PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Thrilling American Athletic Conference men's basketball action continued at the start of league play with two more games going to overtime. USF battled Temple into extra time but the Owls prevailed, 82-80. Cincinnati played its second-straight OT game and came away with its second consecutive win with a victory over UConn, 74-72. Bearcats head coach Mick Cronin became the program leader in overtime victories with 15. The American has now seen four of its last 11 games go to OT. SMU and No. 17/15 Houston also improved to 3-1 in conference play with Saturday night wins.
Saturday, January 12
Temple 82, USF 80 (OT)
In a wild game of runs, Temple was able to come out on top in overtime for a third time this season, posting an 82-80 win over visiting USF (12-4, 2-2). The Owls (13-3, 3-1) had four players score in double figures, led by Nate Pierre-Louis with a season-tying 22 points and Shizz Alston, Jr. with 20.
Huge swings defined the game, with Temple using a 20-4 first-half run for a 17-point lead, and USF using a 27-5 run for an eight-point lead in the second half.
The Owls then recovered with a 9-0 run and held a slim lead for most of the remaining time, but the game saw four more ties including one at 68-68 at the end of regulation.
Temple saw a six-point overtime lead narrow to one point with 36 seconds left, but the Owls' free-throw performance made the difference for a second game in a row as they hit 23-of-28 including 4-of-4 in the final 30 seconds.
USF's Laquincy Rideau posted the first-ever triple double at the Liacouras Center with an arena-best 10 steals to go with 18 points and 10 assists. As a team, the Bulls recorded 17 steals and forced a season-high 22 turnovers by the Owls.
Temple remains undefeated at home with a record of 7-0, and improves to 3-0 in overtime games this season.
Pierre-Louis went 8-of-8 at the line and added a career-high three blocks to his season-tying 22 points.
Alston hit 8-of-9 free throws and dished nine assists to go with his 20 points. Recording his second career double-double for the Owls was J.P. Moorman II with a career- and game-high 13 rebounds to go with 12 points (career-high 3-of-4 from long range).
Also perfect at the line was Quinton Rose who finished with 16 points and four assists.
The Owls were without the services of both Alani Moore II and Damion Moore, both out with left ankle sprains and listed as day-to-day.
USF's Alexis Yetna scored a career-high 24 points to go along with nine rebounds and David Collins finished with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals.
SMU 77, Tulsa 57
SMU responded after a loss at UConn in last game by draining a season-high 13 three-pointers in a 77-57 win over Tulsa on Saturday evening inside Moody Coliseum.
Several of those threes came at crucial moments that stymied any momentum Tulsa put together, or put the exclamation point on long SMU runs. Possibly the biggest of the night came from sophomore forward Ethan Chargois.
With Tulsa on a 5-0 run to start the second half, cutting the SMU lead to six points, Chargois dove for a loose ball on the offensive end, then got up and knocked down a corner three that pushed the Mustang advantage to 41-32. The Golden Hurricane did not get within six points again.
Chargois, whose hometown is Tulsa, Oklahoma, finished with 18 points. A dynamic threat, he drained three three-pointers, but also finished down low and knocked down three of his four free throws.
Senior guard Jahmal McMurray, who struggled from beyond the arc against the Huskies (1-of-9), exploded for 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from three-point range.
While Chargois' second-half three was the back-breaker, it was McMurray's threes throughout the evening that kept Tulsa at bay. McMurray and Jarrey Foster hit big threes back-to-back to break a 4-4 tie early in the first half. Then, right after the under-12 media timeout, McMurray and sophomore forward Isiaha Mike hit threes within 30 seconds of each other to give SMU a double-digit lead.
In the second half, he hit threes from the wing on back-to-back possessions to push the lead to 51-37, then hit a dagger with just over eight minutes left to make it 66-49, forcing Haith to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, junior guard Jimmy Whitt Jr. stole a bad pass and threw down a one-handed dunk on the fast break, effectively sealing the game.
Whitt had 10 points and 10 rebounds, his third straight game and fifth game this season with a double-double.
