SAN DIEGO — The UC band was chanting “300 wins” as the final seconds ticked off in Thursday's victory over Brigham Young, recognizing Bob Huggins' milestone as the University of Cincinnati's coach.

        Huggins, whose Bearcat teams are 300-95 in 12 seasons, waved to the band as he came off the court. Does Huggins appreciate the accomplishment?

        “Not now,” he said. “Maybe later.”

        After the game, UC's student managers took the basketball as a keepsake. It was also the 1,400th victory in Bearcat basketball history.

        San Diego State officials asked for the ball back, then were told why Cincinnati wanted it. NCAA officials were consulted, and a compromise was reached. The Bearcats returned the ball for use in today's two games, then it will be given back to UC.

        UPSET CITY: All the NCAA Tournament victories by lower-seeded teams have caught the attention of the UC players, who say they will not take 13th seed Kent State lightly today.

        “All the big names are losing,” junior Steve Logan said. “That's what we're aware of. We've got to come out focused just like we're playing North Carolina.”

        “We're going to give them a dogfight,” Kent's Kyrem Massey said.

        GEOGRAPHY 101: There's got to be an easier way. Over the past two seasons, Cincinnati has traveled to Hawaii to play Cleveland State, Puerto Rico to face Youngstown State and now San Diego to meet Kent State.

        GEOGRAPHY 202: The states of Ohio and Indiana each had four teams in the NCAA's field of 65, tied for third-best behind California (6) and North Carolina (5).

        SCHEDULING PROBLEM: Kent coach Gary Waters has tried to get a regular-season game with Cincinnati but said the Bearcats are not interested. And they're not alone. “That's the curse, I guess,” Waters said. “If you win a few games, they all of a sudden think you can play.”

        Waters said Kent actually was supposed to play UC in this season's Rock-N-Roll Shootout in Cleveland, but Xavier preferred to play Kent over Toledo, and UC preferred to play Toledo over Kent.

        Kent lost to XU, and UC lost to Toledo.

        NOTABLE NUMBERS: UC is 13-0 when at least four players score in double figures. ... Kent's 24 victories are a school record. ... Conference USA is 2-0 in the NCAA.

Online pool and college hoops coverage at Cincinnati.com

Kent State's find is UC's problem DAUGHERTY: Assistant's work is never done UC trying to get past second base Huggins, UC reach milestones

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