PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The American Athletic Conference picked up two more men's basketball wins on Sunday as ECU rallied to earn a win over Lamar in overtime, 84-78, and UConn rolled to a 94-66 win over UMKC. Tulane opened its season against nationally-ranked foe Florida State and played the No. 17/15 Seminoles tough in a 80-69 loss.
Sunday, Nov. 11
ECU 84, Lamar 78 (OT)
ECU freshman Jayden Gardner grabbed 10 rebounds and scored eight of his 30 points in overtime to lift the Pirates over Lamar 84-78 on Sunday in the first meeting of the teams.
Seth LeDay scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Tyler Foster, Tae Hardy and K.J. Davis added 10 points apiece for the Pirates (2-1).
LeDay's dunk and Gardner's free throws put ECU up 75-71 in OT, but Lamar led 78-77 on Edwin Jeudy's 3-pointer with 1:45 to play. Gardner's layup gave ECU an 80-78 lead with 1:23 left and he and LeDay combined for four free throws down the stretch while Lamar missed two 3-pointers.
The Cardinals led 35-29 at halftime. Gardner's tip-in at the buzzer tied it at 71 at the end of regulation.
SMU 64, Southern Miss 74
Tyree Griffin scored 21 points and distributed seven assists and Southern Mississippi beat SMU 74-64 on Sunday.
The Mustangs sped to a 10-2 lead before Southern Miss went on a 7-0 spurt to get back in it. Nat Dixon's 3-pointer capped an 8-0 run for a 29-22 Mustangs lead, but Southern Miss closed out the last 3:20 of the first half with a 13-6 run and reduced their deficit to 36-35 at intermission.
The game stayed even through most of the second half, and in a 60-second span Southern Mississippi's LaDavius Draine sandwiched a pair of 3's between one from CJ White and the Eagles were up 60-57. Ethan Chargois made a layup to reduce the deficit to a point before Gabe Watson buried a 3 with 6:38 to go.
Chargois added a pair of layups before the Eagles went on an 8-0 run for a 10-point lead with 2:54 left.
For Southern Miss (2-0), Watson scored 14 points and Cortez Edwards and Draine each scored 10.
Chargois scored 25 for SMU (1-1) and Jahmal McMurray chipped in 18 points.
UCF 79, FAU 80
B.J. Taylor scored 29 points to lead the UCF men's basketball team, but it wasn't enough to overcome a late FAU run Sunday afternoon, as the Owls defeated the Knights by a score of 80-79 at CFE Arena.
UCF (1-1) scored the first 12 points of the game, holding FAU (2-0) scoreless for the first six minutes and 43 seconds of the contest. The Knights extended their advantage to 26-6 midway through the half, but FAU fought its way back and cut the UCF advantage to just six points at the break, 37-31.
Aubrey Dawkins led the Knights to the early lead, scoring 12 of his 16 total points in the first 20 minutes of action. UCF held the Owls to just 30 percent shooting from the floor in the half, but that story changed after the break.
UCF increased its lead to as many as 11 points early in the second half, but FAU eventually tied things up as part of an 18-6 run that gave the Owls a 53-51 lead, their first of the game.
Taylor then turned it on, scoring seven straight points himself to get UCF back in front. A three-pointer by Ceasar DeJesus and a dunk on the break by Dawkins put the Knights back up by 11, at 66-55, with 9:03 to play in the game.
Threes on three of FAU's next four baskets over two and a half minutes, holding UCF scoreless during the frame, gave the Owls the lead once again.
The two teams traded the lead back-and-forth in the final three minutes of play. Taylor scored one more time, finishing at the rim to give the Knights a 79-78 lead with seven seconds remaining, but it was FAU that came out on top.
After a missed attempt outside the lane, the putback was good with less than a second remaining to give the Owls the 80-79 victory.
Taylor's 29 points were just four shy of his career high. The senior went 9-of-14 from the field and 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Dawkins added 16 on 6-of-16 from the field, adding five rebounds.
No other Knight finished in double figures. Tacko Fall had nine points and led UCF with seven rebounds. Terrell Allen had eight points and five assists.
FAU outrebounded UCF 40-38 and had 17 offensive rebounds in the game.
UConn 94, UMKC 66
Tarin Smith scored 22 points to lead UConn over Missouri-Kansas City 94-66 Sunday at Gampel Pavilion.
The fifth-year senior guard shot 10 for 12 from the field to lead the Huskies (2-0). Smith transferred to UConn in the offseason from Duquesne, where he was the Atlantic-10 Sixth Man of the Year last season.
Jalen Adams had 20 points, Alterique Gilbert scored 12 and Christian Vital added 10 rebounds in a balanced Husky offense. The last time UConn scored at least 90 points in a game was Feb. 8, 2017, when it beat South Florida 97-51.
UConn won its opener 80-70 on Thursday over Morehead State, but struggled to close the game. The Huskies had no problem this time after leading 50-33 at the half.
"I thought we showed a lot more of the killer relentlessness for longer stretches when we had a chance to extend the lead," UConn coach Dan Hurley said.
Danny Dixon led UMKC (0-3) with 15 points and Brandon McKissic added 10.
Tied 12-12, UConn used a 23-3 run to take control. Eight of the nine Huskies who played scored at least a basket in the first half.
Smith shot 7-of-9 from the field and had 15 points off the bench. UConn had only 18 bench points in its opening win against Morehead State, but finished with 36 in this win.
