PROVIDENCE, R.I – The American Athletic Conference went 13-2 overall in men’s basketball action this week after three more Sunday victories. No. 22 Houston downed Saint Louis, 68-64, rv UCF ran past Stetson, 90-65, and Tulsa defeated Dayton, 72-67, at Mohegan Sun Arena. The American’s two losses this week came to teams ranked in the top-20.
Sunday, December 16
No. 24/22 Houston 68, Saint Louis 64
Senior guard Corey Davis Jr. hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 29 seconds left and had 17 points in No. 24 Houston's 68-64 comeback victory over Saint Louis on Sunday inside the Fertitta Center.
Davis was 3-of-5 from 3-point range and hit all six of his free throws. Armoni Brooks had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Galen Robinson Jr. added 13 for Houston (10-0) in its 23rd straight at home.
Javon Bess had 17 points for Saint Louis (7-3), Tramaine Isabell Jr. added 16, and Jordan Goodwin had 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Billikens shot 37-percent from the field.
Davis gave Houston a 66-63 lead with the 3-pointer from the left wing. DeJon Jarreau blocked Fred Thatch Jr.'s jumper to start the play, and Fabian White Jr. grabbed the defensive rebound.
On the ensuing possession, Bess missed a 3-pointer but got his own rebound, and Goodwin was fouled shooting a 2-pointer with five seconds left. Goodwin made the first and missed the second intentionally, but Bess' jumper off the rebound missed, and Davis got the rebound and was fouled. He made both free throws to ice it.
Trailing 60-58 with four minutes remaining, the Billikens reeled off five straight to take a three-point lead on Goodwin's layup with 1:45 remaining. After White's two free throws cut the lead to one, Isabel missed a 3-pointer, and Brooks got the rebound and was fouled, hitting one of two with 1:09 remaining.
-/rv UCF 90, Stetson 65
UCF scored the first 15 points and game was never in doubt as the Knights defeated visiting Stetson, 90-65, Sunday afternoon at CFE Arena. UCF improved to 9-2 on the season with the victory, the program’s best start since 2010-11.
Following a 95-88 win over Georgia Southern on Tuesday, it marked UCF’s first back-to-back games with 90 or more points since March of 2014 in wins over Houston and Temple, the latter of which was a double overtime contest.
The Knights held Stetson (2-10) to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 26.9 percent from three-point range, but those numbers were much lower in the first half as UCF built its insurmountable lead. The Hatters shot just 29.4 percent from the floor and 21.4 percent from long distance in the first 20 minutes of action.
Nine players scored at least seven points for the Knights, including Aubrey Dawkins, who went for 19 points and 13 rebounds with a pair of SportsCenter-worthy tip dunks. It marked his second career double-double and the 11th straight game that he has scored in double figures.
Dawkins’ 13 boards were a career high, as the Knights outrebounded the Hatters 47-37 for the game. Tacko Fall and Chad Brown each chipped in with six rebounds, two apiece on the offensive end.
UCF finished with 18 assists for the second straight game, which is its second best output this season. The Knights also had just six turnovers, a season-best for the squad. UCF outscored the Hatters 15-8 off of turnovers, 36-28 in the paint and 26-10 on the break.
Fall and BJ Taylor both scored 10 points, while Brown, Ceasar DeJesus and Frank Bertz each added nine. Collin Smith and Terrell Allen had eight points each, with the latter adding a team high five assists. Fall finished with five blocked shots in the victory.
Tulsa 72, Dayton 67
Martins Igbanu scored 14 of his team-high 17 points in the second half as Tulsa knocked off Dayton on Sunday at the Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase presented by Citi.
Igbanu went 6-of-10 from the floor and hit five of his six free throws for the Golden Hurricane (9-3), who picked up its first win away from the Reynolds Center this season. With the win, TU also reached nine non-conference victories before league play for the first time since 2009-10 and continued the best start under head coach Frank Haith.
DaQuan Jeffries added 16 points and six rebounds, while Jeriah Horne came off the bench to add 10 points as Tulsa shot a season-high 54.3-percent for the game, including 66.7-percent (14-of-21) over the final 20 minutes.
Josh Cunningham paced four players in double-figures for the Flyers (5-5) with 15 points. Jalen Crutcher hit four 3-pointers on his way to 14 points.
After the teams went into the locker room tied at 30, Dayton grabbed a 41-37 lead in the opening minutes of the second half after a Crutcher triple.
It would prove to be the Flyers' largest lead of the day as Tulsa responded with a 14-2 run to take the lead for good.
Zeke Moore started the run with a jumper before Igbanu went to work inside with six straight points. Horne drilled his second 3-pointer of the afternoon and Moore closed the spurt with trey and a 51-43 cushion.
Dayton cut the Tulsa lead to three points four times over the final eight minutes, but each time the Hurricane came up with another bucket to keep the Flyers at arm's length.
Sterling Taplin's three-point play with 3:41 left gave Tulsa a 66-56 advantage. However, Dayton ripped off a 7-0 run and had a chance to tie it with less than a minute to go. The Tulsa defense stood tall and the Flyers were forced to foul.
Curran Scott made all four of his freebies in the final 11 seconds to seal the 72-67 victory.
UPCOMING GAMES
| MONDAY 12.17.18 |
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Texas Southern |
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Tulane |
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8 p.m. |
New Orleans, La. |
TV:COX/ESPN3 |
| TUESDAY 12.18.18 |
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USF |
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Florida International |
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7 p.m. |
Miami, Fla. |
TV:CUSA TV |
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Drexel |
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UConn |
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7 p.m. |
Hartford, Conn. |
TV:SNY/ESPN3 |
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ECU |
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Charlotte |
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7:30 p.m. |
Charlotte, N.C. |
TV:BEIN |