CINCINNATI (AP) -- No blowout. No loss, either. The nation's top-ranked team could console itself with that.

Ohio's slowdown offense lulled Cincinnati for a half, but Pete Mickeal led a second-half run that rallied the Bearcats to a 73-59 victory Friday night.

	Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin was held to nine points by the Bobcats on Friday.

Cincinnati (16-1) allowed its fourth midnight game during coach Bob Huggins' 11 seasons to turn into another late-night scare. The Bearcats' last midnight game turned into their last home-court loss, 87-79 to Arizona State on Nov. 21, 1997.

Ohio (9-8) kept Cincinnati's lead to single digits throughout the first half and trailed only 34-29 at the break. Mickeal and Jermaine Tate got Cincinnati energized early in the second half, setting up the Bearcats' 39th straight win at home.

"Every team struggles at some point in the season," said Mickeal, who had 18 points and eight rebounds. "But while we're struggling, we're winning. That's the positive part."

Tate hit a couple of baskets and Mickeal rebounded Tate's missed free throw for a putback. Mickeal's 3-pointer finished a nine-point run that made it 45-32, Cincinnati's first double-digit lead of the game.

After Ohio cut it to six points again, Mickeal hit two more driving baskets and a free throw to prevent a relapse. Ohio never got closer than 11 points again.

"That's basketball," said Tate, who had 13 points. "You can't win by 30 every night. You don't know what to expect of yourself. Everybody can't have a good day every day."

Steve Esterkamp scored 13 points and Sanjay Adell had 12 for Ohio, which broke with its history of getting overwhelmed by top-ranked teams. The Bobcats had played a No. 1 team five other times and lost by 24, 42, 47, 30 and 21 points.

Ohio came away thinking that if it could have prevented Tate and Mickeal from putting together that one run, it might have had a chance for the upset.

"Good teams are going to make runs, and they're the best team in the country," said Dustin Ford, who had 10 points. "I think we were a couple of breaks away from making this a better game.

"What killed us was our 22 turnovers. You're not going to beat a high school team with 22 turnovers."

Cincinnati also was ranked No. 1 when the teams played on Dec. 29, 1962. The instate schools have played 75 times, but had not met in 26 years.

The loudest crowd of the season at the Shoemaker Center greeted Ohio with a profane chant, then went uneasily quiet as the Bobcats slowed down the pace and stayed right with the country's top team for more than a half.

Huggins, who played for Ohio as a freshman in 1973 before transferring to West Virginia, remained composed as the Bearcats struggled through their second slow start in a row.

Cincinnati fell behind by nine points in the first half Wednesday night at Tulane before rallying for a 72-59 win. Ohio set a deliberate pace Friday, running down the shot clock with each possession.

Sluggish Cincinnati made only 2-of-12 3-point shots and shot 36.7 percent in the half. Ohio dominated the boards 20-14 in the half against the Bearcats' celebrated front line, with Shaun Stonerook getting eight.

Stonerook finished with 14 rebounds as Ohio outrebounded Cincinnati 40-36 overall.

"I promise you, we will rebound better," Huggins said. "As sure as I'm standing here, we will rebound the ball better next week."

As the game stayed close, Ohio went from an unnerved team -- seven turnovers in the first seven minutes -- to one that wouldn't back down. Several players traded words after one foul in the second half, and Mickeal later popped up and gestured toward Esterkamp after he was fouled hard and hit the floor.