The Huskies scored 13 points off UMKC's seven turnovers and picked up 14 fastbreak points.
UMKC, which was playing its third straight road game, held its last lead at 10-9 at 16:01.
After shooting 53 percent in the first half, UConn cooled off in the second, making just 2 of 13 attempts in the opening seven-plus minutes. UMKC was only able to cut its deficit to 58-43 during that stretch before UConn's offense awoke.
Sophomore Tyler Polley took a step forward with 12 points, including two 3-pointers, and four rebounds with one steal in 25 minutes.
For the second straight game UConn finished on the plus side of the assist-to-turnover ratio with 17 and 12, respectively. It was a problem area for the Huskies a year ago when they only accomplished it eight times.
Tulane 69, No. 17/15 Florida State 80
FSU's Terance Mann had 21 points and 10 rebounds, PJ Savoy added 14 points and No. 17 Florida State wore down a feisty and improved Tulane squad, 80-69 on Sunday night.
Tulane was buoyed by the debut of freshman Kevin Zhang, who scored 24 points, including 10 points during a mid-second-half surge that briefly pulled the Green Wave as close as 62-56.
But Christ Koumadje's dunk sparked a 10-0 Seminoles run that included layups by Mann and Trent Forest, and FSU maintained a double-digit lead for most of the final seven minutes.
Forrest finished with 13 points and Mfiondu Kabengele scored 12 for Florida State (2-0), which shot 48.3 percent (29 of 60).
Samir Sehic scored 19 points for Tulane (0-1), but took only four shots in the second half and missed all of them.
Tulane never led by more than three but pulled in front a number of times during the first 12 minutes, thanks in large part to Sehic's 17 first-half points.
Sehic's layup have Tulane a 27-26 lead with 8:45 left in the opening half, but after Jordan Cornish scored with 7:33 left in the half, FSU held the Green Wave without a field goal until 16:25 remained in the second half.
Solid defense and sporadic free throws allowed Tulane to go into half time down only 39-35, but Florida State opened the second half on a 9-0 run that included Koumadje's dunk and Savoy's third 3 of the game to make it a 13-point game.
Tulane, which shot 44.2 percent (23 of 52), never got closer than six points after that.
The Green Wave delighted a packed home-opening crowd to a high-energy showing that kept the game competitive for significant stretches. That kind of showing plus the eventual return of injured starting point guard Ray Ona Embo could have Tulane poised for a strong season.
UPCOMING GAMES
| MONDAY 11.12.18 |
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Austin Peay |
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USF |
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7 p.m. |
Tampa, Fla. |
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| TUESDAY 11.13.18 |
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Memphis |
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LSU |
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7 p.m. |
Baton Rouge, La. |
TV:SEC Network |
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Georgia |
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Temple |
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7 p.m. |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
TV:ESPN3 |
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North Carolina Central |
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Cincinnati |
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7 p.m. |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
Live Video TV:FS Ohio/ESPN3 |
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Coastal Carolina University |
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Tulane |
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8 p.m. |
New Orleans, La. |
Live Stats Live Video |
| WEDNESDAY 11.14.18 |
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Rice |
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Houston |
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8 p.m. |
Houston, Texas |
Live Stats Live Video TV:ESPN3 |
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Western Carolina |
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SMU |
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8 p.m. |
Dallas, Texas |
TV:ESPN3 |
| THURSDAY 11.15.18 |
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Cal State Fullerton |
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UCF |
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1:30 p.m. |
Conway, S.C. |
TV:ESPN3 |
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Davidson |
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Wichita State |
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7 p.m. |
Charleston, S.C. |
Live Stats Live Video TV:ESPN3 |
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Syracuse |
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UConn |
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7 p.m. |
New York, N.Y. |
TV:ESPN2 |
| FRIDAY 11.16.18 |
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Cal Baptist |
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Tulsa |
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1 p.m. |
Tulsa, Okla. |
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Ohio |
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USF |
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4:30 p.m. |
Montego Bay, Jamaica |
TV:CBS Sports Network |
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Loyola (Md.) |
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Temple |
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7 p.m. |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
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Milwaukee |
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Cincinnati |
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7 p.m. |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
Live Video TV:FS Ohilo/ESPN3 |
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ECU |
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Georgia Tech |
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7:30 p.m. |
Atlanta, Ga. |
TV:ACC Network Extra |
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Iowa/Oregon |
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UConn |
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TBD |
New York, N.Y. |
TV:ESPN2/ESPNU |
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Saint Joseph's/Wake Forest |
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UCF |
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TBD |
Conway, S.C. |
TV:ESPN2/ESPNU |
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Appalachian State/Purdue |
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Wichita State |
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TBD |
Charleston, S.C. |
TV:ESPNU |
| SATURDAY 11.17.18 |
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Lipscomb |
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SMU |
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7 p.m. |
Dallas, Texas |
TV:ESPN3 |
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Yale |
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Memphis |
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8 p.m. |
Memphis, Tenn. |
TV:ESPN3 |
| SUNDAY 11.18.18 |
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Georgetown |
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USF |
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Noon |
Montego Bay, Jamaica |
TV:CBS Sports Network |
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TBD |
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UCF |
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TBD |
Conway, S.C. |
TV:ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPN3 |
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TBD |
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Wichita State |
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TBD |
Charleston, S.C. |
TV:ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPN3 |