Clemson Clemson/Cincinnati Cincinnati Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Steve Logan didn't know until game time that he would play Thursday in the semifinals of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.

Cincinnati (No. 20 ESPN/USA Today, No. 22 AP) didn't know it would play in the championship game until he got the Bearcats the momentum back in an 88-80 victory over Clemson.

Logan turned his ankle early in the second half of the opening-round win over Youngstown State, and even though X-rays were negative, nobody thought the junior point guard would play against Clemson.

After testing the ankle in a morning shootaround and in pregame warmups, Logan decided to play and finished with 18 points, including the 3-pointer that got the Bearcats control back after Will Solomon had single-handedly brought Clemson (7-3) back from a 15-point deficit.

"It's a little sore right now," said Logan, ice wrapped around his left ankle. "Once I warmed up a little bit I felt myself loosening up. I wanted to get out there no matter what the circumstances."

Cincinnati trainer Jayd Grossman spent most of Wednesday night and early Thursday treating Logan.

"I'm amazed," Grossman said. "From last night to when he walked on the court today, I'm amazed."

The Bearcats advanced to Friday's championship against Alabama (No. 18, No. 17), which beat Washington 69-60.

Cincinnati was dominant inside early and led 66-51 with 8½ minutes to play when Solomon, who finished with 32 points, took over.

He scored all but two of the points in an 18-5 run that had the Tigers within 71-69 with 4:41 to play. He made two 3-pointers during the run and also turned a steal into a three-point play. His play energized the Tigers and had the Bearcats on their heels.

"We didn't match their intensity and they were quicker than us by a step the whole first half," Solomon said. "In the second half we got into our game and overcame the lead. We just couldn't finish it off."

After Solomon's 3 that made it a two-point game, Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins called a timeout.

On the play out of the timeout, Logan nailed a 3 that started a 7-0 run that gave Cincinnati some breathing room.

"Logan hit a big shot," Solomon said. "He hit a big shot when they really needed one."

Huggins said he called for the offensive set that normally gets a shot for Logan or Kenny Satterfield.

"We had just gotten so tentative," Huggins said. "We quit attacking offensively and we have to attack offensively."

Clemson was unable to get any closer than six points the rest of the way as the Bearcats went 8-for-10 from the free-throw line over the final 2:15 with Logan, who played 31 minutes, going 6-for-8.

"Logan's shot when we cut it to two was big. That was an NBA 3," Clemson coach Larry Shyatt said. "Finally we had somebody on their heels but even after he hit the big shot we didn't stop fighting. We just didn't have enough."

Satterfield had 22 points and eight assists for Cincinnati, while Donald Little, the Bearcats' leading rebounder who injured his left leg early in the opening round and also was considered questionable, had six points, five rebounds and five blocked shots in 15 minutes.

"We're OK inside as long as Donald comes to play and we can keep him out of foul trouble," Huggins said. "He was really good."

Tony Stockman and Ray Henderson each had 12 points for Clemson.

"We dug ourselves a hole," Shyatt said. "We were far from aggressive, far from enthusiastic, far from effective. But I thought we dominated inside the last 15 minutes."

Solomon's sixth point Thursday was the 1,000th of his career.

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