PROVIDENCE, R.I - The American Athletic Conference continued its strong run in nonconference play as six more programs added pre-Christmas victories over the weekend. The American will take a short, four-day break before its final four games on Friday and Saturday prior to New Year's.

Saturday, December 22

rv/rv Cincinnati 77, South Carolina State 56	Box Score
Temple 82, Drexel 64	Box Score
Tulsa 69, Oral Roberts 59	Box Score
SMU 81, Cornell 53	Box Score
Memphis 99, Tennessee State 41	Box Score
UConn 58, rv/rv Villanova 81	Box Score
Wichita State 54, VCU 70	Box Score
Tulane 59, Alabama A&M 67	Box Score
Sunday, December 23
No. 21/20 Houston 75, Coppin State 44	Box Score

rv/rv Cincinnati 77, South Carolina State 56
The Bearcats got off to a slow start offensively, recovered to take a 35-16 halftime lead on their way to a 77-56 win over South Carolina State.

UC (11-2) saw the Bulldogs (2-13) shoot 48.1 percent from the field in the second half after they had made only five of 25 shots in the first half but still held South Carolina State from getting close.

Cumberland scored 12 points for UC, nine in the second half. Justin Jenifer added 11, and Trevor Moore scored 10 for the Bearcats. Janai Raynor Powell led South Carolina St. with 15.

UC shot 41.3 percent from the field and made nine of 30 shots from three-point range. The Bearcats out-rebounded the Bulldogs 46-28 with 16 offensive rebounds, and outscored them 21-2 in second-chance points while committing only seven turnovers, none in the second half.

Head coach Mick Cronin had a chance to find playing time for some of his players who don't normally get on the court that much. Moore responded with a season-high in points in nearly 23 minutes, his high for the season.

Freshman forward Mamoudou Diarra also received more playing time than he usually gets. He scored eight points with five rebounds in 12 minutes, which tied his season high.

Having completed the non-league portion of their schedule, the Bearcats will open defense of their American Athletic Conference championship on Jan. 2 at home against Tulane. They're poised on the cusp of the Top 25 with only two losses - to Ohio State at home and Mississippi State on the road.


Temple 82, Drexel 64
Senior Shizz Alston, Jr. and sophomore Nate Pierre-Louis scored 25 and 22 points, respectively, to lead Temple men's basketball to an 82-64 win over city rival Drexel (6-7) at the Palestra in the Owls' final game before starting conference play.

Junior Quinton Rose added 14 points for Temple (10-2), needing only three of those to reach the 1,000 point plateau for his career.

In his 13th and final season at Temple after 17 seasons at Penn, the game marked the final one at the Palestra for head coach Fran Dunphy, who received a standing ovation from the entire crowd for three minutes prior to tip-off.

Temple took the lead for good with 13 and a half minutes left in the first period, and closed the half on a 10-2 run for a 41-30 lead at the break.

The Owls forced 16 Drexel turnovers while committing just eight, finishing with a 27-2 lead in points off turnovers.

With another 41-point effort in the second half, Temple stayed comfortably in the lead and used a 9-2 run in the latter part of the period to really pull away from the Dragons.

Pierre-Louis' 22 points are a season high, and he hit 9-of-11 from the field. He came just one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with nine.

Senior Ernest Aflakpui notched his first double-double of the season with a game-high 11 rebounds to go with 10 points.

En route to his game-high 25 points, Alston hit 5-of-10 from long range. He also recorded a game-best three steals.

Rose became the 54th player in program history to score 1,000 points, doing so in just his junior season. He finished with 14 points in the game.


Tulsa 69, Oral Roberts 59
DaQuan Jeffries and Martins Igbanu each scored 16 points to lead Tulsa (10-3) to a 69-59 win over crosstown rival Oral Roberts (4-11) in the Mayor's Cup Saturday night in front of 4,102 fans at ORU's Mabee Center.

The 10th win of the season gave the Hurricane its most non-league wins since the 2009-10 campaign. Tulsa won its 5th straight overall and improved to 35-19 in the series against Oral Roberts.

It was three-point shooting that was a major factor in the game as ORU scored 36 of their 59 points from behind the arc. Although Tulsa made just 6-of-20 from three-point range for the game, two big three's in the final 2:04 sealed the victory for the Hurricane. It was an off-balance trey from Elijah Joiner and one from Jeffries that put Tulsa ahead by 13 points with under 2 minutes left.

Trailing by 5 at halftime, the Hurricane knotted the score at 33 with 1:58 gone off the clock, but another three-pointer put the Golden Eagles back ahead. The home team increased that lead to its largest lead of 8 points at 41-33 and again at 43-35, before Tulsa cut its deficit to 45-44 at the 8:44 mark on two Jeffries free throws.

Tulsa took back the lead 46-45 on an Igbanu put-back with 7:58 left on the game clock. ORU retook the lead 50-49 before Jeffries knocked down his second three-pointer to put the Hurricane ahead for good at 52-50.