Tulsa's Jeriah Horne tied a career-high with four 3-pointers for a team-high 14 points off the bench for the Golden Hurricane.
Cincinnati 74, UConn 72 (OT)
For the first time since 1967, Cincinnati has won back-to-back overtime games as the Bearcats battled past UConn for a 74-72 victory before 11,365 fans Saturday night at Fifth Third Arena.
After he missed two free throws that could have sealed the win for the Cincinnati with 7.2 seconds left in overtime, Justin Jenifer was left with only one way to compensate - with defense.
So that's what he did, crowding UConn's Christian Vital on the sideline as Vital maneuvered for a shot that could have won the game or sent it into a second overtime. Vital reacted by pushing Jenifer away to create space for himself, only to be called for an offensive foul with 1.5 seconds, securing UC's win.
UC (14-3 overall, 3-1) led by 11 with 12:44 to go in regulation but UConn rallied to force extra time before Cincinnati closed it out in OT. The Bearcats have won their last six games against UConn, which falls to 10-7, 1-3.
UC was out-rebounded 38-30 - the second straight game in which it was out-rebounded - allowed UConn to make 11-of-27 from 3-point range and made only one field goal in the final 9:49 of regulation, but still managed to win on the strength of 25 free throws in 38 attempts to 13-of-16 for the Huskies.
Cumberland led UC with 22 points, including 11-of-12 from the free throw line. Brooks added 17, Jenifer scored 13, and Keith Williams scored 11 for the Bearcats. Alterique Gilbert scored 18 to lead the Huskies.
UC led by one in regulation, 61-60, when Cane Broome stepped to the line to shoot two free throws with 10.2 seconds left. He made the first, but missed the second. The Bearcats used the two fouls they had to give to get the clock down to 4.5 seconds only to see Gilbert drive the lane and make a layup at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
With the score tied 65-65 in overtime, UC's Brooks dunked on an assist from Trevon Scott to give UC the lead for good. After a missed three-pointer by UConn's Gilbert, Jenifer drilled a three-pointer to give the Bearcats a 70-65 lead with 1:21 remaining.
With the Bearcats leading 74-69, the Huskies used a three-point play by Gilbert, who was fouled by Scott while making a layup, to make it 74-72 with 11.7 seconds left. UConn then fouled Jenifer, who missed both of his free throws.
The Bearcats led by one at halftime after falling behind by eight early in the game. They began to pull away in the second half, but every time it appeared they would put the Huskies away, UConn came back, usually on the strength of its three-point shooting.
No. 17/15 Houston 79, Wichita State 70
Corey Davis Jr. had 20 points, Armoni Brooks added 14 and No. 17/15 Houston rebounded from its first loss of the season to beat Wichita State 79-70 on Saturday night.
Davis and Brooks combined to hit eight 3-pointers - seven in the second half - and the Cougars (16-1, 3-1) overcame a five-point halftime deficit for their 29th straight home victory.
DeJon Jarreau had 13 points, and Fabian White Jr. added 12. Houston shot 57 percent in the second half and 49 percent overall.
Markis McDuffie scored 22 points, and Samajae Haynes-Jones added 14 for Wichita State (7-8, 0-3). The Shockers shot 39 percent in losing their fourth straight, their longest streak since January 2009.
After Wichita State regained the lead at 56-55 on McDuffie's four-point play with 11 minutes remaining, the Cougars answered with an 11-1 run to take a nine-point advantage with 7 1/2 minutes left.
Wichita State got no closer than five the rest of the way.
Trailing 40-34 early in the second half, Houston had a 14-0 run to take a 48-40 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers by Brooks with 14 minutes left.
The Shockers led for the majority of the first half and kept it close throughout the second half, but Houston forced Wichita State into tough shots in the second half and nine of its 15 total turnovers.
The Shockers stayed in it due to 3-point shooting, hitting 9-of-24, and shot well from the free throw line, connecting on 83-percent.
The Cougars continue to play well in transition, with a 17-7 advantage in fast-break points. Houston passed the ball well, with 17 assists on 25 field goals. Galen Robinson Jr. had 11 assists.
UPCOMING GAMES