PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference opened its 2018-19 men’s basketball season on Tuesday night with seven of its 12 schools in action. Six teams earned wins with all victories coming by at least eight points, seven by double-figures and five by 14-or-more points.
Results
rv/rv UCF 84, Rider 70
B.J. Taylor scored 22 points and Aubrey Dawkins, the son of UCF coach Johnny Dawkins, added 16 points and 10 rebounds in his Knights debut in an 84-70 victory over Rider in a season opener Tuesday night.
Collin Smith, a transfer from George Washington, also picked up a double-double in his UCF debut with 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Knights gave their coach his 200th collegiate victory. Taylor notched the 21st 20-point game of his career.
Aubrey Dawkins played his first regular-season game in three seasons. He sat out a season after transferring from Michigan to join his father at UCF then suffered a season-ending injury before last year's opener.
UCF, the American Athletic Conference preseason favorite who collected 15 votes in the opening Associated Press poll, took its first lead on Dawkins' basket as part of an 11-0 run to end the first half.
The Knights opened the second half on a 22-7 run to take its largest lead of 24 points at 65-41 with 11 minutes remaining.
Rider, the defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season champ and this year's favorite with all five starters returning, was led by Dimencio Vaughn with 14 points.
USF 80, Alabama A&M 63
David Collins scored 17 points and USF defeated Alabama A&M 80-63 Tuesday evening at the Yuengling Center to open the college basketball season.
Justin Brown added 16 points off the bench, T.J. Lang finished with 10 points and the duo combined to make six of USF's nine three-pointers to help the Bulls shoot 42.9 percent (9-for-21) from beyond the arc.
Laquincy Rideau tied his career-high with 10 assists and Alexa Yetna pulled down a game-high nine rebounds in his USF debut.
Arthur Johnson paced Alabama A&M with 20 points and four steals and Andre Kennedy scored 15 points.
USF (1-0) led by as many as 15 points in the first half before Alabama A&M used a 23-10 run to pull within two points (33-31) on a three-pointer by Johnson in the final minute.
Alabama A&M (0-1) took its only lead on a bucket from Johnson early in the second half to put the Bulldogs ahead 41-40, but USF answered with an 18-6 run to build a 58-47 advantage.
Justin Brown gave USF its largest lead when his three-pointer from the wing put the Bulls ahead 80-61 with just over a minute remaining.
Temple 75, La Salle 67
With his first career double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds, sophomore Nate Pierre-Louis led Temple to a 75-67 win over Philadelphia Big 5 rival La Salle in the season opener for both teams. The Owls (1-0) led for the final 19 minutes and made 26 free throws to hold off the Explorers (0-1).
Both teams made 22 field goals with La Salle getting an 8-5 edge in three-pointers, but Temple's ability to get to the line made the difference. The Owls hit 26-of-36 while La Salle was more efficient but just 15-of-18.
The Owls pounded the glass, finishing with a 50-28 advantage in rebounds (15-5 on the offensive glass) and an 11-0 lead in second chance points. It was La Salle with the lead out of the gate and for much of the first half, but Temple picked up the pace late in the first half and led for nearly all of the second.
Pierre-Louis shattered his previous career rebounding high of seven, and made 4-of-6 field goals including 2-of-2 from long range.
Senior guard Shizz Alston, Jr. scored 13 points and added a game-high eight assists. Leading the Owls in scoring was junior Quinton Rose with 15 points. Rose made 6-of-8 at the line and tallied two steals.
ECU 81, Delaware State 56
Isaac Fleming and Seth LeDay each scored 12 points and ECU beat Delaware State 81-56 on Tuesday night. It featured two new head coaches in ECU's Joe Dooley and DSU's Eric Skeeters.
Dooley will guide a young ECU team with six freshmen on the roster. ECU is led by Fleming, who averaged 12.5 points per game last year.
Saleik Edwards led Delaware State with six 3-pointers and 22 points.
The Pirates brought an eight-point lead into the break and then exploded to outscore the Hornets, 44-27, in the second half.
ECU had seven different players score at least eight points as they shot over 57-percent from long range and 77-percent from the free throw line.
Memphis 76, Tennessee Tech 61
First-year head coach Penny Hardaway earned a win in his first career collegiate game as he led the Tigers to a 76-61 win over Tennessee Tech in front of a crowd of 15,231.
