UC's Jason Maxiell is sandwiched by Chris Sloan (33) and Chris Braun (52) of St. Louis as they battle for a loose ball. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        ST. LOUIS — Good thing for the University of Cincinnati it has one of the top-rated defenses in the country. It was needed Tuesday to rescue the Bearcats, because their offense struggled.

        No.4-ranked UC held off Saint Louis 54-50 at the Savvis Center to increase the nation's longest winning streak to 18 games.

        This was Cincinnati's first victory by fewer than 10 points. And it was their lowest point total of the season; UC had averaged 83 points over its previous three games.

        “I'd just as soon win by 20 and keep moving,” Bearcats coach Bob Huggins said. “It's a lot easier on my heart.”

      UC (18-1, 6-0 Conference USA) was never able to pull away; its biggest second-half lead was seven points (with 32.3 seconds left).

        Too many missed layups. Too many missed jumpers. Too little execution.

Steve Logan led UC with 25 points. | ZOOM |

          A deep 3-pointer by Saint Louis guard Josh Fisher tied the game with 7:03 remaining. To that point, UC was 5-of-17 shooting in the half.

        UC senior Steve Logan, who scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting, put Cincinnati back ahead with two free throws. The Billikens turned over the ball and Leonard Stokes scored on a jumper for a 47-43 UC lead with five minutes left.

        Neither team scored again until Jason Edwin hit two free throws with 2:21 to play to pull Saint Louis to 47-45.

        Logan drove to the basket, passed to freshman Jason Maxiell, who hit a short jumper to make it 49-45.

        Edwin missed a driving layup, Maxiell rebounded, then was called for an offensive foul, giving the Billikens the ball with 1:38 left. They called a timeout.

Bob Huggins reacts to a call. | ZOOM |

        Fisher ended up taking a deep 3-pointer with time running out on the shot clock. It missed, but Chris Sloan rebounded and was fouled going to the basket. He made his first free throw but missed the second. It was 49-46 with 1:02 to go.

        Logan came down and drove right toward the basket, sending a short jump shot off the glass for a five-point lead with 45 seconds left.

        Edwin missed a jumper, and Maxiell grabbed his game-high 14th rebound. That was the ball game.

        UC had lost two of its last three games at the Savvis Center.

        “I know how it is here at Saint Louis,” Logan said. “They try to force you out of your offense. We were really never in the flow of the offense. We broke down more this game than we have all year.

        “We've got to be able to correct it. If the first option doesn't go, we've got to have a second option to go to.”

Randy Pulley of Saint Louis beats Jamaal Davis to a rebound. | ZOOM |

        Saint Louis went 6 1/2 minutes without a field goal after the score was tied.

        The Bearcats also dominated the end of the first half, finishing with 15 unanswered points to lead 30-23. The Billikens, who were ahead 23-15, went scoreless for the final 5:19, missing seven consecutive field goal attempts.

        “That's where we lost the game,” Edwin said.

        “The bottom fell out,” Saint Louis coach Lorenzo Romar said. “We didn't execute. We didn't defend. And we turned the ball over.”

        Cincinnati has tied its second-best 19-game start in school history; four other UC teams have also gone 18-1.

        For the third straight game, Saint Louis was without junior point guard Marque Perry, the only Billiken averaging in double figures (15.3 ppg). Perry, who was suffering from mild headaches after a collision at Marquette (Jan.12), was examined Tuesday and cleared to practice Thursday. He is expected to play Saturday against Marquette.

        Saint Louis (9-10, 3-3) saw a seven-game home winning streak end. Edwin led the Billikens with 15 points but was just 4-of-14 shooting. Drew Diener added 10. “In college basketball, there are many teams that have a lot of hype that are perceived to be really good, and they're pretty good,” Romar said. “Others are the real deal, and that's Cincinnati. You feel Cincinnati when you play them the entire game.

        “I was extremely proud of our guys, the way we competed, but I'm not satisfied that we lost the ballgame.”

        UC plays at South Florida (12-5, 3-2 C-USA) at noon Saturday (Channel 19). The Bulls play at Tulane tonight.

        NOTEWORTHY: Logan was picked to cnnsi.com's midseason first-team All-America team. He was joined by Jason Williams (Duke), Drew Gooden (Kansas), Juan Dixon (Maryland) and Jared Jeffries (Indiana). Most valuable player to his team was Jason Gardner (Arizona).

UC does it all with defense
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CINCINNATI (54)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Davis           37   2-6   1-2   1-4  4  4    5
Little          19   1-2   0-1   0-3  0  2    2
Stokes          34   3-7   3-3   0-1  1  1    9
Logan           38 10-20   4-6   0-3  3  1   25
Mcelroy         37   4-8   0-0   0-6  1  0    8
Williams         7   0-1   0-0   0-1  0  0    0
Barker           4   0-0   0-0   0-0  1  2    0
Crawford         1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Maxiell         23   1-5   3-4  3-14  0  2    5
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 21-49 11-16  4-32 10 13   54
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.429, FT-.688. 3-Point Goals:
1-7, .143 (Stokes 0-1, Logan 1-5, Williams 0-1).
Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 2 (Stokes,
Mcelroy). Turnovers: 16 (Davis 4, Logan 3,
Maxiell 3, Little 2, Mcelroy 2, Stokes 2).
Steals: 8 (Logan 3, Mcelroy 2, Stokes 2, Davis).


ST LOUIS (50)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Sloan           26   1-2   1-2   1-4  2  4    3
Edwin           38  4-14   4-4   2-4  0  1   15
Brown           24   2-7   0-0   2-7  0  4    4
Fisher          30   4-7   0-0   0-6  5  2    9
Diener          35   4-8   1-1   0-3  0  0   10
Pulley          17   0-4   0-2   0-1  4  2    0
Varner          13   0-5   0-0   0-3  0  0    0
Braun           17   4-8   0-0   0-3  0  4    9
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 19-55   6-9  5-31 11 17   50
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.345, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
6-16, .375 (Sloan 0-1, Edwin 3-6, Fisher 1-2,
Diener 1-4, Varner 0-1, Braun 1-2). Team
rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 3 (Sloan, Brown,
Braun). Turnovers: 16 (Brown 5, Fisher 4, Braun
3, Pulley 2, Sloan 2). Steals: 4 (Sloan 2,
Diener, Fisher).
__________________________________
Cincinnati         30   24  -   54
St Louis           23   27  -   50
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 12,103. Officials:
John Clougherty, Kelvin Thorpe, Curtis Shaw.

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