Igbanu scored 5 straight points on a free throw and two close-in baskets to increase Tulsa's lead to 57-50 at the 2:47 mark. After that, Joiner hit his off-balance three-pointer as time was expiring on the shot clock to put Tulsa ahead 60-50 at 2:04, and the next time down the court it was Jeffries' trey that gave Tulsa its largest lead at 13 points.

But, ORU's three-point shooting kept the Golden Eagles in the game, cutting the Hurricane lead to just 8 points at 64-56 with 0:40 left on the clock, and again to 6 points at 65-59 with 0:37 remaining. Two free throws each by Sterling Taplin and Curran Scott put Tulsa back ahead by double digits for the final 10-point margin.


SMU 81, Cornell 53
Jimmy Whitt Jr. had a career-high 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting on Saturday, and SMU built a 34-point lead before the 15-minute mark of the second half and cruised to an 81-53 win over Cornell.

Whitt was 10 of 11 from the field in the first half and scored all of his 22 points before the break, the first Mustangs player to score 22 in a first half since Dec. 30, 2005.

SMU (8-4) closed the first half on a 15-2 run and opened the second half with a 12-1 run to extend the lead to 56-22. Cornell (5-7) outscored the Mustangs 28-12 over the next 10:31, but the Big Red got no closer and SMU ended the game with three straight 3s.

Jahmal McMurray added 14 points, and Feron Hunt and Jarrey Foster scored 12 each for the Mustangs, who have won six of their last seven.

Matt Morgan scored 23, Jake Kuhn added 11 and Josh Warren 10 for the Big Red.


Memphis 99, Tennessee State 41
Memphis built a huge, early first-half lead and never looked back as it completed its pre-holiday schedule with a lopsided victory Saturday at FedExForum over Tennessee State.

The UofM shot 60 percent, outrebounded TSU by 19 and placed six in double figures in the 99-41 victory before 15,378. It was Memphis' largest margin of victory since a 104-60 win over Centenary eight years ago.

Senior guard Jeremiah Martin had 14 points to lead the UofM, Isaiah Maurice added 13 and Kyvon Davenport had 12 (along with 12 rebounds). Mike Parks and Antwann Jones scored 11 each and Kareem Brewton had 10.

Memphis (7-5) had a 30-point lead at the half and stretched it to 61 in the second half, before winning by 58.

Defensively, the UofM limited Tennessee State (3-8) to 10 field goals and 16 percent shooting in a dominating show. Memphis also blocked seven TSU shots.

The UofM also benefited from another solid effort from its bench. The reserves scored 48 points, led by Maurice. Brewton added four assists and a steal to his 10 points.

For the UofM, the outcome was never in doubt following a strong start. Holding TSU scoreless for nearly the first eight minutes of the game, Memphis built a 16-0 lead before allowing a field goal.

The UofM maintained its double-digit lead throughout the first half and extended it to 30 points (47-17) at the halftime buzzer as Martin dropped in a long 3-pointer.

Memphis shot 61.5 percent in the opening half - its best shooting half of the season - and made four of its seven 3-pointers. Maurice had matched his career-high of 11 points at the half. Martin scored 10.

TSU was limited to 14.7 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes, missing 29 of 34 attempts.

Memphis takes several days off for the holidays and resumes play Saturday at noon against Florida A&M.


Tiger junior forward Isaiah Maurice scored 11 points in the first half to tie his career high and set a career-high with two more second-half points.

Memphis continued a recent trend of solid shooting. The Tigers shot 50 percent or better for the fourth time in five games. The 60 percent effort against TSU was a season-best.

Reserve walk-on guard Evin Olds, a sophomore, scored the first field goal of his career late in the second half. Olds connected on a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:32 left. He added two free throws a minute later to finish with a career-high 5 points.
Forward Kyvon Davenport recorded his third-straight double-double. He finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth of the season and 13th of his career.


UConn 58, rv/rv Villanova 81
Despite 18 points from Christian Vital, the UConn men's basketball team struggled to find offense in the second half, dropping its final nonconference game to Villanova, 81-58, Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. UConn and Villanova both moved to 9-4 on the year.

The Huskies and Wildcats battled in a low-scoring first half, with the teams deadlocked at 30 at the break. Villanova jumped out to an 8-2 lead, but UConn fought back to level the score at 11-11.

The Huskies opened up a 26-22 lead following back-to-back triples by Gilbert and Tarin Smith, but Villanova outscored UConn 8-4 over the final four minutes to close out the half.

UConn took a 36-35 lead after sinking two free throws resulting from a Jay Wright technical foul, but the Wildcats responded with a 19-0 run over six minutes to open up 54-36 advantage.

Vital used a 10-0 run of his own to bring the Huskies within 16 points (66-50) with 6:22 remaining, but that was as close as UConn would get for the rest of the afternoon.

Two Huskies finished in double figures - Vital led the charge with 18 points, while Alterique Gilbert added 14 points of his own.

UConn blocked five shots to Villanova's two.


