Steve Logan's public countenance runs much closer to Mr. Spock's than Magic Johnson's. The stoic Cincinnati Bearcats guard isn't exactly Showtime Steve on the court.

Off it, he'd rather skip the happy chatter with the media. Last Friday, when Logan punctuated this All-American season by astoundingly outscoring Southern Mississippi all by himself, 41-37 -- let's see you do that, Jason Williams -- he turned down postgame interview requests. When ESPN.com called this week, it didn't hear back from Logan.

	Steve Logan may not say much off the court, but does plenty on the court for Cincinnati.

But even if Logan doesn't turn the world on with his smile or deliver sound bites on demand, there are plenty of others willing to grin and brag when his name comes up.

Simply put, Logan might be the single most indispensible player in the college game right now. Among those willing to testify on his behalf:

Bearcats coach Bob Huggins: "I don't know if 'Lo' is the best player in the country, but he's certainly the most valuable player in the country. I don't know where we'd be without him."

(Not 24-2 and ranked in the top five, that's for sure.)

Wake Forest guard Broderick Hicks, after being lit up for 30 by Logan: "Some general manager needs to draft this guy. I was in his face, over his face, he was fading away from Lord knows how many feet. That's about as legit a 30 as you can get."

Saint Louis coach Lorenzo Romar, to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "He's not a guy who comes down the floor and hunts for shots. He lulls you to sleep. He gets a steal here and there, gets a backdoor, goes one-on-one. He's a tough cover."

Teammate Donald Little, describing the 41-point virtuoso performance to the Cincinnati Post: "He probably does that four out of six days in practice. He gets in a zone and you can't stop him, you just sit there and watch."

Southern Miss coach James Green, after losing by four to the senior from Cleveland: "That's gotta be a record. ... Logan is one of my favorite players because of his work ethic. He has worked on his body and is tough as a rock."

There Green has hit upon the reason Logan progressed - startlingly - from a jump-shooting complementary player to a multifaceted leading man: corporeal transformation.

Logan arrived at Cincinnati a blockish 220 pounds, looking as much like a fullback as a shooting guard. The Bearcats now list him at 198. (They also list him at 6 feet tall, a two-inch exaggeration.) Lost with those 22 pounds was a whole lot of body fat that helped confine Logan's game.

A more lithe Logan has become the master of the half-inch. He's now able to put the ball on the floor and create just enough daylight to get off his shot, or to drive and then stop for feathery fall-away jumpers over taller players.

"Lo grew up in East Cleveland playing against the likes of (former Bearcat skywalkers) Mel Levett and Ruben Patterson," Huggins said. "He learned on the playgrounds how to get his own shot, and he's learned how to be fundamentally sound.

"Contrary to what you might think, he's got pretty good quickness, and he has great lower-body strength. And his skill level is the best of anybody I've had in my 13 years. He handles it, passes it and shoots it better than anybody I've ever had ...

"I'm sure (NBA) people will question his size, but you can't question his heart or his skills."

Or his numbers.

This year Logan has rocketed from 21st to third on Cincinnati's career scoring list and could well move past Danny Fortson into second. (There will be no ascending to the throne. That's where Oscar Robertson lives, out of mortal reach.) He's now scored in double figures 47 straight games, and has scored 20 or more points 18 times this season in 26 games.

But points are not the whole story. Logan is third in Conference USA in assists (5.6 per game) and has led the Bearcats in assists their last seven games. He also leads the team in steals and is second in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Combine his shooting with the fact that he's so good handling the ball and absolute death at the foul line (87.5 percent, second in the league), and you have the ideal late-game player. Or, for that matter, an ideal all-game player. He's averaging 34 minutes per game.

In fact, Huggins let Logan go 35 minutes in what wound up a 52-point atomizing of Southern Miss. There's mercy for you.

Kentucky Fried Chemistry
The latest evidence that Tubby Smith's highly touted team is heading down the express route to implosion (if not already there): guards Gerald Fitch and Corey Sears were suspended for UK's Tuesday game against Tennessee after getting into a fight on the chartered airplane back from the Wildcats' loss at Georgia.

If it's not the complete disappearance of Keith Bogans' game, it's the persistent Rashaad Carruth pouting over playing time. If it's not the maddening inconsistency of centers Marquis Estill and Jules Camara, it's the erratic play of point guard Cliff Hawkins. If it's not Tubby and athletic director Larry Ivy losing their minds over the transfer of Marvin Stone, its the fans losing their minds over this team's dull 7-5 Southeastern Conference record and duller style of play.

And now this.

Kentucky held a four-hour team meeting Sunday to air grievances. Said Smith of his team on Monday: "We've had guys on the wrong agenda, thinking they have their own agenda. That's been a problem. Now it's getting everybody back on the same page again."

At a time of year where championship-caliber teams are coming together, Kentucky seems in the process of coming apart. At a time when coaches have finalized where every player fits into the grand plan, Smith seems to still be guessing who will show up from game to game.

A season that began in the top five hasn't gone as far South as, say, Iowa's. And the most important ball is still to come. But a fan base that has talked Final Four ever since Tayshaun Prince and Bogans pulled out of the NBA draft last summer isn't real crazy about where this group is heading.

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