Men's Basketball

The American Today - Tulsa, SMU Extend Winning Streaks

SMU, Temple and Tulsa picked up conference wins Saturday in American Athletic Conference action.
 
USF G Corey Allen Jr. went off for 32 points, but it wasn’t enough to defeat Tulsa, as the Golden Hurricane stayed perfect in conference play with a 78-71 win in overtime. G Rashad Smith had 21 points to lead five Tulsa players in double figures, while F Brandon Swannegan tallied 12 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks. Tulsa improved to 16-5 and 9-0 in The American with its 11th-straight win, while the Bulls dropped to 7-15 and 1-8 in league play.
 
SMU won its eighth-straight game, downing UCF 75-56 to move to 18-4 and 9-1 in The American. G Nic Moore had eight points and 10 assists, while G Ryan Manuel had 20 points and F Markus Kennedy tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds. G Adonys Henriquez scored a game-high 22 points to lead UCF, which dropped to 9-12 and 2-8 in conference play.
 
Temple had three players in double figures and held Tulane to 25.9-percent from the floor in a 55-37 win at the Liacouras Center. G Quenton DeCosey led all scorers with 17 points, G Will Cummings added 13 and F Obi Enechionyia chipped in 12. Temple improved to 15-7 and 6-3 in conference play with the win. G Louis Dabney had 10 points to lead the Green Wave, which fell to 13-9 and 4-6 in The American.
 
Memphis dropped an 82-64 decision at No. 3/3 Gonzaga in nonconference action. F Nick King led the Tigers with 13 points, while F Austin Nichols added 12. Memphis fell to 13-8 on the year in the defeat.
 
There are two conference showdowns Sunday to kick off the month of February with East Carolina and Houston hosting games.
 
East Carolina takes on Cincinnati (1 p.m., CBSSN) as the Bearcats look for a season sweep. In the previous meeting Jan. 6, F Gary Clark grabbed 16 rebounds for Cincinnati and the Bearcats held the Pirates to 27.0-percent from the floor in a 69-48 Cincinnati victory. East Carolina will get a shot at the season series split at home, where the Pirates are 7-3 overall this year.
 
Houston and UConn will face off for the only time in the regular season (3 p.m., CBSSN) when the Huskies travel to Hofheinz Pavilion. The teams split the season series a year ago, with each team winning its home game. The matchup features two of the top five players in The American in scoring, with UConn’s Ryan Boatright leading the conference at 16.8 points per game, while Houston’s Jherrod Stiggers is fifth (14.9 ppg.)