PROVIDENCE, R.I - The American Athletic Conference got strong performances across the board on Saturday. SMU earned a road victory at Georgetown, 81-73, while Temple defeated Davidson in overtime, 77-75, in Atlantic City, N.J. UConn, USF and Wichita State protected its home court while Memphis and rv/rv Cincinnati were topped against nationally-ranked foes No. 3/4 Tennessee and No. 18/17 Mississippi State, respectively.
Saturday, December 15
Memphis 92, No. 3/4 Tennessee 102
Memphis shot 57.5 in the second half, got a career-high 31 points from Kyvon Davenport and committed only nine turnovers Saturday at FedExForum, but when the opponent is the No. 3 team in the nation more is required.
The nationally ranked Tennessee Volunteers, utilizing an advantage at the free throw line and on the boards, defeated the Tigers, 102-92, before 18,528, the second-largest crowd to see the UofM play at FedExForum.
Memphis (5-5) trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half, but battled back in the second half to trim the advantage to single digits on multiple occasions. It was an eight-point game (70-62) midway through the second half after Davenport drained a 3-pointer from the left corner.
But the Vols (8-1), who defeated top-ranked Gonzaga last weekend, recovered with a strong, closing eight minutes, a stretch in which they made 18 free throws. Tennessee made 39 of 46 free throw attempts, led by Jordan Bone, who was 11-of-12 from the line and Admiral Schofield, who was perfect in nine attempts. Tennessee outrebounded the Tigers, 42-34.
Behind Davenport - who scored 26 of his points in the final 20 minutes - the Tigers made a concerted run after the half. During one stretch, Davenport scored 18 consecutive points to keep the UofM within striking distance.
Besides Davenport, only one other Tiger - freshman guard Tyler Harris - finished in double figures. Harris was 3-of-12 shooting and had 10 points. Davenport had his third double-double of the season by grabbing 11 rebounds, eight on the offensive boards.
The Vols got 29 points from Schofield, 19 from Grant Williams - the reigning Southeastern Conference Player of the Year - and 17 from Bone.
In the first half, the Tigers struggled from the field shooting 27 percent. The UofM only committed five turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, but was unable to score inside against the taller Vols and was unable to knock down open shots.
The Tigers fell behind by 14 (19-5) early, but mounted a comeback trimming the Tennessee lead to six on several occasions, the last at 28-22 with 8:15 to go in the half on a pair of free throws by Alex Lomax.
Tennessee then proceeded to rebuild its advantage, going on a 15-3 run fueled by 3-pointers from Kyle Alexander, Jordan Bowden and Schofield for a 43-25 lead.
SMU 81, Georgetown 73
Jahmal McMurray scored 19 points, Isiaha Mike and Ethan Chargois had 17 apiece and SMU defeated Georgetown 81-73 on Saturday.
McMurray had four 3-pointers and Chargois three as the Mustangs (7-4) went 10 of 25 from distance while the Hoyas (7-3) were 4 of 18.
SMU went on a 15-2 run with Nat Dixon, who started it with two 3-pointers, scoring all 11 of his points for a 23-17 lead. The Mustangs never trailed after that.
McMurray converted all three free throws in the final minute for a 39-34 halftime lead and hit a 3 as the Mustangs scored the first five of the second half. The lead was 11 when the Hoyas reeled off 11 straight and it stayed close the rest of the way.
SMU made 5 of 6 from the foul line in the final minute while Georgetown, which shot 40 percent for the game, missed its last three shots and was 1 of 8 in the final six minutes.
Jessie Govan had 17 and James Akinjo 16 for Georgetown.
It was only the second meeting ever, the first coming in the second round of the 1984 NCAA Tournament in Pullman, Washington, when the Hoyas won 37-36 behind current coach Patrick Ewing's 10 points.
USF 76, Appalachian State 69
Standout efforts from Laquincy Rideau, Alexis Yetna and Xavier Castaneda helped the Bulls reach another important program milestone with a 76-69 victory over Appalachian State on Saturday at the Yuengling Center.
With its third straight win, USF improved to 7-2 for the first time since the 2013-14 season after holding the 14th-best scoring offense in the nation to 18 points below its season average. Appalachian State (4-6) shot 39 percent from the floor and made just five of 22 three-point attempts after defeating USF, 84-61, last December in Boone, N.C.
