PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The American Athletic Conference had four men's basketball games on Saturday's docket and they did not disappoint. USF stormed out to a 27-1 lead over Memphis but the Tigers nearly came all the way back thanks to 41 points, all in the second half, from senior Jeremiah Martin. It is the second-most points scored in American history, behind only Louisville's Russ Smith with 42 in 2014. Wichita State and rv/rv Cincinnati held off Tulsa and SMUat home, respectively, while Temple earned a road victory at Tulane.
Saturday, February 2
USF 84, Memphis 78
Justin Brown scored a career-high 19 points and made five 3-pointers and USF held off a late Memphis rally on its way to an 84-78 victory over the Tigers on Saturday afternoon at the Yuengling Center.
Brown made three of his five three-pointers in the opening five minutes as USF scored the first 19 points of the game and led 27-1 before Memphis made its first field goal at the 10:11 mark on a three-pointer from Kyvon Davenport. USF held Memphis to just four field goals and led 38-13 at halftime to mark the third time this season the Bulls have held an opponent to fewer than 20 points in a half.
David Collins finished with 20 points, five rebounds and two steals and has scored at least 20 points in three of his four career games against Memphis. Laquincy Rideau added 15 points, four rebounds and two steals and tied the USF single-season steals record with his 68th of the season.
Jeremiah Martin led Memphis with 41 points, all in the second half, and made 7-of-9 three-pointers. The 41 points were the most in one half by a Tiger and seven shy of the school's single-game mark set by Larry Finch (48 points) nearly 50 years ago.
It was the first 40-point game by a Tiger since Marcus Moody scored 41 versus Oklahoma in December 1997. His seven treys are tied for the most in The American this season and the fourth-most in a game in Memphis program history.
A three-pointer from Tyler Harris with 4:18 left in the second half cut the USF lead to 69-60 to pull Memphis within single digits for the first time since the 16:46 mark of the first half. Memphis trimmed the deficit to six points twice in the final minutes on a three-pointer and layup by Martin, but Xavier Castaneda picked up a pass on the final Tiger possession to secure USF's third straight victory.
USF (15-6, 5-4) shot over 50 percent in each half and finished 47.1 percent from three-point range and 72.7 percent from the free throw line.
USF attempted 44 free throws and shot 72.7 percent from the line. The Bulls entered play with the third-most free throw attempts of any team in the NCAA. The Bulls finished with 11 steals to mark the 10th game this season the Bulls have registered at least 10 steals.
USF has its most wins in a season since the 2011-12 season and has won three league games in a row for the first time since 2012.
Wichita State 79, Tulsa 68
Wichita State outscored Tulsa, 17-4, in the final seven minutes of the second-half to defeat the Golden Hurricane, 79-68, in the annual homecoming game on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 2, at Charles Koch Arena.
Senior Markis McDuffie netted a game-high 27 points on 11-of-20 shooting and snagged a team-high seven rebounds to lead the Shockers. Jaime Echenique (16 points) and Dexter Dennis (11 points) also reached double figures for WSU, and freshman Erik Stevenson compiled a career-high four steals, respectively.
Tulsa (13-10, 3-7) jumped out to an early advantage and led by as much as five points in the opening 12 minutes of the game until the Shockers went on an 11-3 run over 1:50 to turn a 25-23 deficit into a 34-28 lead after a Dennis three-pointer with 6:36 to go in the first-half.
The Golden Hurricane trimmed the lead back to two at 34-32 after a Jeriah Horne layup with 4:20 remaining, but Wichita State scored eight of the next 10 points to extend its advantage to 42-34 after a pair of McDuffie free-throws with just over two minutes to go in the opening stanza.
Tulsa trimmed the lead down to 44-40 going into halftime after making a pair of free-throws with six seconds remaining in the frame.
McDuffie netted a game-high 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the floor to lead the Shockers in the opening 20 minutes, while Samajae Haynes-Jones pulled down a team-best four rebounds.
The Golden Hurricane made seven of its first eight shots to open the second-half, and gained a 58-52 lead after a Lawson Korita three with just under 13 minutes remaining on the clock.
The advantage didn't last though, as Wichita State caught fire offensively and went on a 10-0 run over 2:10, regaining a 62-60 edge after two Echenique free-throws with just over eight minutes to go in the half.
Tulsa briefly took the lead back, 64-62, with 7:09 to go, but a Dennis trey sparked a 12-0 Shocker spurt that put WSU in front for good, 74-64, after an Echenique layup with 3:24 remaining in the frame. Tulsa did not score the final two minutes of the second-half.
