The victories in the University of Cincinnati's eight-game winning streak are looking a lot alike. No. 25-ranked UC, wearing new red uniforms, easily handled visiting Richmond 77-46 Monday night at Shoemaker Center and improved to 8-1.

Steve Logan had 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, 7 assists and 5 rebounds (Steven M. Herrppich photo) | ZOOM |

        Every UC victory has come by double digits. Since the season-opening loss at Oklahoma State, no opponent has come closer than 13 points. Only three have come within 20. The eight victories have been by an average of 26.5 points.

        Even in the Dec. 10 game against Toledo when Cincinnati played poorly, it won 68-55 and was never in danger of losing.

        The answer: Defense.

        “We've made it difficult for people to get easy baskets,” UC coach Bob Huggins said. “They have to score through us more.”

        Richmond trailed by 20 early in the second half but battled back to within 49-37 with 11:34 remaining. The Bearcats then put the game away with an 11-2 run. It only got worse from there.

Rodney Crawford grabs a loose ball. (Steven M. Herrppich photo) | ZOOM |

        Steve Logan scored 12 of UC's last 23 points.

        The senior guard was UC's leading scorer for the seventh time, finishing with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting with seven assists and five rebounds. Logan has 1,400 career points and moved into 12th place on the school's all-time scoring list, passing Bobby Austin and Paul Hogue.

        Donald Little added 12 points and Leonard Stokes 10 for the Bearcats. Immanuel McElroy and Little each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

        The Bearcats weren't about to have a letdown after their 75-55 victory over Xavier. In fact, UC is 10-3 after Crosstown Shootouts under Huggins with all the losses coming on the road.

        “I wanted to try to picture these guys, Richmond, as Xavier,” Logan said. “We've got to play like that every game. We've got to play against the game, not the opponent.”

Donald Little had 12 points and 7 rebounds. (Steven M. Herrppich photo) | ZOOM |

        Cincinnati led 36-20 at halftime, which is kind of the norm.

        Xavier is the only opponent to score more than 25 points in the first half against UC all season. UC has held three teams to 20 or fewer in the first 20 minutes.

        The Bearcats opened with a 15-3 lead while the Spiders started the game 1-of-10 shooting from the field.

        “We come out every day want ing to prove ourselves to the people and all the doubters,” Logan said. “We're just going to keep winning games and working hard.”

        UC junior center B.J. Grove, who rejoined the team last week, went to the scorer's table with four minutes left to check in, but when play didn't stop, he returned to the bench. When Huggins emptied the bench for the final 1:34, Grove did not get in despite the crowd chanting “We want B.J.”

        The Bearcats are 4-0 against Atlantic 10 Conference teams, having beaten Duquesne, Dayton, Xavier and Richmond. The Spiders, who shot .366 from the field, dropped their fourth in a row and are 3-4. They were led by Mike Skrocki with 14 points.

Leonard Stokes had 10 points. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        “Right now we're not in sync offensively, so bad matchup tonight,” Richmond coach John Beilein said. “We're in a shooting slump that is lingering.”

        With 7:46 left in the first half, former UC All-American Kenyon Martin walked into Shoemaker Center and received a standing ovation. Martin, who carried the Olympic Torch earlier Monday, waved to the crowd and sat behind the UC bench.

        UC's run of routs probably won't end with its next game against Louisiana-Monroe in Las Vegas on Thursday. On Friday, UC will face Mississippi State, which is 10-0.

        Cincinnati is on the road for its next five games and doesn't return home again until Jan.8 against Charlotte.

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RICHMOND (46)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Dobbins         32   2-7   2-2   1-4  2  3    6
Skrocki         33  6-10   0-0   0-2  0  2   14
Collins         12   2-4   1-2   1-3  0  3    5
Ungerer         35   0-2   2-2   1-5  2  1    2
Brown           25   1-8   0-0   0-1  2  4    3
Myers            9   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Faulconer       13   1-1   0-0   0-0  0  2    3
Morton          17   1-2   3-4   0-1  1  0    5
Omalley         24   2-6   4-6   0-4  1  2    8
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 15-41 12-16  3-20  8 18   46
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.366, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
4-19, .211 (Dobbins 0-2, Skrocki 2-6, Ungerer
0-1, Brown 1-6, Myers 0-1, Faulconer 1-1, Omalley
0-2). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 4 (Collins
3, Skrocki). Turnovers: 17 (Ungerer 6, Dobbins 3,
Brown 2, Omalley 2, Collins, Faulconer, Skrocki).
Steals: 5 (Dobbins 2, Omalley 2, Skrocki).


CINCINNATI (77)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Davis           23   0-3   0-0   0-3  3  4    0
Mcelroy         26   3-7   2-3   3-7  0  2    8
Little          32   4-9   4-4   3-7  1  2   12
Stokes          27   3-8   2-2   1-3  0  2   10
Logan           36  9-13   3-4   0-5  7  1   25
Williams        15   2-5   0-0   1-1  0  0    6
Meeker           1   0-1   2-2   0-0  0  0    2
Lucas            2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Barker          13   1-2   0-0   0-4  3  1    3
Flowers          2   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  0    0
Crawford         9   1-1   0-0   1-1  1  0    2
Hubbard          2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Maxiell         12   3-5   3-3   0-2  0  1    9
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 26-54 16-18  9-34 15 13   77
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.481, FT-.889. 3-Point Goals:
9-16, .563 (Mcelroy 0-1, Stokes 2-3, Logan 4-6,
Williams 2-3, Meeker 0-1, Barker 1-2). Team
rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 1 (Maxiell).
Turnovers: 14 (Stokes 3, Flowers 2, Little 2,
Logan 2, Barker, Davis, Maxiell, Mcelroy).
Steals: 7 (Maxiell 2, Barker, Logan, Mcelroy,
Stokes, Williams).
__________________________________
Richmond           20   26  -   46
Cincinnati         36   41  -   77
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 10,819. Officials:
Mike Sanzere, Terry Wymer, Glenn Mayborg.

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