By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The pall was lifted from the University of Cincinnati basketball program Saturday at Shoemaker Center after the Bearcats' upset of fourth-ranked Louisville.

Leonard Stokes, vilified by UC coach Bob Huggins just six days earlier as a player who wasn't living up to UC's legacy, had just scored a season-high 31 points in the Bearcats' 101-80 victory, which snapped a string of five losses in six games.

Tony Bobbitt, who just a few weeks earlier had quit the team, poured in 25 points and essentially buried Louisville with a barrage of 3-pointers near the end of the first half.

Even the oft-maligned center position was productive, with Kareem Johnson's career-high 10 points complementing seven rebounds.

The picture was so rosy that Huggins dared to suggest that perhaps this team had turned the corner.

"My gauge has always been practice," Huggins said.

And practice leading up to the Louisville game was as productive as it has been all season. In fact, Huggins said Friday's practice was the best in his 14 years at UC.

"They were really into doing what we need to get done," Huggins said.

But has UC really turned the corner this time?

The Bearcats (15-8, 7-5 in Conference USA) rose to No. 22 in the Ratings Percentage Index after Saturday's victory and seem likely to make their 12th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

They have four regular-season games remaining, beginning with Wednesday night's game at Shoemaker Center against East Carolina.

They finish with games at Memphis, at home against UAB, and at No. 11 Marquette on March 8 before heading to Louisville for the conference tournament.

Saturday's performance certainly provided a lift to a team that was reeling. The important thing now is to keep it going, and that's something the Bearcats have struggled to do this year.

They appeared to have their problems solved with a win on Feb. 9 over No. 11 Oklahoma State, which ended a three-game losing streak, but then played one of their worst games of the season six days later in a loss at Charlotte.

The last time Stokes scored 30 points was against Tulane on Jan. 18. He was held to 16 in his next game and the Bearcats struggled to beat East Carolina.

And the last time Bobbitt had a big scoring night, against Oregon on Dec. 17, he encored with a 4-for-11 shooting performance in a loss at Clemson. He didn't reach double figures again until he scored 16 in a loss to Marquette on Feb. 1.

Perhaps the most positive development that emerged from the Louisville win is that UC found other ways to score when forward Jason Maxiell, who managed only six points, got into foul trouble.

One of those ways was to parade to the foul line a school record 58 times. That's not likely to happen very often.

Huggins said he offered no special motivation for the Louisville game, except to refuse to let his players talk to the media. No pep talk set the stage for the glittering practices.

"I've had a couple of guys come in and talk to them individually about what they're doing, but I do that all the time, anyway."

Ultimately, this team must establish consistency, something Huggins has been talking about all year, but which so far he hasn't seen.

"They've got to learn to bring it every day," he said.

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com

Momentum killers

With its victory Saturday over Louisville, UC has beaten three Top 25 teams this season. The next games have not been so kind to the Bearcats.

Dec. 17: UC 77, No. 5 Oregon 52

Dec. 22: Clemson 58, UC 51

Feb. 9: UC 61,

No. 11 Okla St. 50

Feb. 15: Charlotte 74, UC 64

Feb. 22: UC 101,

No. 4 Louisville 80

Wednesday: East Carolina