CINCINNATI (AP) - Forced to grind it out, No. 5 Cincinnati reverted to its two dependables: defense and Steve Logan.
Logan scored 21 points and had a three-point play during a decisive second-half run Tuesday night as No. 5 Cincinnati pulled away to a 67-53 victory over Saint Louis.
Jason Maxiell scored six points in the 14-4 spurt that put Cincinnati (23-2, 10-1 Conference USA) ahead by double digits with six minutes to go. Saint Louis (11-14, 5-7) never got closer than nine the rest of the way.
Even though the Billikens had a 30-26 edge on the boards - a good showing for the conference's worst rebounding team - they couldn't overcome 23 turnovers against the Bearcats' man-to-man defense.
"Cincinnati may be the best defensive team in the country," coach Lorenzo Romar said. "They did a good job pressuring us tonight. You can't play against a first-place team on the road and have 23 turnovers. We'd have had to shoot 60 percent from the field to overcome that."
They shot only 42.6 percent against the Bearcats, who made up for their poor job of rebounding by making it tough on the Billikens' shooters.
"We didn't have as much of a flow out there as we usually do," said Maxiell, who had 11 points and blocked seven shots.
The victory started a favorable closing stretch for the Bearcats. Four of their last six regular-season games are at home, including their two toughest - against Memphis and No. 11 Marquette.
The Conference USA tournament also is in Cincinnati, where the Bearcats haven't lost this season.
Saint Louis, which has won only one road game this season, fell to 0-11 at the Shoemaker Center and 4-31 overall in Cincinnati.
Three days after they showed they can run the court during a 103-94 victory at No. 19 Wake Forest, the Bearcats went back to grinding it out against the defense that's given them the most problems this season.
Logan steadied the Bearcats in a 54-50 win at Saint Louis on Jan. 22, scoring 25 points as Cincinnati finished with a season-low points total. He scored 11 in the first half Tuesday night, helping Cincinnati get ahead to stay.
Coach Bob Huggins fumed as his team suffered lapses in a slow-paced game that was exactly what he had tried to prepare them for. He didn't like how they responded.
"I told them after the Wake Forest game," Huggins said. "How do they not know what's coming? How do they not get ready for it? I told them what's coming."
Saint Louis had a big setback in the opening minutes. Leading scorer Marque Perry got two fouls in the first 2:14 - both while defending Logan - and went to the bench for the rest of the half.
Perry averages 14.7 points per game, the only Billiken in double figures. He finished with a team-high 15 in 22 minutes, his shortest appearance of the season.
Logan had a pair of free throws and a pull-up jumper as Cincinnati opened with a 9-2 run. The Billikens stayed close until a pair of costly lapses in the closing seconds of the half.
Maxiell's turnaround jumper made it 29-21, and Saint Louis failed to get the ball inbound with 8 seconds left. Logan then drove for an uncontested layup against a flat-footed defense, leaving Cincinnati ahead 31-21 at halftime.
Cincinnati missed its first four shots and had a pair of turnovers as Saint Louis scored the first eight points of the second half, cutting the lead to 31-29. Perry had a steal and a pair of free throws - his first points of the game - in the flurry.
Saint Louis stayed close until Maxiell hit a pair of turnaround jumpers and a follow-up basket during the 14-4 spurt that put Cincinnati ahead 52-39 with 6:20 to play. Three-point plays by Logan and Stokes finished the run.
