Better than cake

Happy birthday, A.J. Ratliff.\nThe beleaguered IU guard celebrated his 21st Saturday by pouring in 18 points -- 16 of which came in a first-half shooting flurry -- in a 74-57 IU win against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Saturday night at Assembly Hall.\nRatliff hit four 3-pointers in the first half. Locked in zone defense, Charlotte struggled to contain Ratliff as the guard found open areas behind the arc.\n"It would have been nice to hit more shots and get 21, but 18 is nice, and the win is even better," Ratliff said. "The win was my birthday present."\nThe success was a change of pace for Ratliff, who has been off and on thus far in his junior season.\nPrior to Saturday night, Ratliff had started every game, the only IU player other than forward D.J. White to do so. But after a weak showing at Duke University in which Ratliff was benched for much of the second half, the Indianapolis native was bumped from the starting lineup.\nInstead, IU coach Kelvin Sampson started the guard trio of Armon Bassett, Joey Shaw and Errek Suhr. The nod was Suhr's first in his IU career.\nWhen that combo proved ineffective, Sampson adjusted with point guard Earl Calloway and Ratliff, who keyed the 19-5 first-half Hoosier run.\nRatliff said a special meeting with his coach helped the guard recover from his "timid" outing in Durham, N.C.\n"I got sucked into the crowd, into being at Duke," Ratliff said. "Coach made the right decision to bench me. All I wanted to do tonight was show him I was the kind of player that can attack and hit shots for the team."\nRatliff and Sampson met individually Wednesday morning, the guard said. The meeting was designed to help Ratliff build some confidence and consistency in his shooting.\n"It was all about shooting how I shoot in practice and bringing that over to the game," Ratliff said. "It built my confidence, getting those shots."\nThe progress was an obvious step in the right direction for Ratliff's development. A former Indiana Mr. Basketball award recipient at North Central High School in Indianapolis, Ratliff was a touted recruit under former coach Mike Davis.\nAs a freshman under Davis, Ratliff contributed immediately, leading IU in field goal percentage and starting 14 times. In his sophomore year, Ratliff bounced back from an early-season thumb injury to score a career-high 21 points versus Kentucky at his hometown's RCA Dome but was largely absent for the rest of the season. He finished the year with an average 3.5 points and 1.9 rebounds a game.\nNow, Ratliff has taken a step toward fulfilling the promise of his prep career if he can be consistent -- and maybe a little less friendly -- Sampson said.\n"From what I've seen, this has kind of been A.J.'s story -- he's been inconsistent," Sampson said. "A.J's not by nature an overly aggressive kid. He's just not. I mean, just look at him. He's a really nice young man. He's just got to get a little mud in his blood"