PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The American Athletic Conference earned five Tuesday night victories and did so in impressive fashion. Cincinnati etched its name in The American record book with a 105-49 victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff while Temple went on the road and defeated Missouri, 79-77. RV/- UConn won its third-straight home game against UMass-Lowell, 97-75 while Tulsa also won at home, 72-58, over UT Arlington. Tuesday's SMU game not only featured a victory over Lamar, 79-65, but the return of star player, Jarrey Foster. ECU got a second 30-point double-double from Jayden Gardner but were edged by UNC-Wilmington, 95-86.
RESULTS
Cincinnati 105, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 49
Justin Jenifer scored 13 points, Keith Williams added 12 and six Bearcats reached double figures as Cincinnati set a season high for scoring while flattening Arkansas-Pine Bluff 105-49 on Tuesday night. The 56-point margin is the third highest mark in the American Athletic Conference record books. UC's 41 made field goals is fourth most in league history and its 64.1 field goal percentage is fifth-highest.
Trevon Scott and Cane Broome each scored 11 points for Cincinnati (6-1), which set season highs in field-goal percentage and 57.9 3-point percentage while easily extending its winning streak to six games before a crowd of 8,513.
Cincinnati guard Jarron Cumberland, who went into the game averaging a team-high 18.2 points per game, finished with 10 points and a team-high six assists before sitting out the second half to nurse a tender calf, Bearcats coach Mick Cronin said.
Rashawn Fredericks also scored 10 for the Bearcats, who reached triple figures for the first time since scoring 107 against Savannah State and 102 against Western Carolina in the first two games of last season
The Golden Lions went 10 minutes, 19 seconds between their first and second field goals and they had more turnovers than points until McKnight broke free for a layup on a give-and-go with 8:21 left in the first half, cutting the Bearcats' lead to 35-12.
Cincinnati improved to 42-3 in November since the start of the 2012-2013 season.
Cumberland, Williams and Scott each scored 10 points to lead the Bearcats to a 59-22 halftime lead -- more points than they scored in losing to now-No. 23 Ohio State, 64-56, in the season-opener on November 7. They were Cincinnati's most first-half points since scoring 60 in last season's opener against Savannah State.
The Golden Lions committed 19 turnovers by halftime, more than any Cincinnati opponent had committed in a full game this season. They ended up with 31, helping the Bearcats to a 45-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
rv/- UConn 97, UMass-Lowell 75
Playing in front of its home crowd for the third-consecutive game, the UConn men's basketball team cruised past UMass Lowell, 97-75 Tuesday night at Gampel Pavilion.
Senior Jalen Adams and junior Christian Vital paced the Huskies with 19 points each, while sophomores Josh Carlton and Alterique Gilbert each chipped in 15 points apiece, respectively. Defensively, Carlton led the cleanup on the glass with eight rebounds, with Jalen Adams and Vital snagging five boards each.
The Huskies (6-1) got off to a spectacular start, posting runs of 10-4, 11-2, and 9-3 en route to a 36-15 lead heading into the under-eight media timeout. Christian Vital led the charge, posting 17 points during the span. Slowly chipping away at the deficit, UMass Lowell (4-5) used a 25-12 run over the final eight minutes of the half to come within 10 at 44-34 heading into halftime.
UConn shot nearly 57 percent in the second half, outscoring the River Hawks 53-41 over the final 20 minutes of action.
Adams came alive in the second-half for the Huskies, pouring in 13 of his 19 points after the break. UMass Lowell made several cracks at cutting into the deficit, but ultimately were unable to overcome 12 second-half turnovers as the Huskies secured the win at 97-75.
UConn has had at least four double figure scorers in all seven games this season.
The Huskies dominated the inside, outscoring UMass Lowell by 30 (54-24) points in the painted area.
Sidney Wilson made his UConn debut, grabbing three rebounds in five minutes of action.
ECU 86, UNC-Wilmington 96
Kai Toews had 16 point and 10 assists, while Jeantal Cylla scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead UNCW to a 95-86 over ECU at Trask Coliseum Tuesday.
ECU Freshman Jayden Gardner posted his third double-double of the season, matching his career-high of 30 points and snagging a game-high 15 rebounds to lead the Pirates (4-4). Junior Seth LeDay came off the bench to score 15 points and grab nine boards, while sophomore K.J. Davis added 13 and Shawn Williams had 12.
Gardner became the first freshman in school history to post multiple 30-point games after dropping 30 against Lamar earlier in the year. He also became the first ECU player to have multiple 30-point, 10-rebound games since Jim Gregory had four such games during the 1970-71 season.
UNCW (4-4) rushed out to a 10-point lead, 22-12, in the first six minutes as it made 9-of-11 field goal attempts to start the game. The lead ballooned to 16, 37-21, as Jaylen Fornes buried consecutive 3-pointers. The Pirates cut their deficit in half with 2:05 remaining in the half using a 14-6 run.
Fornes' third 3 of the half gave the Seahawks' a 46-35 halftime lead as they shot 57.1 percent from the floor, made 7-of-13 3-point attempts and held ECU to 44.1 percent shooting and 2-of-7 from outside the arc.
The Seahawks doubled their lead in the first nine minutes out of the halftime locker room, making 9-of-12 shots to start the frame. UNCW lead by 24, 76-52, with nine minutes to play.
