Steve Logan drives past Will McDonald. (AP photos) | ZOOM |

        TAMPA, Fla. — University of Cincinnati senior Steve Logan does things during the course of a game that don't necessarily show up in the final statistics and easily go unnoticed to those who don't see him often.

        Take Saturday, for example.

        South Florida went ahead 40-39 with 14:47 left on a tip-in by Will McDonald.

        Logan came down the court, gave a jerky head-fake that got USF star Altron Jackson up in the air, then drew a foul. That sent the 6-foot-6 Jackson to the bench with four personal fouls and Logan to the foul line for two free throws that would put the Bearcats ahead for good.

        “I work on getting guys up with head fakes and leaning into them and drawing the foul,” Logan said. “I'm a little guy. I tend to get on some big guys' nerves. They want to block my shot. They talk trash. I get them up in the air. That's just being a point guard and being smart.”

        On UC's next possession, Logan did the same thing to Marlyn Bryant, giving Bryant three fouls. Logan made two more free throws. Field Williams nailed a 3-pointer the next time Cincinnati had the ball, and the Bulls never got closer than four points after that.

Donald Little dunks. | ZOOM |

        No.4-ranked UC went on to win 78-68 for its 19th consecutive victory, tying for the best 20-game start in school history and continuing the nation's longest winning streak.

        The Bearcats (19-1, 7-0 C-USA) have beaten South Florida 11 straight times and are 29-0 against Conference USA National Division teams since 1997-98, when the league went to a two-division format; they are 25-0 in regular-season games.

        Logan led Cincinnati with 27 points and made 12 of 13 free throw attempts. He also added seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.

        The 6-foot guard has scored 20 or more points four games in a row. His two 3-pointers in the final 1:05 of the first half sent UC into the locker room with a 35-29 lead.

        “Logan was Logan,” Bearcats coach Bob Huggins said. “Logan's the best player in the league and wins games, like the best player in the league's supposed to.”

        Said USF coach Seth Greenberg: “I don't like playing against him, but I sure enjoy watching him play. He really just has an unbelievable feel for playing the game the right way. He's patient on screens; he's patient reading the defense; he lifts people.”

        South Florida (13-6, 4-3) has not beaten an Associated Press Top 25 team since 1991-92.

        After the Bulls took their last lead, they went 9 1/2 minutes without a field goal, missing seven shots with three turnovers during that stretch.

        USF got a strong performance from McDonald, a junior center who tied his career high with 28 points, had nine rebounds and at times dominated inside. UC had no answer for McDonald in the first half when he scored 15 (“That's a grown man,” Cincinnati freshman Jason Maxiell said afterward).

Immanuel McElroy passes. | ZOOM |

        “They drilled us inside,” Huggins said. “We haven't let people do that to us. They just out-physicaled us. We did a bad job with angles. We had been playing pretty good in there, so we probably hadn't spent as much time on it as what we need to.”

        Cincinnati's most productive inside presence was Maxiell, who came off the bench for a career-high 18 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes.

        That helped, because starting power forward Jamaal Davis was in foul trouble throughout the second half and went scoreless for the second time this season. Center Donald Little had eight points and seven rebounds.

        Maxiell has scored in double figures in five of the past eight games, averaging 10.8 points and 8.9 rebounds during that stretch.

        “I'm not really worried about offense,” he said. “When you work hard on defense, offense will come. I feel real good about myself. It builds my confidence for the next game.”

        Williams also gave UC a boost with 14 points off the bench.

        Jackson and B.B. Waldon, South Florida's top scorers who came in averaging a combined 33 points a game, finished with 11 each. Jackson fouled out with 39.7 seconds left. Waldon played the final 5:57 with four fouls. Point guard Reggie Kohn had 12 assists.

        “Disappointed again,” Greenberg said. “We've got to seize the moment, and we haven't. If that's my fault, it's my fault. I take responsibility. We're very close, though. (UC is) a great team. If they're the third-best or fourth-best team in the country, we can't be very far behind.”

        UP NEXT: Cincinnati plays host to East Carolina at 8:05p.m. Tuesday.

CINCINNATI (78)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Davis           20   0-3   0-0   1-2  1  4    0
Stokes          12   1-6   0-0   2-2  0  5    2
Little          28   3-4   2-2   2-7  1  4    8
Mcelroy         38  2-10   3-4   1-6  4  2    7
Logan           39  6-14 12-13   1-5  7  0   27
Williams        26   5-9   0-0   0-2  1  0   14
Barker           5   0-0   2-2   0-3  0  0    2
Crawford         3   0-1   0-0   1-1  0  2    0
Hubbard          1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Maxiell         28   5-7   8-9   1-6  0  3   18
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 22-54 27-30  9-34 14 20   78
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.407, FT-.900. 3-Point Goals:
7-15, .467 (Stokes 0-1, Logan 3-8, Williams 4-6).
Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 1 (Little).
Turnovers: 10 (Logan 3, Stokes 3, Davis 2, Little
2). Steals: 5 (Logan 2, Davis, Maxiell, Mcelroy).


SOUTH FLORIDA (68)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Waldon          31   4-9   2-5   0-7  1  4   11
G Brittian      29   2-8   0-0   0-3  3  4    6
Mcdonald        32 11-16   6-8   6-9  0  2   28
Jackson         27  4-10   2-2   1-7  1  5   11
Kohn            32   0-3   0-0   0-1 12  2    0
Bryant          14   0-4   0-0   1-1  1  4    0
Swift            7   0-0   0-0   0-1  1  1    0
Morris           3   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Leather          1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Baxter          11   2-3   1-1   0-1  0  2    6
Bernard         13   3-6   0-1   1-3  0  0    6
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 26-59 11-17  9-33 19 25   68
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.441, FT-.647. 3-Point Goals:
5-12, .417 (Waldon 1-3, G Brittian 2-2, Jackson
1-2, Kohn 0-3, Baxter 1-2). Team rebounds: 4.
Blocked shots: 4 (Waldon, Mcdonald, Kohn,
Bernard). Turnovers: 14 (Kohn 4, Waldon 4, G
Brittian 2, Mcdonald 2, Bernard, Jackson).
Steals: 7 (Waldon 5, Mcdonald 2).
__________________________________
Cincinnati         35   43  -   78
South Florida      29   39  -   68
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 7,372. Officials: Ed
Hightower, Steve Olson, Larry Ware.

---

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