By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Don't put much stock in that 90-65 University of Cincinnati victory over DePaul on Jan. 10 at Fifth Third Arena.

Sure, it counts in the Conference USA standings and the computations for the two schools' Ratings Percentage Index, but in terms of what it means as they meet for today's 9 p.m. rematch at Allstate Arena, it might as well have never happened.

That's how much UC and DePaul have changed since then.

No. 14 UC (20-5 , 11-3 C-USA) is tied for first place with Memphis and faces the Tigers on Saturday at Fifth Third Arena in the regular-season finale. The Bearcats, who have won three in a row after suffering four losses in six games, can clinch one of four first-round byes in next week's C-USA Tournament with a win tonight.

DePaul (17-8, 10-4) is tied for third place and has won 10 of 12 games since losing to the Bearcats. The Blue Demons are looking for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000.

The Blue Demons played that first game against UC without injured 6-foot-9 senior power forward Andre Brown, who's back now and averaging 14.7 points and 9.9 rebounds.

"Having Andre will certainly help us," said DePaul coach Dave Leitao. "He does something to our locker room. He's infectious in his attitude and the way he plays and the way he works. That, too, will help us and make our guys more confident. I'd like to think it will make a difference. If it's enough, we'll have to see."

DePaul has other weapons.

Freshman point guard Sammy Mejia (8.2 points, 4.6 assists) has grown up considerably since he committed six turnovers against UC.

Forward Delonte Holland, who scored 29 points against UC - 22 in the second half and 17 at the free throw line - has emerged as one of the league's top scorers at 16.7 points a game.

DePaul also has the top 3-point shooter in the league in Drake Diener, who shoots 47 percent from beyond the arc.

"Their whole team is better," UC coach Bob Huggins said. "(Forward) Quemont Greer has been their best player over the last month or so. They may well be the most talented starting five in the league. They can all score. They can all rebound. They all pass the ball."

UC has changed its stripes, too. The Bearcats pressed the Blue Demons into 24 turnovers but no longer press extensively. They had been playing 10 or 11 players but now use only eight. They had a 6-10 center named Robert Whaley, who scored 10 points with four rebounds in the first DePaul game but no longer is on the team.

"They're a much more dangerous offensive team because they've settled in and not gotten as many points off of their defense," Leitao said. "They have a terrific inside-outside game. We've got to be ready to combat that."

It will be interesting to see if the Bearcats will dust off their press and use it against the Blue Demons because of the success they had in the first meeting. They used it extensively against Saint Louis on Feb. 25 to speed up the tempo of the game and found that it still had value.

The Bearcats are smart enough to understand that they won't cruise to a blowout win the way they did in January.

"They were missing a key component of their team," said UC forward James White. "They've been on a good winning streak. They'll be ready to play because the stakes are high. This is their chance to get into the NCAA Tournament if they beat us. They're going to have all the pieces to their puzzle."

E-mail:bkoch@enquirer.com