PROVIDENCE, R.I. – It was a busy start to the week for the American Athletic Conference as five men's basketball teams picked up home victories. Cincinnati, ECU, Houston, Tulane and Tulsa each garnered a win while RV/- Temple was edged in a Brooklyn, N.Y., against VCU.
RESULTS
Tulane 84, South Dakota State 80
Caleb Daniels led four Green Wave players in double-figure scoring with a personal-best 24 points to lead the Tulane men's basketball team to an 84-80 victory over South Dakota State in the first round of the 2018 Gulf Coast Showcase at Hertz Arena.
Daniels scored 18 of his 24 in the first half and finished the day shooting 9-for-16 overall, while Shakwon Barrett poured in a career-high 19 points with a 7-for-7 performance at the free throw line. Jordan Cornish added 16 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Samir Sehic chipped in 15 points and nine boards.
Mike Daum led the Jackrabbits (3-2) with 28 points and 13 rebounds while making six 3-pointers, as David Jenkins contributed 23 points.
In a first half that featured 11 lead changes and three ties, the Green Wave got off to a nearly perfect start, making six of their first seven shots, including four of five from 3-point range from four different players, creating an early 16-8 advantage and forcing the Jackrabbits to call a timeout with 16:11 remaining.
South Dakota State regathered itself and punched back over the next three minutes however, racing out on an 8-0 scoring run to claim its first lead of the day, 18-16. The run extended to 19 consecutive points, as the Jackrabbits built their first double-digit advantage, 27-16, on a trey by Skyler Flatten with 10:54 left.
The Green Wave fought back however, getting the deficit back to just three, 35-32, on a jumper by Barrett at the 5:18 mark. The Wave continued their rally with consecutive threes by Cornish and Daniels to regain the edge, 38-36, with 4:17 to play. The lead would change hands multiple times in the final four minutes, before Bul Ajang sunk a 10-foot baseline shot from the weak side in the waning seconds to send both teams into halftime deadlocked at 47.
Tulane shot 18-for-33 (.545) overall, 7-for-13 (.538) beyond the arc and made four of five free throws in the first half, while South Dakota State went 17-for-31 (.548) from the field, 9-for-14 (.643) from outside and shot the same clip as the Wave at the foul stripe.
Tulane shot 30-for-69 (.435) overall and made nine 3-pointers, while the Jackrabbits shot 28-for-62 (.452) from the field and made 14 of 27 3-point attempts.
ECU 69, UT-Rio Grande Valley 64
Freshman Jayden Gardner scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the final seven minutes to help ECU hold off Texas Rio Grande Valley, 69-64, Monday inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum top open a three-game homestand.
The Pirates (3-2) scored 17 straight points to turn a 9-8 deficit into a 25-9 lead over a span of five minutes. The cushion reached 19 points, 37-18, as freshman Tae Hardy buried a 3-pointer with 3:44 left until halftime. Sophomore K.J. Davis scored all seven of his points in the opening period. ECU shot 60 percent (15-of-25) from the field and held the Vaqueros to just 22.9 percent (8-of-35) shooting.
Isaac Fleming made 3-of-4 free throws in the final 20 seconds to secure the victory before Levin Jordan banked in a 3 with three seconds left to set the final margin.
Junior Seth Leday scored 12 points off the bench for ECU, while Tyler Foster added 11 in his first non-start of the season. LeDay and Davis each grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to help the Pirates to a plus-13 margin on the glass.
Despite committing 26 turnovers on offense, ECU was able to rely on its defense to stymie UTRGV in the end, holding it to just 27.9 percent. The Pirates finished the game at a 50.0 percent (23-of-46) clip.
Free throw shooting allowed the Vaqueros to stay as close as they did, making 20 attempts from the charity stripe.
Cincinnati 78, Western Michigan 52
Jarron Cumberland matched his career high with 27 points to lead the University of Cincinnati Bearcats to a 78-52 victory over Western Michigan on Monday night before 8,998 fans at Fifth Third Arena.
UC, which improved to 3-1, has won 36 of its last 38 home games. The Broncos (3-2) were led by Michael Flowers with 23 points. They shot 33.3 percent from the floor.
Cumberland, who also recorded six assists, had 19 points at halftime. He was 10-for-19 from the field, four for seven from three-point range and hit the 20-point mark for the second time in four games this season. His previous 27-point game was against Georgia State last year in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Nysier Brooks produced his second straight double-double with a career-high 15 points to go with10 rebounds. Cane Broome added 14 points off the bench with five rebounds.
