UC's Leonard Stokes cheers on his teammates. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        When a player is hot, get him the ball.

        That's what the University of Cincinnati did Wednesday night.

        Leonard Stokes was everywhere. Running the floor. Scoring on layups. Knocking down 3-pointers. Dunking. Rebounding.

        The 6-foot-6 junior scored a career-high 36 points as the No.7 Bearcats hammered DePaul 89-72 and extended the nation's longest winning streak to 16 games.

        Every victory has been by double digits. This one was even more lopsided than the final score indicates; DePaul scored the final eight points against UC reserves and totaled the most points by a UC opponent this season.

        Cincinnati's winning streak ties for the best in Conference USA history and ties for third-longest in school history.

        “They're far and away the best team in Conference USA in my opinion,” DePaul coach Pat Kennedy said. “This is a very poised basketball team, defensively, offensively.”

        Stokes was 14-of-18 from the field and also had six rebounds and three steals before leaving to a standing ovation with 2:45 left. He scored the first nine points of the second half as the Bearcats built a 28-point lead with 15:57 to play. DePaul never got closer than 16 after that.

        His previous career high was 23 points, and his previous season high was 19. Stokes came in averaging 12.2 points this season. He has averaged 24.7 points over the past three games after scoring in single digits five straight times.

        “When I was in my slump, I would watch tape and then I would be like, "Oh man, I could've done this different,'” Stokes said.

        Said coach Bob Huggins: “He struggled for a while, but he struggled because he didn't get anything in transition and he didn't get anything off the offensive glass.”

        Everyone told him to stop thinking so much. Huggins. Teammate Steve Logan. Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.

        “I try to take everything everyone tells me,” Stokes said. “... Coach tells me every day that I suck when I think a lot, so I try not to.”

Steve Logan opens UC's scoring with a three pointer. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        Logan finished with 21 points and nine assists. When Logan's shot was falling, he kept firing. When it wasn't, he started finding teammates with lob passes and bounce passes, in transition and in halfcourt.

        He specifically started finding Stokes. During another stretch in the second half, Stokes scored nine straight UC points.

        The Bearcats (16-1, 4-0 Conference USA) have defeated DePaul 11 consecutive games at Shoemaker Center and 21 of 22 games overall.

        DePaul (7-8, 0-4) has dropped four in a row.

        “I think people kind of underestimate us on the offensive end,” Logan said. “I think we showed the whole package out there tonight.”

        At halftime, Logan and Stokes had a combined 27 points. DePaul had 26. UC was ahead by 19.

        The Blue Demons' only lead was at 2-0. They were still within 23-19 when Cincinnati pulled away with a 12-0 run.

        Logan started it with three straight jumpers. Jamaal Davis tipped in a Logan 3-point miss. Then after a DePaul miss, Logan pushed the ball upcourt and threw a bounce pass before he reached midcourt to Immanuel McElroy, who beat two Blue Demons down the floor and was streaking toward the basket. McElroy's layup made it 33-19. Less than a minute later, Logan dumped off a short pass inside to Stokes for another layup.

        Logan had averaged just 17 points over the previous four games since dominating the Las Vegas Classic with a 29.3-point average. He was patient, not forcing much and talking about the importance of getting his teammates involved offensively.

        Namely Stokes.

        Seemed like a good plan Wednesday night.

        “I'm glad that he had a great game today,” Logan said. “When he was hot, I kept asking him how it feels. I've been in that zone before.”

        Sophomore center Andre Brown led DePaul with 21 points. Rashon Burno came off the bench for 15. Lance Williams and Joe Tulley added 10 each.

Box Score


DEPAUL (72)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Hoskin          20   1-6   0-0   0-3  1  2    2
Greer           13   0-2   0-0   0-0  0  2    0
A Brown         35  6-12  9-11   4-8  3  3   21
Sawyer          21   3-7   0-0   1-1  0  3    7
Tulley          28   3-6   1-4   0-5  4  5   10
M Brooks         4   0-1   0-0   1-1  0  0    0
Seals           17   2-8   0-0   2-4  2  0    4
Burno           19   5-7   2-2   0-5  4  3   15
London          10   0-1   0-0   1-1  0  1    0
Diener           8   0-2   3-4   1-1  1  2    3
Williams        25   5-8   0-0   1-5  0  2   10
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 25-60 15-21 11-34 15 23   72
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.417, FT-.714. 3-Point Goals:
7-16, .438 (Hoskin 0-1, A Brown 0-1, Sawyer 1-3,
Tulley 3-5, Burno 3-4, London 0-1, Diener 0-1).
Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 3 (Williams 2, A
Brown). Turnovers: 16 (Burno 4, Tulley 3, Hoskin
2, Sawyer 2, A Brown, Greer, M Brooks, Seals).
Steals: 3 (A Brown, Burno, Tulley).


CINCINNATI (89)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Mcelroy         27   3-5   1-3   1-6  3  3    7
Davis           31   3-7   2-2   4-8  2  2    8
Little          20   1-2   1-2   1-5  0  3    3
Stokes          31 14-18   6-6   1-6  1  1   36
Logan           33  7-19   6-6   1-2  9  3   21
Williams         9   1-5   0-0   0-1  0  1    3
Meeker           1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Lucas            2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Barker          17   2-5   0-1   1-2  3  2    5
Flowers          1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Crawford         3   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Hubbard          1   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Grove            5   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Maxiell         19   3-6   0-2   3-6  0  2    6
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 34-69 16-22 12-36 18 19   89
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.493, FT-.727. 3-Point Goals:
5-21, .238 (Stokes 2-4, Logan 1-9, Williams 1-4,
Barker 1-3, Hubbard 0-1). Team rebounds: 2.
Blocked shots: 4 (Davis, Mcelroy, Little,
Maxiell). Turnovers: 9 (Davis 2, Little 2,
Mcelroy 2, Barker, Flowers, Logan). Steals: 6
(Stokes 3, Barker 2, Davis).
__________________________________
Depaul             26   46  -   72
Cincinnati         45   44  -   89
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 13,176. Officials: Tom
Harrington, Sam Croft, R Randall.
                                   

---

Bearcats Stories

Stokes keeps UC on a roll UC notebook

XU aims to prove A-10 power
DE Strahan named best on defense
Favre, Warner need no buildup
SULLIVAN: Reese, Reds part ways for good
Boone to stay with Mariners
Surprising SCPA, 13-1, performing on court
Villa reaches All 'A' region semis
Ohio boys basketball scores
Ohio girls basketball scores
Kentucky boys basketball scores
Kentucky girls basketball scores
Indiana boys basketball scores
Indiana girls basketball scores
Rested Davis lifts Miami
Florida wins 11th straight in SEC
Just another day in the ACC: No. 1 vs. No. 3
College football notebook
Fox Sports Net cancels 'National Sports Report'
Pylypuik joins Cyclones as new president/COO
Sweet revenge: billionaire Mavericks owner dishes ice cream
Blue Jackets blank Rangers
Louisville officials discuss possible NBA team
Nets blitz Wizards
Coming up this week