BOSTON -- Judging by the questions the players were forced to answer before the game, it sure didn't seem that Temple had a chance yesterday. All anybody wanted to know from the Owls was what it would be like to play against the team that gave top-ranked Duke its only defeat. It appeared many believed that Cincinnati, by virtue of some weird form of osmosis, was also invincible.
"We can beat anybody on any given night," Temple swingman Mark Karcher (St. Frances) said before the game. "Just because they beat Duke doesn't play a major part in our mind."
And that showed yesterday, as John Chaney's defensive philosophy of "We live where they live" was played to near perfection, resulting in the eviction yesterday of third-seeded Cincinnati, 64-54, in a second-round East Regional game at the FleetCenter.
Not only did No. 6 seed Temple (23-10) "live where they live," they also raided the fridge and had a near total run of the Bearcats' house, as Cincinnati (27-6) recorded its second-poorest shooting game of the season (34.7 percent) and its third-lowest scoring output. Only by scoring eight points in the final 97 seconds did Cincinnati avert its lowest-scoring NCAA game (51 points, against Marquette in 1977).
"They're good, they took away our strengths," said Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins. "We don't have a lot of perimeter shooters. If we have open looks and we don't make them, we're going to struggle."
Temple's matchup zone defense was no surprise to Cincinnati, since it was the third time in the past five years that the teams had faced each other in an NCAA tournament game. Cincinnati had won the previous two matchups, but was doomed yesterday by a slow start that resulted in the team's lowest-scoring first half (trailing 29-18) of the season.
The Owls completely took away Cincinnati's inside game, with the Bearcats scoring just two first-half field goals in the paint. From the time Kenyon Martin scored on a tip for his team's first points with 17: 21 left in the half, Cincinnati went the next 15: 12 without an inside basket.
"All zones are set up purposely to control one aspect of the floor," said Chaney, in his 17th year at Temple. "If [we] play it well, the inside should be a major concern."
And the more the Bearcats struggled offensively, the more uptight their players became.
"They were frustrated and they were out there cursing each other," said Temple point guard Pepe Sanchez, who had 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals. "They knew they had to go inside, and every time they did we just collapsed."
On the other end, Temple had little trouble going inside as forward Lamont Barnes scored a team-high 15 points -- 11 coming in the second half. The Owls led by as many as 16 in the second half before Cincinnati's late surge in the final two minutes made the score respectable.
"With [center] Kevin Lyde and Barnes, they couldn't stop us inside," said Karcher, who only scored five points but had four of Temple's 10 steals. "As a team, we just wanted this so bad."
From his comments, it seems this is a Temple team that Chaney has taken a certain fondness to as he reaches the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1993. His key reserve, guard Quincy Wadley, didn't even play in the Atlantic 10 tournament after the 6-foot-4 junior suffered a severe bruise of his left hand in the regular-season finale against Massachusetts.
Wadley's defensive presence sparked the team's first-round win against Kent. And yesterday Wadley -- who spent much of his time on the bench with his hand wrapped in ice -- scored 14 points in 25 minutes, hitting four of eight three-pointers.
"I'm really emotional about this team," Chaney said. "To see Quincy out there playing with that hand swollen, saying to me 'Coach, I've got to play,' it's very special. The spirit of these kids, the will. They just wanted this win more than anything else."
Pub Date: 3/15/99