#AmericanHoops Scoreboard
#23/23 Cincinnati 56, Temple 50
Houston 62, UConn 46
East Carolina 60, USF 49
UCF 85, Tulane 82
#23/23 Cincinnati 56, Temple 50
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Gary Clark scored 11 points, including two important free throws with 14.9 seconds left, and No. 23 Cincinnati overcame a poor shooting game to beat Temple 56-50 on Wednesday night.
Jacob Evans III also scored 11 points for the Bearcats (11-2), who shot 32.8 percent (19 for 58) from the field and 27.8 percent (5 for 18) from 3-point range.
Daniel Dingle scored 15 points to lead Temple (9-5). Alani Moore II and Shizz Alston Jr. added 10 points apiece from the Owls, who also struggled from the field.
The game was the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams. The Bearcats were picked to win the conference in the preseason while Temple, the defending regular-season champion, was chosen sixth.
Cincinnati averaged 102.7 points per game over a three-game winning streak, but the Bearcats didn't look like they would get to even 50 points the way they were playing early in the second half.
After shooting 35.5 percent in the opening half, Cincinnati missed its first six shots of the second half and Temple took its biggest lead, 33-29, on Dingle's three-point play with 16:24 left.
But Cincinnati recovered and used a 10-0 run midway through the half to go up 47-39 with 7:30 remaining on Tre Scott's dunk. Temple missed six shots, five of which were 3-point attempts, during the Bearcats spurt.
Temple pulled within 52-50 on Dingle's drive with 1:31 remaining. Troy Caupain appeared to make it 54-50 on a bank shot with 56.9 seconds left but officials determined that the shot didn't beat the shot clock after video review.
Evans then blocked Dingle's 3-point attempt that would have put the Owls ahead, but it remained a two-point game when Clark missed both free throws with 31.5 second left. But Dingle then committed Temple's 16th turnover by throwing the ball away and Clark all but sealed the win with two free throws to make it 54-50 with 14.9 seconds left.
Temple played without senior guard Josh Brown for the third straight game and ninth overall this season due to an Achilles' injury.
The Owls finished 16 for 60 (26.7 percent) from the field and 5 for 26 (19.2 percent) from 3-point range.
Houston 62, UConn 46
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Rob Gray scored 20 points and Houston held UConn to 12 first-half points in a 62-46 victory on Wednesday.
Danrad Knowles and Damyean Dotson each added 10 points for the Cougars (10-3), who never trailed in the American Athletic Conference opener for both schools. Houston dominated in the paint, outscoring UConn 26-12.
"I thought we were very organized and very prepared," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. "We were coming off a loss we didn't feel very good about, so I knew we were going to bounce back and play well."
Christian Vital led UConn (5-7) with 15 points, while Vance Jackson and Rodney Purvis each had 12. For the second time this season, the Huskies were held without a block as 7-foot center Amida Brimah played just 14 minutes due to foul trouble.
The Huskies were just 3-for-21 shooting from the field in the first half to go with nine turnovers and just one assist. UConn shot 33.3 percent overall and had just four turnovers in the second half, but trailed throughout by double digits.
"We had a bad shooting half and couldn't get out of our own way," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said.
The Cougars reeled off an 11-0 stretch to move ahead 16-5 as the Huskies failed to make a basket for over eight minutes. Houston closed out the half with a 15-1 run for a 36-12 lead. The Cougars made 14 of 26 shots and all six scorers shot at least 50 percent. Gray led the way with 10 points.
"I just thought a lack of effort was there and it was just a bad defensive effort," Ollie said.
East Carolina 60, USF 49
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Elijah Hughes had a career-high 19 points Wednesday night and East Carolina held South Florida to 17 first-half points on its way to a 60-49 win in the American Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
Hughes had 11 points before the break when East Carolina built a 34-17 lead. The Pirates (9-5) made 19 of 33 free throws in the second half and held on despite making 3 of 18 shots from the field in the same period. B.J. Tyson added 11 points.
Geno Thorpe led South Florida (6-6) with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting. The Bulls closed to 40-32 with 11:05 left in the game and didn't get closer despite four more times closing the deficit to eight.
East Carolina had its last field goal on Hughes' 3-pointer with 9:08 left and missed its final eight attempts from there.
South Florida made two of its final 15 field-goal attempts.
UCF 85, Tulane 72
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Matt Williams scored 21 points and made five 3-pointers for his 201st career 3 and UCF pulled away in the second half to beat Tulane 85-72 on Wednesday night in their American Athletic Conference opener.
A.J. Davis scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Tanksley Efianayi scored 14, and UCF made 25 of 45 field goals (55.6 percent) to Tulane's 24 of 62 (38.7 percent).
Trailing by a point at halftime, UCF rallied to lead 37-36 on Efianayi's free throw, then led 43-38 after a 6-0 run. Williams' 3-pointer sparked a 7-2 run capped by Davis' dunk for a 57-48 lead with 9:15 to go and the Knights led 80-69 after Williams' fifth 3 with 2:20 left.
Chad Brown scored 12 points for the Knights (10-3), who made 30 of 45 free throws (66.7 percent).
Kain Harris scored a career-high 25 points, Melvin Frazier had 13, and Malik Morgan added 12 for Tulane (3-10).