# 1998–99 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

The 1998–99 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented University of Cincinnati as a member of Conference USA during the 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Bob Huggins, serving in his 10th year at the school. The team won the conference regular season title, but lost in the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament. Playing as No. 3 seed in the East region of the NCAA tournament, Cincinnati defeated George Mason in the opening round before being knocked off by No. 6 seed Temple in the second round. The Bearcats finished with a 27–6 record (12–4 C-USA).

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| Nov 19, 1998* | No. 17 | at No. 25 Rhode Island | W 70–53 | 1–0 | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Nov 25, 1998* | No. 15 | vs. Southern Utah Great Alaska Shootout | W 76–63 | 2–0 | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, Alaska |
| Nov 27, 1998* | No. 15 | vs. Iowa State Great Alaska Shootout | W 60–52 | 3–0 | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, Alaska |
| Nov 28, 1998* | No. 15 | vs. No. 1 Duke Great Alaska Shootout | W 77–75 | 4–0 | Sullivan Arena Anchorage, Alaska |
| Dec 5, 1998* | No. 6 | Oakland | W 106–78 | 5–0 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Dec 12, 1998* | No. 4 | Louisiana-Lafayette | W 91–65 | 6–0 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Dec 14, 1998* | No. 4 | Nicholls State | W 82–48 | 7–0 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Dec 16, 1998* | No. 4 | at No. 17 Minnesota | W 62–61 $^{OT}$ | 8–0 | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Dec 19, 1998* | No. 4 | at UNLV | W 86–73 | 9–0 | Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Dec 22, 1998 | No. 4 | Houston | W 115–78 | 10–0 (1–0) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Dec 28, 1998* | No. 4 | vs. Dayton | W 53–51 | 11–0 | Gund Arena Cleveland, Ohio |
| Dec 30, 1998* | No. 3 | UNC Wilmington | W 81–52 | 12–0 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 3, 1999 | No. 3 | Marquette | W 75–56 | 13–0 (2–0) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 6, 1999 | No. 3 | DePaul | W 87–64 | 14–0 (3–0) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 9, 1999 | No. 3 | at Southern Miss | W 54–52 | 15–0 (4–0) | Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, Mississippi |
| Jan 14, 1999 | No. 3 | at UNC Charlotte | L 60–62 | 15–1 (4–1) | Dale F. Halton Arena Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Jan 16, 1999* | No. 3 | Oklahoma | W 72–59 | 16–1 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 21, 1999 | No. 5 | at No. 24 Louisville | W 81–55 | 17–1 (5–1) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 23, 1999 | No. 5 | Saint Louis | W 55–44 | 18–1 (6–1) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 28, 1999* | No. 5 | Xavier | W 87–77 | 19–1 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 30, 1999 | No. 5 | UAB | W 73–60 | 20–1 (7–1) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 3, 1999 | No. 3 | Tulane | W 82–63 | 21–1 (8–1) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 6, 1999 | No. 3 | at DePaul | L 60–61 $^{2OT}$ | 21–2 (8–2) | Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois |
| Feb 10, 1999 | No. 4 | at Marquette | L 58–62 | 21–3 (8–3) | Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Feb 14, 1999 | No. 4 | at Saint Louis | L 57–69 | 21–4 (8–4) | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Feb 17, 1999 | No. 9 | UNC Charlotte | W 82–69 | 22–4 (9–4) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 21, 1999 | No. 9 | Louisville | W 91–78 | 23–4 (10–4) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 25, 1999 | No. 9 | at South Florida | W 64–53 | 24–4 (11–4) | Sun Dome Tampa, Florida |
| Feb 27, 1999 | No. 9 | at Memphis | W 89–64 | 25–4 (12–4) | Pyramid Arena Memphis, Tennessee |
| Conference USA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 4, 1999* | No. 7 | vs. South Florida Quarterfinals | W 76–56 | 26–4 | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama |
| Mar 5, 1999* | No. 7 | vs. UNC Charlotte Semifinals | L 52–55 | 26–5 | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 12, 1999* | (3 E) No. 11 | vs. (14 E) George Mason Second Round | W 72–48 | 27–5 | TD Garden Boston, Massachusetts |
| Mar 14, 1999* | (3 E) No. 11 | vs. (6 E) Temple Second Round | L 54–64 | 27–6 | TD Garden Boston, Massachusetts |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | 15 | 17 | 15 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 11 | Not released |
| Coaches | 15 | — | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 11 |
^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll. *AP did not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

### NBA draft selections

| Round | Overall | Player | NBA Club |
| 2 | 54 | Melvin Levett | Detroit Pistons |