Reigning champion University of the Philippines (UP) is looking to come up with a stronger performance when the second round of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 men’s basketball tournament kicks off this Wednesday.

Fighting Maroons coach Goldwin Monteverde stressed that the first round was an eye-opener, giving them an idea that they still have to work harder if they want to retain their title.

UP had a rollercoaster campaign in the first round.

After opening the season with losses to University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Adamson University, they rediscovered their winning form and beat University of the East, National University (NU), Ateneo de Manila University and Far Eastern University before losing to their Season 87 finals foe De La Salle University last Sunday.  

With that, the Fighting Maroons ended the first round with a 4-3 record, joining Ateneo and La Salle in a three-way tie for the third spot behind leader NU and UST.

Monteverde lauded the effort his wards are putting in, but also admitted that this is not the position they want to be in heading into the second round.

“We’re okay. I like our progression,” said Monteverde after absorbing a 69-72 loss to a Green Archers squad that was missing the services of key recruits Mason Amos and Kean Baclaan.

“But of course, we need to be better and improve further. We know where we are right now and know that it’s not yet enough. We need to work harder in the second round.”

When UP won the title last year, they won six of their seven matches in the first round. Then, they won five of their seven matches in the second round to finish the elimination round behind leader La Salle with an impressive 11-3 record, a standing that was good enough to secure a twice-to-beat advantage.

The Fighting Maroons pulled off a 78-69 win over the Growling Tigers in the Final Four to arrange a best-of-three finals duel against mighty La Salle en route to winning the title.

But with key players like Quentin Millora-Brown, Francis Lopez and JD Cagulangan no longer around, the Fighting Maroons struggled to stay consistent with players like Francis Nnoruka, Harold Alarcon, Terrence Fortea, Rey Remogat and skipper Gerry Abadiano taking turns in leading the offensive production.