By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

For 13 games, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats flourished because of their full-court pressure. The press forced turnovers, created easy transition baskets and, perhaps more importantly, provided the UC players with a swagger reminiscent of the 1992 Final Four and 1993 Elite Eight teams.

But the swagger has disappeared in the last seven games, and now, so has the press.

UC coach Bob Huggins said Wednesday night after the Bearcats' 80-67 victory over South Florida that he was placing the press on the shelf for the remainder of the season.

Thursday afternoon, he said he was serious. There will be no more full-court pressure. Instead, Huggins said, he's contemplating falling back into a half-court zone defense.

"You can't press with guys that are too lazy to run back on defense," Huggins said. "These guys are too lazy to run back on defense, so we're not going to press anymore."

Because of a scheduling conflict at Fifth Third Arena, the 13th-ranked Bearcats (17-3) were unable to use Ed Jucker Court and practiced at Oak Hills High School on Thursday.

They'll practice at Moeller High School today, then leave Saturday for Sunday's non-league game at No. 20 Wake Forest.

During the early part of the season, the press may have been the Bearcats' most effective weapon. They were so good at it - forcing an average of 21 turnovers in their first 13 games - that it quickly became their trademark.

But lately, the press has lost its edge. Where once teams appeared to fear it, now they seem to regard it as little more than a minor nuisance. As a result, in their last seven games, during which they're 4-3, the Bearcats are forcingjust 14 turnovers per game.

"I like pressing," UC forward James White said. "We all like pressing. But it hasn't been effective. It hasn't worked for us. It's been to our disadvantage lately so we have to find another way to win."

If Huggins is serious about calling off the press - and it appears he is - the UC players say they'll miss it. But no one is questioning Huggins' decision.

"At the beginning of the season, I had fun doing it," forward Armein Kirkland said. "But it's up to him. If it doesn't work, I guess we've got to stop doing it."

The press worked so well in November, December and the first half of January because the players were committed to it, Kirkland said.

Lately, that hasn't been the case. Kirkland's knee injury, which has prevented him from covering the floor the way he once did, also hasn't helped.

"I think it's good for our team when we commit to it," Kirkland said. "But if everybody doesn't commit to doing it, if somebody's double-teamed and somebody's lazy and doesn't rotate, we're already at a disadvantage because of two people on one. When the ball gets swung out of the trap, we're going to be in a 4-3 situation every time, and that's going to hurt us."

Still, it seems odd that the same players who were so effective in the press during the early part of the season now seem to have no clue how to execute it.

"It's because they played hard earlier," Huggins said. "We ran balls down. We haven't run any balls down since the Dayton game."

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com