Friday, December 31, 1999
Bearcats better after XU
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BOISE, Idaho — There weren't any smiling UC Bearcats after they lost their first game of the season to their biggest rival, the Xavier Musketeers, in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout.
They lost the game on national television, forfeited their No.1 national ranking and then had to endure a few days' worth of talk-show torture.
As the No.3 Bearcats approached their Thursday night game at Boise State at the BSU Pavilion, however, that defeat appeared almost timely.
“I think we're getting better,” center Kenyon Martin said. “I don't want to say the loss to Xavier was the best thing for us, because nobody likes losing, but I think that kind of got us back on track.”
Before UC played Xavier, it was outscored in the second half of four games, even though all were victories. Its average rebound margin was plus-4.4.
In the two games that followed the loss to Xavier, the Bearcats shot a combined 63-of-117 (.538) from the floor, committed just 22 turnovers and outrebounded the opposition by a combined 20.
Defensively, they held
Oklahoma and Wisconsin-Milwaukee to 41-of-124 (.331) shooting. Perhaps most telling was the second-half margin UC enjoyed in those two games: five points over Oklahoma, 17 over UWM.
“We've gone out and played the whole game the last two games,” Martin said. “Hopefully, that will continue the rest of the season.”
UC entered the game against Boise State without a loss to a team from outside the top 10 conferences since Dec.9, 1994, when Canisius beat the Bearcats at the Shoemaker Center in the Delta Airlines Classic. The winning streak stood at 34 games.
At least part of the reason for the run of success, though, was that none of those games was played on the road. No fewer than 24 were played at the Shoemaker Center, the other 10 at neutral sites.
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Cincinnati girls basketball roundup
Ohio girls basketball scores
N.Ky. boys basketball roundup
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N.Ky. girls basketball roundup
Kentucky girls basketball scores
Louisville 4, Mighty Ducks 2