The Bearcats, who led at halftime, 43-29, came out firing on all cylinders offensively and defensively, jumping out to a 17-3 lead less than six minutes into the game. At that point, they had already forced six turnovers on the way to 17 for the game.
Cumberland, who scored 19 points in the first half, had scored 12 by the 12:57 mark. The Bearcats extended their lead to 28-7 on Brooks' layup with 9:24 remaining before Western Michigan reeled off eight straight points to make the score 28-15. Flowers kept the Broncos in the game with 18 first-points.
UC held Western Michigan to 30.4 percent shooting (7-23) in the first half, but committed 12 fouls that led to 22 free throws for the Broncos, who made only 11 of them. UC was four for six from the line and shot 50 percent (18-36) from the field.
Houston 72, Northwestern State 55
Houston junior center Chris Harris Jr. posted a career-high 13 points as one of five players to reach double digits in leading the Cougars to an 82-55 win over Northwestern State.
Harris connected on 6-of-8 shots from the field and added five rebounds – including four offensive – with two blocks as the Cougars won their third straight game to open the 2018-19 season and their 18th straight home game dating back to last year.
With 18 consecutive home wins, Houston moved into a tie with Charleston for the nation's second-longest active home winning streak, trailing only South Dakota State (23).
For the third-straight game, junior guard Armoni Brooks led the Cougars in scoring, posting 16 points with four 3-pointers, and added five rebounds and three assists. Senior guard and Preseason All-American Athletic Conference selection Corey Davis Jr., and senior guard Landon Goesling added 13 points apiece, while senior point guard Galen Robinson Jr. finished with 11 points, six rebounds and a game-high seven assists without a turnover.
Davis hit 5-of-8 shots from the field in the second half, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc. The Lafayette, La., native has drained at least one trey in 34 of his last 35 games.
Senior forward Breaon Brady and redshirt freshman forward Cedrick Alley Jr. tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds each
Houston broke open a close game at halftime with a 14-0 run early in the second half to win their third straight game against the Demons in the all-time series. The Cougars outrebounded NSU 41-34 in the game with 17 offensive boards and forced 15 NSU turnovers with only five giveaways of their own.
No Northwestern State player reached double-digit points with John Norvel coming off the bench to lead the team with eight rebounds.
Tulsa 88, Little Rock 78
Martins Igbanu posted a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, with 20 points coming in the second half, to help Tulsa stay unbeaten with an 88-78 win over Little Rock on Monday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
At 4-0, the Golden Hurricane have tied the best start under head coach Frank Haith (2015-16 team also went 4-0).
Igbanu went 6-of-8 from the field and 11-of-12 from the free-throw line in 25 minutes of action. He was joined in double-figures by DaQuan Jeffries (15 points), Sterling Taplin (10 points/8 assists) and Jeriah Horne (10 points). For Igbanu, it was his third career double-double.
After a slow start, TU warmed up to 58.6-percent in the second half and 48.3-percent for the game. The Hurricane scored 40 points in the paint and had 23 points off 19 turnovers by the Trojans (2-2).
Little Rock was led by Rayjon Tucker’s 24 points, 20 of which came in the first half. The Trojans also had 38 points in the paint and shot 51.8-percent.
RV/- Temple 51, VCU 57
After roaring back from an early 17-point deficit and leading by as many as four with five and a half minutes left, Temple was on the wrong end of an 8-1 closing run by VCU (4-0) in a 57-51 loss. The Owls (4-1) had their season-opening four-game win streak snapped and will now face Cal (1-2) in the third place game of the GotPrint.com Legends Classic.
Temple's shooting woes started early and the Owls found themselves in a 17-point, 19-2 hole just over seven minutes into the contest. The Owls got to within five before the first period ended, but still trailed 28-21 at halftime.
Only three minutes into the second half, the Owls tied the game and it would remain close from then on. With 5:31 left, Temple took its largest lead of four, 48-44, but a Quinton Rose jumper would be the only field goal by the Owls the rest of the way.
Marcus Evans (21 points) scored six points in an 8-1 closing run for the Rams while the Owls missed four three-pointers and went just 1-for-4 at the line.
Temple's leading scorer, senior Shizz Alston, Jr., was held to just six points on 2-of-14 shooting from the field.
Sophomore Nate Pierre-Louis was the only Owl to score in double figures with 11 points. He also pulled down eight boards and recorded a career and game-high six steals.
The sophomore class truly led the way, as the other two - J.P. Moorman II and De'Vondre Perry - scored nine points each. Senior Ernest Aflakpui led all players with 10 rebounds.
UPCOMING GAMES