Cincinnati shot 61 percent. Temple shot 40 percent.
Not surprisingly Cincinnati defeated Temple, 77-71, Thursday afternoon in a Western Regional playoff game at the Huntsman Center.Now the Bearcats get to face the top-seeded team in the Salt Lake subregional, University of Connecticut, Saturday afternoon.
But Cincy coach Bob Huggins wasn't able to answer any questions about that matchup at the postgame press conference.
That's because his focus the past few days had been totally on the Temple Owls.
"We felt fortunate to win. A John Chaney team is always going to be in the game. They (the Owls) were very well prepared."
Temple started and finished great. It was the big portion in between that finished the Owls.
With freshman guard Johnny Miller shooting threes as if in a Rod Serling Twilight Zone script, Temple raced to an 18-10 lead, Miller connecting on three 3-point shots in that span.
And while Miller didn't cool off - he was 6-for-6 from three-point range in the first half and finished the half with 20 points - his teammates did.
After Miller's three from the left angle made it 18-10 eight minutes into the game, Cincinnati outscored the Owls, 32-19 the last 12 minutes to take a 42-37 halftime lead.
Cincy used the three-point shot as well to take the lead, LaZelle Durden canning 4 of 8 and Darnell Burton making 3 of 4.
Clearly it was in the Bearcats' interest to slow down Miller. And they did in the second half.
"We switched Darnell (Burton) on him because he's a little bit bigger," Huggins said. The 6-2, 200-pound Burton didn't stop Miller but he did keep him from controlling the game. Miller was 3 of 11 from beyond the three-point arc in the second half. He finished with a game-high 30 points, making all of his baskets on three-point shots and adding three free throws.
While the Owls were hoisting 34 three-point attempts and making 14, the Bearcats were much more accurate with theirs, making 12 of 20.
After shooting 50 percent the first half, Temple struggled in the second, making just 32 percent of its shots.
The Bearcats, after connecting at a 67 percent rate the first half were close to 60 in the second half and appeared to have the game in the win column with a 16-point lead, 71-55, with just 3:31 to play.
Then Temple started playing like it did at the start of the game, this time Rick Brunson carrying the Owls.
In a minute and a half, Brunson led the Owls on an 11-0 run, making three 3-pointers, to make the score 71-66 with 2 minutes to play. After a pair of free throws by Cincinnati's Keith LeGree made it 73-66, Miller buried a three from the top of the key to bring the Owls to within four at 73-69.
But that was it. The Owls missed three straight attempts from three-point land after that and Cincinnati made its free throws.
Durden led the Bearcats with 24 points while Burton added 16 and Damon Flint 14. Miller's 30 was followed by 16 from Brunson.
Chaney lauded the Bearcats. "That's a great team, a great defensive team."
When asked about Miller's emergence during the year, from a poor shooter to a confident one, Chaney said, "I gave him a license to miss," which he said was different from a license to shoot. That, he said, made Miller a more confident shooter.
Seventh-seeded Cincinnati is now 22-11 for the year, while 10th-seeded Temple finished at 19-11.