Jason Maxiell dunks over DePaul guard Drake Diener. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ROSEMONT, Ill. - Bob Huggins talked about it earlier this week. The defense was slipping, he said. Attention to detail wasn't what it had been. Wednesday night, the University of Cincinnati coach's worst fears were realized.

The Bearcats' defense was shabby, their offense was practically nonexistent, and as a result, their 8-game winning streak is history.

UC was pushed around in the first half, overcame a 10-point halftime lead, then folded down the stretch, losing to DePaul 56-52 before 8,023 fans at Allstate Arena.

"We're not mature enough to handle winning eight in a row," Huggins said.

The question now is whether the Bearcats are mature enough to bounce back with their toughest three-game stretch of the season staring them in the face.

Eric Hicks tries to block a shot by DePaul forward Sam Hoskin. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

UC (13-4, 6-1 Conference USA) will play No. 18 Marquette on Saturday afternoon at Shoemaker Center, followed by a game at No. 8 Louisville on Wednesday and a home game against No. 9 Oklahoma State a week from Sunday.

DePaul (11-6, 3-3) had lost 23 of its last 24 games against UC but was definitely the aggressor Wednesday night.

The Blue Demons outrebounded UC 37-29 and outscored the Bearcats 22-4 in the paint. Defensively, they held UC to 30.6 percent shooting.

Senior forward Leonard Stokes scored only nine points, the first time this season he has not reached double figures. Stokes was 1-for-10 from the field. Forward Jason Maxiell scored 10 points and was 3-for-10 from the field.

The Bearcats made a season-low 15 field goals, seven of them by guard Field Williams, who led UC with 22 points.

"Take Field out of there and it's embarrassing," said associate head coach Dan Peters. "It's embarrassing to begin with. It's totally unacceptable for DivisionI players to shoot like that."

Bob Huggins calls to his team in the first half. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

UC trailed by as many as 13 in the first half and by 10 at halftime. Down 40-29 with just more than 13 minutes to go, the Bearcats scored 12 straight points to take a 41-40 lead with 9:12 to play, thanks to the defensive pressure provided by a three-quarters-court press.

But DePaul didn't back down. The Blue Demons, who were led by Delonte Holland's 22 points, answered every charge that UC made.

A Stokes 3-pointer, his only field goal of the night, tied the score at 50 with 1:58 to go, but sophomore Drake Diener made a running scoop shot with 51.9 seconds left to break the tie. It was his only basket of the night.

Sam Hoskin made four free throws in the final 28 seconds to seal the win for DePaul. UC missed two front ends in bonus free throw situations in the final three minutes, one by Stokes and one by Maxiell.

DePaul forward Delonte Holland goes up for a shot against Armein Kirkland. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

"We weren't ready to play," UC point guard Taron Barker said. "They just manhandled us. They showed they were men tonight and we weren't. We were boys."

The Blue Demons were determined not to let Maxiell beat them down low. He repeatedly received the ball on the low block, but he was usually double-teamed. At one point, unable to find someone to pass to, he turned and fired a long shot from the corner that sailed over the basket for an airball.

"They run their two biggest guys at Max," Huggins said. "When he shoots the ball, shouldn't those post guys get a rebound? We got two and we got nothing out of either one of them."

The Bearcats now face the prospect of having to knock off Marquette and Louisville in succession as they attempt to win their eight straight conference championship.

"If we pull those games out, we'll be OK," said UC's Armein Kirkland.

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com

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Cincinnati	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Stokes	34	1	10	6	7	4	3	1	2	9
Maxiell	36	3	10	4	5	6	0	3	5	10
Johnson	23	0	1	0	0	5	0	1	0	0
Williams	33	7	15	2	2	3	0	1	0	22
Barker	36	2	4	0	0	4	6	3	1	5
Land	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Moore	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Lucas	0+	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hicks	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Bobbitt	8	2	7	0	0	1	0	0	0	6
Flowers	11	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Kirkland	11	0	0	0	0	4	1	2	2	0
Totals	200	15	49	12	14	29	10	14	10	52

Team rebounds - 1.

DePaul	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Brown	27	3	6	1	3	7	1	0	1	7
Holland	37	10	18	0	0	9	3	2	2	22
Hoskin	39	2	8	6	6	6	1	1	3	10
Seals	7	0	0	0	0	1	1	3	1	0
Diener	32	1	6	0	0	6	3	4	2	2
London	25	2	2	0	0	2	3	3	1	5
Brooks	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0
Tulley	8	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Greer	22	4	10	0	0	2	2	2	2	10
Totals	200	22	51	8	10	37	15	16	13	56

Team rebounds - 3.

Cincinnati	22	30	-52
DePaul	32	24	-56

3-pointers - UC 10-24 (Stokes 1-2, Williams 6-13, Barker 1-3, Bobbitt 2-6), D 4-10 (Holland 2-3, Hoskin 0-1, Diener 0-2, London 1-1, Tulley 0-1, Greer 1-2). Technicals - None. Officials - Harrington, Moore, Pyatt. Attendance - 8,023.