Tuesday, February 22, 2000
UC still No. 1 where it counts - RPI
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
There wasn't a great deal of joy Monday as the no-longer-No. 1 Cincinnati Bearcats arrived for their first post-Temple practice, but there appeared to be no panic, either.
Should there be?
Sunday's 77-69 loss to Temple was UC's second of the season. That's fewer than every team in Division I except Tulsa (25-2) and Stanford (22-1), the new No.1 in the polls.
Each of the past four national champions lost at least once from Feb. 14 on — both 1999 Connecticut and 1998 Kentucky lost at home — and Arizona's 1997 title team lost three times in that time frame.
UC remains a clear No. 1 in the Ratings Percentage Index and has 16 wins against teams ranked in the top 100 — three more than the closest team in that department, Arizona.
Coach Bob Huggins figured UC was beaten by an outstanding effort from a very good team.
“It's going to take somebody's best shot to beat us,” Huggins said. “They can't play any better than that.
“I thought offensively we were fine, except right at the end. I thought we were all right.”
The Bearcats still were trying to figure out how Temple shot 12-of-22 from 3-point range, which was the most obvious difference between the teams.
“I felt they made unbelievable shots,” said senior forward Pete Mickeal. “Five feet behind the line, NBA threes, off the backboard, just crazy stuff like that. It was kind of like when we played Duke last year: we had nothing to lose.”
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 UC still No. 1 where it counts - RPI
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