PROVIDENCE, R.I - Just a week and a half into American Athletic Conference men's basketball play, seven teams have two league victories as Cincinnati and Memphis became part of the septet with thrilling wins on Thursday night. The Bearcats rallied to force overtime and earned a victory at Tulsa, 70-65. Memphis erased a 15-point deficit and held off ECU at home, 78-72. UConn was victorious over SMU, 76-64, handing the Mustangs their first conference loss. It was head coach Dan Hurley's first American Athletic Conference victory.
Thursday, January 10
Cincinnati 70, Tulsa 65 (OT)
Fresh off of his selection to the Lute Olson Award Watch List, Jarron Cumberland scored six of his 14 points after regulation and Cincinnati rallied to beat Tulsa 70-65 in overtime Thursday night.
Cane Broome added 16 points off the bench for the Bearcats (13-3, 2-1 American Athletic Conference) and his jumper with a foot on the 3-point line knotted the score at 58 with 1.2 seconds left in regulation.
Keith Williams scored 14 before fouling out and Tre Scott pitched in with 12 points and nine rebounds as Cincinnati ended Tulsa's 15-game home win streak.
Tulsa's DaQuan Jeffries had a 3-pointer and a jumper sandwiched around a Cumberland 3-pointer to give the Golden Hurricane (11-5, 1-2) a 63-61 lead early in the extra period. Cumberland's 3-point play put Cincinnati up 64-63, Trevor Moore sank a 3 and Scott followed with a layup to cap an 8-0 run, leaving the Bearcats ahead 69-63 with 1:12 left.
Jeffries led Tulsa with 14 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting and 3-of-3 from long range, while Jeriah Horne and Elijah Joiner both scored 11.
The Golden Hurricane lost their fifth-straight game to Cincinnati despite shooting 61 percent from distance (14 of 23).
The Bearcats had a 13-8 advantage in points off turnovers, a 12-4 margin in second-chance points and got off 19 more shots than Tulsa.
UConn 76, SMU 64
Behind solid play from its starting backcourt, UConn snapped a three-game skid and earned its first American Athletic Conference win of the season and first under head coach Dan Hurley with a 76-64 victory over SMU at Gampel Pavilion. UConn improves to 10-6, 1-2 on the season, while SMU drops to 10-5, 2-1.
Senior Jalen Adams led the way for the Huskies with 21 points, while sophomore Alterique Gilbert ended the night with 19 points. Junior Christian Vital also finished in double figures with 11 points to go along with seven rebounds.
SMU's Jimmy Whitt Jr., had his fourth double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds to go along with four steals. Jahmal McMurray added 15 for the Mustangs which had won four straight and eight of its previous nine games.
After a back-and-forth start to the first half that featured six ties and four lead changes, the Huskies took their first lead with 7:21 remaining in the opening period. Over the remainder of the half, UConn went on a 23-11 run to take an 11-point lead, 42-31, with Gilbert scoring 12 points and Adams netting 10 of his own.
UConn led by as many as 15 points, 50-35 - capped off by a Gilbert triple that forced the Mustangs to call a timeout.
SMU responded with an 11-2 run of its own to cut the deficit to six, 52-46, at 11:52.
The Huskies outscored SMU 14-6 over the next four minutes to regain a double-digit lead (66-52) and never looked back.
Vital and Josh Carlton led the team with a game-high seven rebounds while Adams recorded his eighth 20-plus point game of the season.
Memphis 78, ECU 72
Memphis fought back from a 15-point first-half deficit to overcome ECU, 78-72, Thursday night in an American Athletic Conference game at FedExForum.
The Tigers (10-6, 2-1) placed six players in double figures and were led in scoring by freshman Tyler Harris (16 points). Harris scored 10 of his points in the second half and had three assists during the same stretch.
Kyvon Davenport, who had been coming off the bench since a late-November game against Canisius, started and added 14 points and a team-high 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Other Tigers in double-figures were Kareem Brewton, Jr., (13), Jeremiah Martin (10), Antwann Jones (10) and Isaiah Maurice (10).
Memphis trailed by eight (59-51) midway through the second half, but rallied behind multiple contributors, including Harris, Martin and Maurice. The Tigers ended the game on a 17-7 run to survive 14 turnovers and being beaten on the boards, 44-31.
ECU (8-7, 1-2) placed five in double figures, led by freshman Jayden Gardner. He finished with 18 points and eight rebounds.
Hardaway shook up his lineup starting the team's five seniors - Davenport and Brewton along with regular starters Martin, Raynere Thornton and Mike Parks - but midway through the first half the Tigers trailed, 33-18.
In the opening 20 minutes, the Tigers spent the majority of the half trailing by double digits. The deficit reached 15 points with 8:03 to go when Seth LeDay muscled inside for a layup for a 33-18 advantage.
It took several more minutes for the Tigers to rally, but they finished strong to trim ECU's lead to four, 40-36. The UofM finished the half on a 12-2 run, capped by 3-pointers from Davenport and Harris. Harris drained his trey from the deep left wing with five seconds to go.
Memphis shot 48 percent in the first half, while ECU shot 45.5 percent. ECU won the first-half battle on the boards, 19-16, and committed only six turnovers.
UPCOMING GAMES