Sharp-shooting Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) went 8-for-10 from the field and led three Bulls in double figures with 18 points. The redshirt junior guard added five rebounds, three steals and three assists in arguably his best game yet as a Bull.
Yetna (Paris) continued his monster non-conference campaign with a career-high 18 rebounds and 13 points in his fourth double-double of the season. USF outrebounded Appalachian State, 48-30, and dominated by an 18-6 margin in offensive boards with Yetna pulling down seven.
Castaneda scored all of his career-high 12 points after the break and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line to help USF hold off the Mountaineers in the final 1:12. The freshman guard from Chicago also tied his career high with three rebounds and added two assists.
The 14-day break between games didn't prevent USF from getting off to a fast start as the Bulls headed into halftime with a 38-29 advantage.
The Bulls took control with a 19-2 run and T.J. Lang's wide open three-pointer off a sharp pass from Michael Durr (Atlanta) pumped the lead up to 31-16 with 7:21 to play in the opening period. Rideau was red-hot in the first 20 minutes, going 5-for-7 from the field on the way to 10 points.
The Mountaineers tied things up at 40-40 less than four minutes into the second half before USF responded with a 6-0 run that included four points from Yetna. Appalachian State cut a double-digit deficit down to 69-66 with 1:39 remaining but got no closer thanks to USF sinking seven free throws down the final stretch.
Temple 77, Davidson 75 (OT)
With a steal and a layup in the final seconds of overtime, Quinton Rose lifted Temple men's basketball to a 77-75 win over Davidson (8-2) in the Air Force Reserve Boardwalk Classic presented by Citi. The Owls (9-2) got impressive performances from a number of players, including the Player of the Game, Shizz Alston, Jr. with a double-double of 24 points and 11 assists.
Temple led for only a total of seven minutes in the 45 minute contest, but battled back from deficits on a couple of occasions and made the big plays when it counted most.
The Owls held Davidson without a point for almost five minutes in the latter part of the second half, using a 9-0 run capped by a pair of J.P. Moorman II dunks to take a four-point lead.
Moorman was later the hero at the end of regulation, making a three-pointer with 48 seconds left to tie the game.
Temple trailed by seven with 2:46 left in overtime before closing with an 11-2 run and not allowing another field goal by Davidson. De'Vondre Perry, Rose and Alston all made three-pointers in OT before Rose made his final fast break bucket for the win.
The Owls, who are now 20-7 in overtime games under head coach Fran Dunphy, made a season-high 12 three-pointers with five of those coming from Alston.
Defensively, Nate Pierre-Louis (team-high eight rebounds) was the story of the game, assigned to guard Davidson star Jon Axel Gudmundsson who previously averaged close to 20 points per game. Gudmundsson scored went 3-of-11 from the field and missed all five of his three-point attempts.
Alston's 11 assists are a career high, while his points-assists double-double is the third of his career. He turned the ball over just once in an impressive game from start to finish.
Rose finished with 18 points and four assists. Moorman scored a career-high 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting while also grabbing a season-high seven rebounds.
Wichita State 63, Southern Miss 60
Jaime Echenique's layup with 40.7 seconds remaining in the second-half lifted the Wichita State University men's basketball team to a 63-60 win over Southern Miss Saturday, Dec. 15, at INTRUST Bank Arena.
Wichita State (6-4) is scheduled to return to Charles Koch Arena to host Oral Roberts Wednesday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m.
After the Golden Eagles (7-3) took a 60-59 lead with exactly one minute to go in the second stanza, Ricky Torres found Echenique under the basket, who converted a layup in traffic to put WSU in front, 61-60. Morris Udeze and Markis McDuffie each hit one of two free-throws to increase the advantage to 63-60, and Southern Miss missed three free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining in regulation, sealing the victory for Wichita State.
Echenique tallied his second career double-double with a career-best 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Shockers. McDuffie added 17 points, while Samajae Haynes-Jones also reached double figures, netting 11 points, respectively.
After falling behind 2-0 in the opening minute of the game, Wichita State responded with seven consecutive points, jumping out to a 7-2 lead after a Torres layup, Echenique dunk and McDuffie three-pointer with 17:29 to go in the first-half.
