Saturday, February 19, 2000
Finally, a worthy foe for UC
Temple up next after waltz through C-USA
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The game against Houston had been over 15 minutes, and the one with Temple still was nearly 62 hours away, but there was little doubt which seemed more alluring as Cincinnati Bearcats coach Bob Huggins met the press.
UC's 77-65 win Thursday night against Houston clinched the Conference USA championship outright and extended the Bearcats' winning streak to 16 games, but it was no more emotionally involving than an ATM transaction.
Which, of course, puzzled Huggins, who does not comprehend the absence of intensity in any competitive circumstance.
Were the Bearcats looking ahead to Temple? “Why would they do that?” Huggins said. “I just have a hard time understanding that.” Maybe it's hard to be passionate when the opposition isn't imposing? “Why would it be? I don't understand why it would be. We play harder than that in practice. They know if they don't play harder than that in practice, I'm going to run them until they ...”
Center Kenyon Martin continued his recent tear, with 26 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks, and freshman guard DerMarr Johnson opened the game with eight quick, unanswered points and finished with 19.
UC opened a 24-6 lead at the start but let that slip to seven points twice in the final 10 minutes. Huggins' theory? “I think we got up, and then everybody was going to have fun,” he said. “We didn't run offense, stood around.”
With the Bearcats generally sloppy and uninterested. it was natural to suspect the spectre of Temple affected them.
“We have two days to prepare for them,” Martin said. “I think we just lost a little bit of our intensity. The game's over, we got a "W,' and now we've just got to move on.”
No.1-ranked UC has won all but one of its past 16 games by double-figure margins and thus has, for the past several weeks, attempted to manufacture challenges for itself:
The Bearcats took seriously Marquette's threat to the top of the Conference USA standings upon visiting Milwaukee Jan.23, even though they'd already beaten the Golden Eagles by 19 points earlier in the season. The Bearcats concentrated on sweeping a two-game road trip to UNC Charlotte and Ala bama-Birmingham earlier this month. A week ago, they considered not the inconsistent performance DePaul had delivered in C-USA play but instead focused on the Blue Demons' impressive individual talent.
They won't have to look hard to find motivation to compete in this game, and it goes well beyond the Owls' status as the team that eliminated UC from the NCAA Tournament last March.
This game is special not because of what Temple was last season, but because of what it is this season. “We're two differ ent teams,” Martin said, “and we have a lot of different players.”
The rankings may tell you the Owls are 15th in the nation, but UC's coaches suspect if guard Pepe Sanchez had not missed eight games with an ankle injury, this game might have matched the nation's No.1 and No.2 teams.
But Sanchez, who averages 8.0 assists and 3.6 steals a game for the 19-4 Owls, injured his left ankle in Thursday's 64-58 victory over Dayton and may not be available Sunday. A Temple spokesperson said San chez would have his ankle re-examined today.
Some observers wondered whether the Bearcats would face a genuine challenge before arriving in the NCAA Tournament. If Sanchez plays, this is that game.
With Sanchez running the point, the Owls are 14-1, their only loss coming on the road against St.Bonaventure. Although he averages only 6.4 points a game and shoots just .313 from the field, Sanchez has a profound effect, both offensively and defensively, on every game he plays.
In the 15 games he's played, Sanchez has averaged 8.0 assists and fewer than two turnovers. He played nearly all of Temple's opening victory over the Miami RedHawks and passed for 10 assists before injuring his ankle late in the second half. In the Owls' next three games, they did not accumulate 10 assists as a team.
The poll voters have ignored that for some reason, but Temple still has the same combination of uncommon size and skill and unpleasant defensive style that led to a top-10 ranking in the preseason.
This ultimately could lead to the Owls being shortchanged in the NCAA seeding process, so a victory or impressive performance Sunday could help in their pursuit of recognition.
“I think they're a top-five team in the country,” Huggins said. “I think it will be ... hopefully, we'll show up and play, and it'll be a great game. They're very talented.”
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