March has been cruel month for Cincinnati coach Huggins

By The Associated Press     Mar 15, 2002

? Bob Huggins needs one win for 500, and five others this season to fill the only hole in an impressive coaching resume.

Because for all his success in 13 seasons at Cincinnati 11 straight NCAA Tournament trips, seven consecutive conference titles, three trips to the national quarterfinals and one Final Four Huggins still hasn’t won a national championship.

And it’s all not his fault, either. For some reason, March has been unkind to Huggins.

“You have to have a little bit of luck,” he said Thursday. “And certainly you try and make your own luck. But you can’t be unlucky.”

The Bearcats have had more than their share of bad breaks, bad bounces and bad karma in the NCAAs under Huggins.

In 1993, guard Allen Jackson injured a knee just before the tournament. Three years later, Keith LeGree broke his foot.

Then there were the four straight years (1997-2000) when Cincinnati teams loaded with NBA talent didn’t get past the second round.

In 1997, the early exit came courtesy of a one-point loss to Iowa State. A year later, Huggins was beaten by his alma mater, West Virginia, on a three-pointer banked in at the buzzer.

And in 2000, Huggins’ chances of getting back to the Final Four for the first time since 1992 ended in the conference tournament when AP Player of the Year Kenyon Martin broke his leg. Huggins thinks it might be time for things to go his way.

“We haven’t been lucky,” he said. “They say that all balances out.”

Top-seeded Cincinnati (30-3) will play No. 16 Boston University in tonight’s first game. In the late game, No. 8-seeded UCLA meets No. 9 Mississippi.

In the early games, No. 3 Pittsburgh, playing just a short drive from its campus, plays No. 14 Central Connecticut, followed by No. 6 California against No. 11 Pennsylvania.

A first-round win would make Huggins 500-171 in 21 seasons, making him the 95th coach to reach the plateau.

But he would trade all of them to win his final game of the season.

March has been cruel month for Cincinnati coach Huggins

By The Associated Press     Mar 15, 2002

? Bob Huggins needs one win for 500, and five others this season to fill the only hole in an impressive coaching resume.

Because for all his success in 13 seasons at Cincinnati 11 straight NCAA Tournament trips, seven consecutive conference titles, three trips to the national quarterfinals and one Final Four Huggins still hasn’t won a national championship.

And it’s all not his fault, either. For some reason, March has been unkind to Huggins.

“You have to have a little bit of luck,” he said Thursday. “And certainly you try and make your own luck. But you can’t be unlucky.”

The Bearcats have had more than their share of bad breaks, bad bounces and bad karma in the NCAAs under Huggins.

In 1993, guard Allen Jackson injured a knee just before the tournament. Three years later, Keith LeGree broke his foot.

Then there were the four straight years (1997-2000) when Cincinnati teams loaded with NBA talent didn’t get past the second round.

In 1997, the early exit came courtesy of a one-point loss to Iowa State. A year later, Huggins was beaten by his alma mater, West Virginia, on a three-pointer banked in at the buzzer.

And in 2000, Huggins’ chances of getting back to the Final Four for the first time since 1992 ended in the conference tournament when AP Player of the Year Kenyon Martin broke his leg. Huggins thinks it might be time for things to go his way.

“We haven’t been lucky,” he said. “They say that all balances out.”

Top-seeded Cincinnati (30-3) will play No. 16 Boston University in tonight’s first game. In the late game, No. 8-seeded UCLA meets No. 9 Mississippi.

In the early games, No. 3 Pittsburgh, playing just a short drive from its campus, plays No. 14 Central Connecticut, followed by No. 6 California against No. 11 Pennsylvania.

A first-round win would make Huggins 500-171 in 21 seasons, making him the 95th coach to reach the plateau.

But he would trade all of them to win his final game of the season.

March has been cruel month for Cincinnati coach Huggins

By The Associated Press     Mar 15, 2002

? Bob Huggins needs one win for 500, and five others this season to fill the only hole in an impressive coaching resume.

Because for all his success in 13 seasons at Cincinnati 11 straight NCAA Tournament trips, seven consecutive conference titles, three trips to the national quarterfinals and one Final Four Huggins still hasn’t won a national championship.

And it’s all not his fault, either. For some reason, March has been unkind to Huggins.

“You have to have a little bit of luck,” he said Thursday. “And certainly you try and make your own luck. But you can’t be unlucky.”

The Bearcats have had more than their share of bad breaks, bad bounces and bad karma in the NCAAs under Huggins.

In 1993, guard Allen Jackson injured a knee just before the tournament. Three years later, Keith LeGree broke his foot.

Then there were the four straight years (1997-2000) when Cincinnati teams loaded with NBA talent didn’t get past the second round.

In 1997, the early exit came courtesy of a one-point loss to Iowa State. A year later, Huggins was beaten by his alma mater, West Virginia, on a three-pointer banked in at the buzzer.

And in 2000, Huggins’ chances of getting back to the Final Four for the first time since 1992 ended in the conference tournament when AP Player of the Year Kenyon Martin broke his leg. Huggins thinks it might be time for things to go his way.

“We haven’t been lucky,” he said. “They say that all balances out.”

Top-seeded Cincinnati (30-3) will play No. 16 Boston University in tonight’s first game. In the late game, No. 8-seeded UCLA meets No. 9 Mississippi.

In the early games, No. 3 Pittsburgh, playing just a short drive from its campus, plays No. 14 Central Connecticut, followed by No. 6 California against No. 11 Pennsylvania.

A first-round win would make Huggins 500-171 in 21 seasons, making him the 95th coach to reach the plateau.

But he would trade all of them to win his final game of the season.

March has been cruel month for Cincinnati coach Huggins

By The Associated Press     Mar 15, 2002

? Bob Huggins needs one win for 500, and five others this season to fill the only hole in an impressive coaching resume.

Because for all his success in 13 seasons at Cincinnati 11 straight NCAA Tournament trips, seven consecutive conference titles, three trips to the national quarterfinals and one Final Four Huggins still hasn’t won a national championship.

And it’s all not his fault, either. For some reason, March has been unkind to Huggins.

“You have to have a little bit of luck,” he said Thursday. “And certainly you try and make your own luck. But you can’t be unlucky.”

The Bearcats have had more than their share of bad breaks, bad bounces and bad karma in the NCAAs under Huggins.

In 1993, guard Allen Jackson injured a knee just before the tournament. Three years later, Keith LeGree broke his foot.

Then there were the four straight years (1997-2000) when Cincinnati teams loaded with NBA talent didn’t get past the second round.

In 1997, the early exit came courtesy of a one-point loss to Iowa State. A year later, Huggins was beaten by his alma mater, West Virginia, on a three-pointer banked in at the buzzer.

And in 2000, Huggins’ chances of getting back to the Final Four for the first time since 1992 ended in the conference tournament when AP Player of the Year Kenyon Martin broke his leg. Huggins thinks it might be time for things to go his way.

“We haven’t been lucky,” he said. “They say that all balances out.”

Top-seeded Cincinnati (30-3) will play No. 16 Boston University in tonight’s first game. In the late game, No. 8-seeded UCLA meets No. 9 Mississippi.

In the early games, No. 3 Pittsburgh, playing just a short drive from its campus, plays No. 14 Central Connecticut, followed by No. 6 California against No. 11 Pennsylvania.

A first-round win would make Huggins 500-171 in 21 seasons, making him the 95th coach to reach the plateau.

But he would trade all of them to win his final game of the season.

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