The Golden Eagles answered, however, and gained an 11-10 advantage after a jumper from Cortez Edwards at the 11:40 mark of the stanza. The lead was short-lived though, as WSU edged back in front, 16-12, on an Echenique layup and Haynes-Jones trey with just over 9:30 remaining on the clock.
Wichita State would stretch its advantage to 33-25 going into halftime after ending the frame on a 7-4 run, capped-off by a McDuffie slam with just over a minute to go in the half.
Haynes-Jones led all scorers at the intermission with 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting, including a perfect 2-of-2 performance from beyond-the-arc.
Neither team could score a field-goal in the opening minutes of the second-half until Echenique converted back-to-back layups with 16:26 to go, increasing the WSU lead to 38-27 and sparking an 11-3 Shocker run that ballooned the advantage to 44-29 after a McDuffie three with 14:38 remaining.
Southern Miss answered in a big way, however, and went on a 20-5 run over an eight-minute span, cutting the Shocker lead to 57-56 with 2:22 remaining in the frame.
Cortez Edwards netted 15 points and seven rebounds, pacing the Golden Eagles.
Wichita State shot just 38 percent from the field (23-of-60) and 52 percent at the foul line (12-for-23) for the game, but dominated Southern Miss on the glass, outrebounding the Golden Eagles, 48-31, including a 15-4 advantage in offensive rebounds. In addition, the Shockers outscored Southern Miss in the paint, 34-14, and on second chance points, 19-3.
UConn 61, Manhattan 46
UConn used a strong second half performance to come away with a 61-46 win over the Manhattan Jaspers (2-8) Saturday night at Gampel Pavilion.
Junior Christian Vital led three Huskies (8-3) in double figures with 13 points, while also grabbing a team-high 8 rebounds. Sophomores Alterique Gilbert and Josh Carlton finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The UConn defense limited Manhattan to 35 percent shooting from the field.
Half number one was unattractive, to say the least - both teams combined for 20 turnovers, 19 fouls and 27 percent shooting from the floor. The Jaspers held a three-point lead (8-5) at the under-12 media timeout, but the Huskies responded with a run of their own to take regain a 15-11 advantage. Manhattan evened up the contest at 15, but UConn used a 10-0 run of its own, turned the defensive intensity up and held the visitors without a field goal for the final 5:42 of the first half to head into the break with a 25-15 lead.
The Huskies came out of the locker room more energetic and efficient, as they started second half 6-of-6 from the field to open up a 37-22 lead. Manhattan attempted to cut into the deficit, using an 8-2 run to draw within 12, 47-35. UConn responded with a quick 6-0 run of its own to push the lead back to 16 points and never looked back, coasting to a double-digit victory.
UConn beat Manhattan in the hustle stat column, ending the night with more points in the paint (34-22), points off turnovers (21-15), second chance points (8-5) and fast break points (21-9).
The Huskies swatted away a season high nine shots.
rv/rv Cincinnati 59, No. 18/17 Mississippi State 70
Quinndary Weatherspoon and Lamar Peters scored 14 points each, Reggie Perry and Tyson Carter both added 12, and No. 18 Mississippi State beat Cincinnati 70-59 on Saturday night.
Jarron Cumberland led Cincinnati with 21 points while Keith Williams added 15. The point total marked the fourth time in 11 games this year Cumberland has scored 20 or more points in a game.
Mississippi State (9-1) used a 7-0 run midway through the second half - holding the Bearcats scoreless for more than four minutes - to break a tie game and take a 52-45 lead.
The Bulldogs were able to keep a fairly comfortable advantage the rest of the way. Mississippi State shot 12 of 23 (52 percent) from 3-point range. Peters added nine assists.
Perry came off the bench to score 10 points in the first half, giving Mississippi State some much-needed offense after starting forward Abdul Ado picked up two quick fouls. The 6-foot-10 freshman was a McDonald's All-American and has quickly earned an increased role with his ability to score both inside and outside.
Mississippi State hit 7 of 12 3-pointers in the first half to take a 37-32 halftime lead.
Cincinnati (9-2) had its nine-game winning streak snapped. The Bearcats committed 13 turnovers that led to 16 Bulldog points.
UPCOMING GAMES