Wichita State 54, VCU 70
Early foul trouble and cold shooting start to the second-half doomed Wichita State in a 70-54 loss to VCU Saturday afternoon at the Siegel Center.

Markis McDuffie scored a team-high 16 points for WSU (7-5). Jamarius Burton and Samajae Haynes-Jones tacked on 12 and 10 points apiece.

Isaac Vann paced VCU (8-4) with 18 points to go with 15-each from De'Riante Jenkins and Marcus Evans.

Haynes-Jones and McDuffie each picked up two fouls within the first 10 minutes of the game. Freshman Erik Stevenson joined them at the 5:00-mark, forcing Gregg Marshall to dig deep into his bench.

McDuffie returned and scored on an alley-oop and a three-pointer to give the Shockers a 30-27 lead with 3:23 to play in the half.

Vann hit consecutive threes to put VCU in back in front at the 2:45-mark, and the Rams never trailed again.

WSU's 34-point first half was the best by a VCU opponent this year. Unfortunately, the Shockers still trailed by three points, thanks to 11 first-half turnovers.

VCU scored the first 16 points of the second half to build a commanding 53-34 lead.

WSU missed its first 11 shots out of the locker room. The Shockers' first points came with 12:10 to go on Burton's driving layup.

VCU shot 50% for the game to WSU's 36%. The Shockers were 6-of-26 from three. VCU was 5-of-25.

WSU won the rebounding battle, 38-32, with help from 17 offensive rebounds.

McDuffie reached double-figures for the 11th consecutive game -- tied for the eighth-longest streak of the Marshall Era.


Tulane 59, Alabama A&M 67
The Tulane men's basketball team led by four points at halftime but dropped its final non-conference game of the year to Alabama A&M, 67-59, in the 2018 Boardwalk Battle on Saturday afternoon at Boardwalk Hall.

Sophomore guard Caleb Daniels led the Green Wave (4-8) with 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals, while redshirt junior forward Samir Sehic registered his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 boards.

Redshirt freshman center Buay Koka contributed eight points on 4-for-4 shooting from the floor to go with four rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Brandon Miller paced Alabama A&M (1-11) with a game-high 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Walter Jones Jr., added 15 points, eight boards and four steals.

Tulane was outscored 26-20 in the paint and 16-7 off turnovers despite holding 17-6 scoring advantage off the bench.

Trailing 48-42 after a trey by the Bulldogs, Tulane raced out on a 13-0 run scoring run that began with consecutive baskets by Daniels and was highlighted by a pair of thunderous two-handed dunks by Koka to push the Olive and Blue back in front, 55-48 with 9:22 left.

Alabama A&M fought back however, ending the run with a 3-pointer that ignited an 11-0 run to give the Bulldogs the lead once again, 59-55, with just under four minutes remaining.

Those 11 consecutive points were the start of a 19-4 run by Alabama A&M who closed out the eight-point triumph for its first victory of the season.

Tulane used an 18-11 scoring advantage off turnovers in the opening 20 minutes to take a 35-31 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Green Wave shot 13-for-30 (.433) from the floor and 6-for-15 (.400) behind the 3-point line in the first half, while the Bulldogs made 37 percent of their shots and went 4-for-15 (.267) from outside.


No. 21/20 Houston 75, Coppin State 44 - Sunday
Senior guard Corey Davis had 16 points, senior forward Breaon Brady added 13 and No. 21 Houston beat winless Coppin State 75-44 on Sunday inside the Fertitta Center to improve to 12-0 and extend the nation's longest home winning streak to 25.

Davis was 4 of 9 from 3-point range, and Brady was 6 of 8 from the field. Armoni Brooks added 10 points and nine rebounds to help the Cougars remain one of five undefeated Division I teams.

Houston took over the longest home winning streak Saturday night when Montana beat South Dakota State to end the Jackrabbits' home streak at 26.

Cedric Council had nine points and 12 rebounds for Coppin State, at 0-14 one of two remaining winless teams. The Eagles shot 22 percent.

After Council hit a 3-pointer to cut Houston's lead to 20-13, the Cougars had a 15-5 spurt to open a 17-point lead. Brady had seven points in the run.

Houston led 37-22 at the half, and the Eagles got no closer than 14 in the second half.

The Eagles hung with Houston for the first 10 minutes, but Houston's size, quickness and athleticism were too much. Coppin State was 7 of 27 on 2-point field goals, and was outscored 36-8 in the paint.

The Cougars had one of their better shooting games from the field, but continued to struggle from 3-point range, hitting 7 of 25. The Cougars had a 53-39 rebounding edge.

UPCOMING GAMES

FRIDAY 12.28.18
	North Carolina A&T			ECU			7 p.m.	Greenville, N.C.	TV:ESPN3
SATURDAY 12.29.18
	Florida A&M			Memphis			1 p.m.	Memphis, Tenn.	TV:ESPN3
	Fairleigh Dickinson			USF			1 p.m.	Tampa, Fla.	TV:ESPN3
	NJIT			Houston			3 p.m.	Houston, Texas	TV:ESPN3