PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Thursday night American Athletic Conference men's basketball action saw all three home teams protect their hardwood. No. 13/13 Houston avenged its lone loss this season with 73-66 victory over Temple. The Cougars are the first team in the nation to reach 21 wins, along with the highest winning percentage in Division I. They also boast the best home win-streak in the country at 31-straight games. ECU came back to win against Tulane, 66-65, while UCF held off UConn, 73-67.
Thursday, January 31
No. 13/13 Houston 73, Temple 66
Corey Davis Jr. scored 24 points, DeJon Jarreau added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 13 Houston avenged its only loss of the season with a 73-66 win over Temple on Thursday night.
Jarreau had 10 points in the second half, and Davis finished 12-of-13 from the free throw line as the Cougars (21-1, 8-1) shot 43-percent from the field. Breaon Brady had 13 points and six rebounds.
Houston has won six straight since a 73-69 loss at Temple on Jan. 9 and has won 31 straight home games, the nation's longest winning streak. The Cougars are also the first team in the nation to 21 victories and boast the country's best winning percentage.
Quinton Rose scored 26 points and Alani Moore II added nine points for the Owls (15-6, 5-3). Temple was held 34-percent shooting from the field.
After Houston pushed the lead to 67-57 on Davis' two free throws with two minutes left, Temple scored five straight points to close within five on Nate Pierre-Louis' two free throws with 1:13 left. Davis hit six straight free throws in the final minute.
After Temple cut Houston's lead to 50-48 on J.P. Moorman II's 3-pointer with 9 1/2 minutes remaining, Houston responded with seven-straight points to open up a nine-point lead on Jarreau's three-point play a minute later.
The Cougars scored eight straight points to build a 35-27 lead on Galen Robinson Jr.'s free throw with 1 1/2 minutes left in the first half. Davis scored four of his nine first-half points on the run, and Houston led 35-29 at the half.
The Owls started 1-of-13 from the field but finished the first half 10-of-23. Moorman, who had a career-high 20 points in Sunday's loss to Cincinnati, finished with six points, and Shizz Alston Jr., who leads Temple with 18.5 points per game, was held to six.
Armoni Brooks, the Cougars' leading scorer at 14.8 points per game, had a quiet night due to foul trouble. Brooks sat most of the first half with two fouls and finished with three points. Houston held a 34-24 advantage in points in the paint.
ECU 66, Tulane 65
Jayden Gardner led five players in double figures as ECU snapped a five-game losing streak with a 66-65 victory over Tulane inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Thursday.
Gardner had 15 points and nine rebounds to lead ECU (9-11, 2-6). Seth LeDay added 13 points, Isaac Fleming scored 11 and Dimitrije Spasojevic had 10 for the Pirates, who won for the fifth time in the last six meetings between the teams.
Caleb Daniels had 17 points to lead four in double-figure scoring for Tulane (4-16, 0-8). Jordan Cornish finished with 10 points and five assists. It was the 10th-straight loss for the Green Wave.
Daniels scored five straight points to give Tulane a 54-53 lead with 5:29 to play. Gardner answered with a layup, Fleming scored the next five points and the Pirates had a 60-54 lead with 3:02 left.
Cornish's 3-pointer pulled Tulane within two, 60-58, with 2:11 remaining. LeDay then made two free throws to push the lead back to two possessions as did Gardner with 13 seconds remaining.
After Daniels brought Tulane back within two with six seconds left, Shawn Williams calmly sank a pair of free throws with five seconds on the clock to seal the win before Cornish hit a 3 at the buzzer to end it.
The Pirates trailed by eight with 56 seconds left in the first half, but a basket by freshman Tae Hardy and a dunk from LeDay, cut their deficit in half entering intermission.
ECU forced 16 Tulane turnovers and converted them into 23 points, while it only committed seven turnovers, a season-low.
After being out-rebounded by 14 in the first half, the Pirates won the battle of the boards in second half by six and allowed just two second chance points in the final 20 minutes after yielding eight in the first.
UCF 73, UConn 67
UCF bounced back Thursday night, defeating visiting UConn 73-67 to sweep the Huskies in the season series and improve to 16-4 overall and 6-2 in American Athletic Conference action.
The Knights are now by themselves in third place in the league, as senior guard BJ Taylor led them to their 11th home win over the season with 21 points on 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. It was his first 20-point game since going for 24 in the conference opener against Temple.
Several starters made an impact for USF on the scoresheet - Collin Smith with 11 and Tacko Fall and Aubrey Dawkins with nine apiece - but it was the UCF bench that made a difference Thursday night.
The Knights substitutes outscored UConn's 23-4 in the game, led by Ceasar DeJesus's season-high 11 points.
DeJesus, who started all 32 games as a redshirt freshman a year ago, has taken on a reserve role in 2018-19. With a knack for getting to the rim, DeJesus did so with ease on Thursday, finishing a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and going 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.
Chad Brown also added seven points and four rebounds off the bench, while Frank Bertz and Dayon Griffin added three and two, respectively.
UConn's Jalen Adams led the Huskies with 27 points in the defeat, while Josh Carlton grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. The Huskies fell to 12-9 overall and 3-5 in The American.
UCF got off to a strong start, and led 26-11 following a fast break layup from Smith. UConn cut into the deficit after Carlton scored inside and Tarin Smith and Adams both cashed in from beyond the arc, but the Huskies still trailed by a dozen at the intermission, 34-22.
UConn pulled within seven, 39-32, to start the second half after back-to-back triples from Adams and sophomore Tyler Polley. Both teams traded baskets over the course of the next four minutes, with UCF building its lead back up to 12 at 12:23.
The Huskies responded, using a quick 10-2 run - capped off by a pull up three from Adams- to draw within two, 58-56, with just under five minutes remaining. The Huskies made it a two possession game with 58 seconds left after a three-point play from Christian Vital, but UCF hit nine free throws down the stretch to close out the result.
It marked UCF's third straight win over the Huskies, but just their fourth all-time over UConn. The Knights are now 11-1 at CFE Arena and have won 10 of their last 12 games overall.
At 16-4, it matches the program's best 20-game start to a season in its Division I era, and at 6-2 in The American, it is UCF's best start to league play as members of The American.
UPCOMING GAMES