Cincinnati No Match for Temple

BOSTON —  As he sat on the winning Temple bench late in the game, shooting star Quincy Wadley had an ice-packed towel wrapped tightly around his bruised left hand.

About as tightly as the No. 6-seeded Owls’ defense wrapped up No. 3-seeded Cincinnati for most of Sunday’s 64-54 second-round victory in the East Regional, eliminating from the tournament the only team that beat favored Duke this season.

“It’s very tough,” Cincinnati senior guard Melvin Levett said. “Knowing what we did and what we could have done, to go out so early is sickening.”

Said Temple Coach John Chaney: “Everyone has trouble against our zone, and we have trouble with it when we aren’t making baskets.”

Wadley did his part with his right hand, the one he shoots with, to make sure that wasn’t a problem.

He came off the bench to score 14 points, 12 on three-point baskets, as Temple (23-10) advanced to the round of 16 for the first time since 1993.

Wadley had missed three consecutive games before scoring three points in a first-round victory over Kent. He was a much bigger weapon Sunday.

“I’m pretty emotional about that,” Chaney said. “To see Quincy out there with the hand and him saying to me, ‘Coach, I gotta play.’ ”

His eagerness helped Temple beat Cincinnati (27-6) in a tournament game for the first time in three tries over five years. The Owls lost in 1995 and 1996.

Cincinnati barely missed its lowest point total of the season--a 55-52 loss to North Carolina Charlotte in the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament.

“I don’t know if we were eliminated sooner than I thought,” Cincinnati Coach Bob Huggins said. “We struggled all year when we didn’t make open shots.”

Temple got 15 points from Lamont Barnes with 15 points and 14 from Wadley and Pepe Sanchez. Cincinnati got 16 points from Kenyon Martin, 14 from Levett and 13 from Steve Logan.

The Bearcats entered the game shooting 46.9% but a 34.7% mark against Temple pushed them to a second-round exit for the third consecutive season.

“Coach always told us that your will is bigger than your skill,” Temple’s Rasheed Brokenborough said. “We shocked a lot of people.”

Cincinnati struggled with its shooting from the outset and trailed, 29-18, at halftime, its fewest points in a half all season.

The Bearcats were tentative attacking Temple’s zone defense and frustrated Huggins by allowing 13 offensive rebounds and committing 16 turnovers. And their lack of outside shooting allowed the Owls to sag on their inside scorers.