When they're sprained, John Chaney's team is Shirley Temple. When they're healthy, Chaney's team is the Temple of Doom.

	The efforts of Pepe Sanchez, left, were much appreciated by Lamont Barnes and the Owls.

The 15th-ranked Owls' point guard unexpectedly limped into the starting lineup Sunday and helped upset Cincinnati 77-69 at the Shoemaker Center. Down went the No. 1 team in America. Splat went the Bearcats' winning streaks: 16 straight this year and 42 straight at home. Poof went Cincy's invincible air.

Prevailing wisdom says that losing a game now isn't such a bad thing -- especially to a good team. Bearcats coach Bob Huggins should have his team's undivided attention again, and there will be no weighty winning streak on their backs heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Nevertheless, Huggins wasn't smiling.

"Everyone keeps trying to convince me that losses are good," he said. "I'm having a hard time with that."

No doubt this was a good win for Temple. Pepe and his posse solidified themselves as a group nobody will want to play from here on out. The Owls' oddball style -- the cloying zone defense, the patient spread offense -- is the last thing any team will want to see in its bracket on Selection Sunday.

As long as Sanchez can walk, coach Chaney, 68, has a real shot at his first Final Four.

The senior from Argentina's line was unspectacular Sunday -- seven points, five assists, three rebounds and a steal in 38 purple-heart minutes -- but the box score lies.

"No way we could win this game without Pepe," Chaney said.

Temple is now 15-1 with Sanchez in the lineup. It was 5-3 without him earlier this season, as Sanchez sat out with a sprained right ankle.

The word right up until tipoff Sunday was that the Good Ship Lollipop was leaving port again: the Owls would play the Bearcats without Sanchez, who hurt his left ankle last week at Dayton. A tasty matchup appeared to be turning into white bread.

"I met with him a couple times (Saturday night), had a couple drinks," Chaney said. "Tried to get drunk to see if I could make a wise decision. My answer was no."

At the time, Sanchez agreed.

"I didn't want to play," he said. But while Chaney sought wisdom in a bottle, Sanchez went supernatural. "Some ghosts during the night said I should play," he said with a straight face.

They must have been the ghosts of Quinn Buckner, Bobby Hurley and other point guards who were relentless winners as collegians. Sanchez convinced his coach to let him warm up, and he passed all tests.

Even the spin-around-three-times test. "My grandma used to make me spin around three times when I stubbed my toe," Chaney said. "And it always worked."

Cincinnati then stubbed its toe on Temple. Caught up in a rare tooth-and-nail struggle, Bob Huggins' team squandered a six-point lead in the final 7½ minutes. The previously bulletproof Bearcats (24- 2) suddenly showed some flaws: