.”

Even though Cincinnati is off to one of the best starts in school history, the Bearcats have fretted about their lethargic and sloppy play the last month. Cincinnati lost at Alabama Birmingham and survived near-upsets at Southern Mississippi and South Florida.

The Bearcats came out inspired Sunday and fed off Long’s early dominance. He repeatedly darted past 6-11 David Crouse for easy baskets in the opening minutes.

Once USC got behind, it crumbled. The Trojans had 12 turnovers in the first half, when they trailed by as many as 25 points, and had shots thump off the side of the backboard.

“A lot of teams do that--they come out afraid,” Fortson said. “We usually let them get their confidence. Today we pressured them into early mistakes and took advantage. We played hard and we played smart.”

In the defining moment of the half, Flint slipped undetected behind USC’s flat-footed front line and took an alley-oop pass from Darnell Burton for a dunk that made it 22-8.

USC went seven minutes without a field goal in the second half, helping Cincinnati lead by as many as many as 38 points and no fewer than 19.