The Tigers sprinted out to a first-half lead of 15 points and did not look back. Kyvon Davenport led all scorers with 30 point on 11-of-17 shooting and registered a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Jeremiah Martin was second on the team with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Both Martin and Davenport buried two 3-pointers.
Memphis held Tech to 36.5-percent shooting from the field and 28.6-percent from beyond the arc.
Nine different Tigers scored in the game.
Tulsa 73, Alcorn State 56
Tulsa opened the season with a 73-56 victory Tuesday night over Alcorn State at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Senior Sterling Taplin had game-highs of 16 points and 5 assists, including 12 second-half points as all 11 Golden Hurricane players scored.
Sophomore guard Elijah Joiner added 11 points for the Golden Hurricane (1-0), while Martins Igbanu and DaQuan Jeffries tallied eight points with Lawson Korita and Jeriah Horne scoring seven apiece. Additionally, Curran Scott had a team-high seven rebounds and added two assists and a pair of steals in his 23 minutes off the bench.
The Hurricane ended the game with 49-percent shooting from the field, while holding a 34-30 edge in rebounding and forcing Alcorn State (0-1) into 19 turnovers. Tulsa outscored the Braves 24-4 off turnovers, 32-11 in the paint and the Hurricane bench outscored the Alcorn State reserves 33-14.
Alcorn State's Deshaw Andrews led all scorers with 20 points and added 5 rebounds and 4 steals.
Wichita State 58, Louisiana Tech 71
The Wichita State University men's basketball team fell to Louisiana Tech, 71-58, in their 2018-19 regular season home opener Tuesday, Nov. 6, inside Charles Koch Arena. The loss snapped a 22-game winning streak in home openers for the Shockers.
In his Shocker debut, freshman Erik Stevenson led Wichita State, scoring 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including a 4-of-6 performance from three-point range. Fellow freshman Dexter Dennis added 10 points, while Jaime Echenique pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.
WSU shot just 37 percent from the floor (20-for-54) and 28 percent from beyond-the-arc (7-of-25), and were only 11-of-26 at the free-throw line in the game for 42 percent. The Shockers were also outrebounded by Louisiana Tech (1-0) in the contest, 37-26.
The Shockers rallied late and cut the Bulldog lead to 63-58 with 1:19 to go, but Louisiana Tech went 4-for-4 at the foul line in the final minute, securing the victory.
Upcoming Games
| WEDNESDAY11.7.18MEN'S BASKETBALL |
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Ohio State |
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Cincinnati |
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6 p.m. |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
TV:ESPN2 |
| THURSDAY11.8.18MEN'S BASKETBALL |
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Morehead State |
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UConn |
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7 p.m. |
Storrs, Conn. |
TV:SNY |
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Northwestern State |
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SMU |
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8 p.m. |
Dallas, Texas |
Live Stats Live Video TV:ESPN3 |
| FRIDAY11.9.18MEN'S BASKETBALL |
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Providence |
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Wichita State |
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6 p.m. |
Annapolis, Md. |
TV:CBS Sports Network |
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Detroit Mercy |
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Temple |
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7 p.m. |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
Live Stats Live Video TV:ESPN3 |
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James Madison |
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ECU |
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7:45 p.m. |
Greenville, N.C. |
TV:ESPN3 |
| SATURDAY11.10.18MEN'S BASKETBALL |
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Alabama A&M |
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Houston |
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3 p.m. |
Houston, Texas |
Live Stats Live Video TV:ESPN3 |
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South Carolina State |
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Tulsa |
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4:30 p.m. |
Tulsa, Okla. |
Live Stats Live Video |
| SUNDAY11.11.18MEN'S BASKETBALL |
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Southern Miss |
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SMU |
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3 p.m. |
Dallas, Texas |
Live Stats Live Video TV:ESPN3 |
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Florida Atlantic |
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UCF |
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3 p.m. |
Orlando, Fla. |
Live Stats Live Video TV:ESPN3 |
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Lamar |
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ECU |
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4 p.m. |
Greenville, N.C. |
TV:ESPN3 |
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UMKC |
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UConn |
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5 p.m. |
Storrs, Conn. |
TV:SNY |
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Florida State |
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Tulane |
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7 p.m. |
New Orleans, La. |
TV:ESPN3 |
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