Horne led Tulsa with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting, while Martins Igbanu and Sterling Taplin corralled a team-best three rebounds.
For the game, Wichita State shot 45 percent from the field, making 29 of 65 shots, and were 12-of-14 at the free-throw line for 86 percent.
The Shockers outrebounded Tulsa, 33-26, and had a season-high 10 steals while committing just 11 turnovers.
Wichita State outscored the Golden Hurricane off turnovers, 24-13, and on second-chance points, 15-5.
Tulsa shot 53 percent from the floor, but went just 11-of-21 at the foul line for 52 percent.
Temple 75, Tulane 67
With 29 points including a 14-of-15 performance at the free throw line, Shizz Alston, Jr. led Temple to a 75-67 road win at Tulane (4-17, 0-9).
The Owls (16-6, 6-3) also got a double-double from Nate Pierre-Louis as they led from wire to wire in the contest.
Temple started hot and led 9-0 early on, and the Owls held a lead for the entire game, keeping Tulane at least six points back the rest of the way.
The Owls built a 13-point lead on three occasions, twice in the second half.
The final four minutes did not see a single field goal by Temple, but the Owls made 12-of-14 free throws to hold off the Green Wave. Temple finished 21-for-26 at the line overall.
Temple took advantage of 15 Tulane turnovers, earning a 21-6 advantage in points off turnovers and committing just nine of them.
Alston's 14 free throws are the most by an Owl since Khalif Wyatt made 15 of them vs. Duquesne on Feb. 14, 2013. He also hit a trio of three-pointers and dished four assists.
Pierre-Louis added a team-best 11 rebounds to 15 points for his second double-double of the season and his career, and matched Alston for team-high honors with four assists.
Also reaching double figures, for the 21st time in 22 games, was Quinton Rose with 10 points.
Justyn Hamilton made his second straight start for the Owls and hit his first career three-pointer en route to a career-high seven points.
For Tulane, sophomore guard Caleb Daniels scored a team-high 21 points as part of his second career double-double. Daniels' 21-point effort marked the 17th time this season he finished in double-figures and the sixth time this season he has scored 20 or more points. The New Orleans native also posted career highs in rebounds (11) and assists (six). In addition, Daniels had just one turnover.
rv/rv Cincinnati 73, SMU 68
SMU's Jahmal McMurray scored a team-high 21 points and made 5-of-10 shots from three-point range and had the Mustangs with the ball and a chance at a game-tying possession. Cincinnati's defense prevailed and Cane Broome then made two free throws for UC to seal a 73-68 victory for the Bearcats on Saturday night before a sellout crowd 12,256 at Fifth Third Arena.
The victory was the seventh straight for the Bearcats (19-3 overall, 8-1) and allowed them to pull back into a first-place tie with 13th-ranked Houston. SMU fell to 12-9 overall, 4-5 in the league.
Junior guard Jarron Cumberland had another strong game for the Bearcats with 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Keith Williams scored 13 points while Nysier Brooks added 10 and Broome scored 11, nine in the first half.
The Bearcats led by 12 at 40-28 with 3:21 left in the first half, but were unable to put away the Mustangs until the final minute, thanks to the same defensive deficiencies that have plagued them for most of the season.
The Bearcats led by only seven at intermission and found themselves in a tight game for most of the second half.
SMU pulled into a 60-60 tie with 6:17 left. The Mustangs trailed by only one at 64-63 before Cumberland made a three-pointer to make it 67-63 with 3:48 to play.
The Mustangs trailed by just two when Brooks made a layup with 42 seconds left after he had twice missed the front end of the one-and-one and then made only one of two free throws after a flagrant foul call against SMU.
Brooks' big bucket was the result of a called play. Cumberland freed him with a screen, Williams fed him with the pass, and Brooks made the shot.
But even the resulting four-point lead wasn't enough to put the Mustangs down for good. A basket by Jimmy Whitt Jr. trimmed UC's lead to two with 33 seconds left. A Cumberland turnover gave the Mustangs a chance to tie but Whitt's shot was no good.
Williams was fouled after he secured the rebound. He missed the first free throw but made the second, setting up a missed 3-pointer by McMurray in the end.
UC shot 48.1 percent for the game, but made only two of nine from three-point range after going eight for 17 in the first half. SMU shot 43.3 percent from the field and made 10 of 28 from behind the arc. The Bearcats out-rebounded SMU, 35-32. Neither team shot well from the free throw line. UC was 11-for-18, SMU six-for-11.
The most telling stat was UC's 20-1 advantage in bench points over the short-handed Mustangs.
UPCOMING GAMES