Monday, February 21, 2000

BEARCATS NOTEBOOK

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Pepe's presence the difference for Owls

Temple's Pepe Sanchez takes on UC's Kenny Satterfield in the second half of Sunday's game. (Jeff Swinger photo) | ZOOM |

        Temple coach John Chaney lost a lost of sleep — and a few brain cells — wondering if he should play senior point guard Pepe Sanchez against the Cincinnati Bearcats.

        “I stayed up late last night, met with him a couple times, had a couple drinks. Not him, me,” Chaney said. “I was trying to get drunk, if I could make a wise decision from being drunk. My answer was no.”

        Chaney joked that Sanchez threatened to return to Argentina if he wasn't allowed to play. Trainer Richard Clarke brought Sanchez to the Shoemaker Center early Sunday morning for treatment, and after Sanchez showed Chaney he could run and cut comfortably, the coach agreed to play him.

        “Had he not played, no way we could have walked away with a win,” Chaney said.

        Sanchez scored seven points and passed for five assists. He struggled to keep UC freshman Kenny Satterfield from penetrating the lane, but his presence kept the other Owls guards from having to adjust their roles. And he showed his leadership with a huge 3- pointer that cut a six-point UC lead in half with six minutes left.

        “I've played with worse ankle sprains than this,” Sanchez said. “It was a risk. I could have twisted my ankle again today, but I think you can play hurt.”

Pressure
        UC tried to shake up Temple by unleashing a press. The Bearcats had not used pressure defense extensively since scrambling from behind to defeat Tulane in early January.

        The Owls frequently struggle when forced to navigate through full-court defense, and their seven first-half turnovers approached what they typically commit during a full 40 minutes. They finished with 14.

        “We've always bothered them with pressure,” Huggins said.

He's hip
        UC center Kenyon Martin was treated for a hip bruise following the game, but said he should be OK when the Bearcats play Wednesday against Southern Mississippi at the Shoe.

        “I'm a soldier,” Martin said.

Selection inspection
        In case you're wondering, Temple is just as tired of playing UC in the NCAA Tournament as the Bearcats are of playing the Owls.

        The two schools have been placed in the same segment of the same bracket for four of the past five tournaments; they met in the first round in 1995, and the second round in 1996 and last season. They would have met in the second round of the 1998 tournament if the Bearcats had not been beaten by West Virginia in the first round.

        Chaney said he would prefer it if UC and Temple were placed in separate regions, and that seems possible now that the Owls have placed themselves among the contenders for a No.1 seed.¦

Numbers game
        A total of 820 days had passed since UC fans last saw the Bearcats lose at the Shoemaker Center. The margin of that loss, 87-79 to Arizona State, also was eight points.

        • This was the first time UC shot fewer free throws than an opponent at the Shoemaker Center since DePaul shot 32 to UC's 28 in January 1999. The Owls were 15-of-26, the Bearcats 12-of-18.

        • This was Chaney's 400th victory at Temple. He has a career record of 625-223, counting Division II Cheney State.

        • UC had won its past seven games against ranked teams. The Bearcats are 3-1 against top 25 opponents this season.

        • Both of the teams that beat UC this season are members of the Atlantic 10 Conference (Xavier, Temple).

        • Temple went 4-0 vs. the “Mythical Miami Valley Conference” teams — UC, Xavier, Miami and Dayton.

Up next
        UC plays Southern Mississippi at 8:05 p.m. Wednesday at Shoemaker Center.

• AP Poll • USAT/ESPN Poll

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