By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati's James White shows his excitement after hitting a shot in the first half against Saint Louis at Fifth Third Arena on Wednesday. White had career highs with 23 points and 11 rebounds. The Cincinnati Enquirer/JEFF SWINGER

The same University of Cincinnati basketball team that appeared mentally and physically deflated a week ago now shows signs of finishing the season on a roll.

Filled with the same sense of purpose that characterized their overtime victory over Louisville on Saturday, the 15th-ranked Bearcats gave every indication that they have fully emerged from their recent slump with a 77-52 victory Wednesday night over Saint Louis before 12,886 fans at Fifth Third Arena.

"Louisville knocked us off (in January) and we went on a losing streak," said UC guard Field Williams, who scored 20 points. "Then we beat the team that knocked us off and now we're trying to go on a winning streak."

UC (19-5, 10-3 Conference USA) took over sole possession of second place when Alabama-Birmingham lost 74-69 to Tulane on Wednesday.

The Bearcats stand one game behind first-place Memphis, which plays UC at Fifth Third Arena in the regular-season finale March 6.

Saint Louis (14-10, 7-6) entered the game leading the league in scoring defense, allowing an average of 57.1 points per game, but the Billikens surrendered their highest point total of the season.

Determined to prevent the Billikens from getting a lead and controlling the game with their patented slow tempo, the Bearcats came out in attack mode.

The full-court pressure that UC coach Bob Huggins adamantly declared buried for the rest of the season after the Bearcats' Feb. 11 victory over South Florida was back against Saint Louis. It was used as a tool for speeding up the game.

"We didn't want the game to be in the 40s and 50s," Huggins said.

The Bearcats led by 13 points at halftime, spread the lead to 20 with 14:30 left, then withstood a mild rally that saw the Billikens trim the lead to 11 with 6:52 to go.

UC played one of its best overall games since beginning the season 13-0. The Bearcats shot 50.9 percent from the field, 40.9 percent from 3-point range (9-for-22) and outrebounded Saint Louis 44-22.

Sophomore forward James White produced his first career double-double with career highs in points (23) and rebounds (11). He also had seven assists and played a significant portion of the game at point guard, a position at which he's appearing to be more comfortable.

The offensive outburst, White said, was the result of a recent self-evaluation, with a little help from his father and the UC coaches.

"I changed my game plan," White said. "I haven't been taking good shots lately, and that's probably why my percentage is so bad. Today, I just wanted to stop shooting so many 3s. I just wanted to take shots I'm normally comfortable with taking, mid-range shots and taking the ball to the basket."

The victory occurred in UC's first game without junior center Robert Whaley, who left the team Monday.

The only apparent effect of Whaley's absence was more minutes for starting center Kareem Johnson, who responded with eight points and 12 rebounds.

But Huggins said Whaley's absence had nothing to do with Johnson's 27 minutes on the floor, his most since the Feb. 7 Houston game.

"He would have gotten minutes before if he had played like this," Huggins said. "It's not a matter of anybody being here or not being here. It's a matter of who gets it done. We're going to play guys that earn minutes."

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com

Saint Louis	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Ohanon	25	4	11	4	8	2	0	5	1	12
Sloan	24	4	6	0	2	2	1	2	3	8
Vouyoukas	18	1	3	0	0	2	0	1	0	2
Fisher	38	2	6	4	4	5	8	1	1	9
Bryant	31	2	9	4	4	2	0	2	2	10
Frericks	21	3	8	0	2	7	1	2	0	6
Drejaj	24	1	3	0	0	1	2	2	1	3
Hunt	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Johnson	7	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2
Mooney	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Varner	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Bennett	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	200	18	48	12	20	22	12	17	9	52

Team rebounds - 1.

Cincinnati	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
White	34	10	14	2	2	11	7	2	1	23
Maxiell	30	4	8	2	3	3	1	4	3	10
Johnson	27	3	6	2	2	12	0	3	1	8
F. Williams	33	7	14	0	0	2	3	1	1	20
N. Williams	14	0	1	0	0	2	1	2	1	0
Meeker	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Hicks	16	0	1	2	2	3	0	0	0	2
Bobbitt	26	4	11	0	0	4	3	1	2	10
Kirkland	19	1	2	2	3	5	1	0	1	4
Totals	200	29	57	10	13	44	16	13	10	77

Team rebounds - 2.

Saint Louis	24	28	-52
Cincinnati	37	40	-77

3-pointers - Saint Louis 4-18 (Sloan 0-2, Fisher 1-4, Bryant 2-8, Drejaj 1-3, Varner 0-1), Cincinnati 9-22 (White 1-3, F. Williams 6-12, N. Williams 0-1, Bobbitt 2-6). Technicals - None. Officials - Curtis Shaw, Steve Olson, Tim Higgins. Attendance - 12,886.