The Pirates put together a 21-7 run to pull within 10, 83-73, on a Davis 3-pointer with just over three minutes remaining and eventually cut their deficit to seven with 1:04 to play before UNCW iced the game making 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute.
UNCW finished the game shooting 52.7 percent overall and connected on 10-of-24 (.417) outside the arc. The Pirates connected on 41.7 percent of their field goal attempts, but only 3-of-16 from 3.
ECU, which came into the game shooting 67 percent at the foul line, made 23-of-27 free throw attempts for an 85.7 percent clip. They also took care of the basketball, committing a season-low 11 turnovers in the highest scoring game of the season.
SMU 79, Lamar 65
Jahmal McMurray scored 18 points to lead five in double figures as SMU took an early lead and coasted to a 79-65 victory over Lamar on Tuesday night.
McMurray, who drilled 4 of 9 from long range, finished with a career-best nine assists. Ethan Chargois added 17 points with six rebounds and four assists for SMU (4-3). Isiaha Mike had 16 points, Jarrey Foster, in his first game back since tearing an ACL in January, chipped in 11 and Feron Hunt contributed 10 points with seven boards.
Lamar took an early lead before SMU took over after Chargois drilled a trey. Hunt followed with a layup and Chargois completed a 3-point play to go ahead 22-16 midway through the first half. The Mustangs finished on a 19-12 run for a 41-28 halftime advantage. Chargois got the Mustangs running again in the second half with a 3-pointer and followed with a layup to stretch SMU's lead to 50-32.
Nick Garth led Lamar (3-4) with 19 points. T.J. Atwood had 14 points and nine rebounds.
The Mustangs had two players, Hunt and Foster, with double-digit points off the bench for the first time since February against Houston.
SMU set a season high with 23 assists; its most assists since Dec. 2017 against New Orleans (24). The Mustangs also hit 53.4-percent from the field, their second straight game over 53-percent from the field
Under Head Coach Tim Jankovich the Mustangs are now 60-24 while the Mustangs carry 41-7 mark at Moody Coliseum.
Tulsa 72, UT Arlington 58
DaQuan Jeffries tied a career high with 24 points and Tulsa shot 61.5-percent in the second half as the Golden Hurricane downed UT Arlington 72-58 on Tuesday night at the Donald W. Reynold Center.
Jeffries went 10-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from behind the arc to tie his career mark, which was set in last season's win over Memphis. He was one of four players in double-figures for the Golden Hurricane (5-2) as Elijah Joiner had 11 points to go along with four assists and four steals, while Martins Igbanu and Lawson Korita each chipped in with 10 points.
TU connected on 16 of its 26 attempts in the final 20 minutes and scored 26 points off 16 turnovers by the Mavericks (3-4).
UT Arlington was paced by Brian Warren's 15 points and the Mavericks were limited to 39-percent shooting in the contest.
Tulsa quickly broke a 31-all tie at halftime as Jeffries found Korita cutting the hoop for an easy bucket before Sterling Taplin's layup. Minutes later, Taplin set up Jeffries, who hit six of his seven shot attempts in the second half, for a triple that pushed the lead to 40-35.
The Mavericks stayed within striking distance before Tulsa ripped off a 14-0 run midway through the half to put the game away.
Jeriah Horne ignited the spurt with a 3-pointer and Joiner hit another trey during the stretch. But it was Jeffries attacking the basket that helped fuel the run as he scored eight points.
The highlight of the night came when Joiner stole the ball and started a fastbreak. The sophomore saw Jeffries trailing and set him up with a behind-the-back pass. Jeffries finished the play with a thunderous dunk to bring the home crowd to its feet.
When the dust settled, TU had its largest lead of the night, 64-46, and cruised down the stretch to the 72-58 win.
Temple 79, Missouri 77
Four players scored in double figures for Temple men's basketball as the Owls (6-1) held off a late run by Missouri (3-3) for a 79-77 win in their first true road game of the season. Temple's ball-handling and contributions from the bench were key in withstanding the charge by the Tigers.
The Owls led by 12 with seven minutes remaining, but went cold from the field as Missouri used an 11-1 run to make it a two-point game. After missing the front end of a 1-and-1 and also going 1-of-2 at the line a couple minutes later, senior and standout free-throw shooter Shizz Alston, Jr. regrouped to hit 2-of-2 and give the Owls a four-point lead with 11 seconds left.
Missouri collected two offensive rebounds and hit a final bucket as time ran out, never getting within fewer than two points.
Temple broke open a tight game in the final minutes of the first half, making seven of its final eight field goals in a 16-4 run that gave the Owls a 10-point, 42-32 lead at the break.
The Owls committed just five turnovers in the contest while forcing 15 and finished with a 20-7 lead in points off turnovers.
Junior Quinton Rose scored 18 points, dished three assists and tied his season high with four steals.
Three others also scored in double figures for the Owls. Alston added 15 points along with a game-high six assists, sophomore De'Vondre Perry scored a season-high 11 points, and junior Damion Moore came off the bench for a season-high 10 points.
Moore's 10 points came on 5-of-5 shooting from the field, and he also grabbed three boards while playing just 13 minutes due to foul trouble.
Senior Ernest Aflakpui tied his career high of 12 rebounds to lead all players, also scoring eight points.
UPCOMING GAMES