PROVIDENCE, R.I. - It was a nationally-ranked battle for first place in the American Athletic Conference standings on ESPN as No. 12/12 Houston won its 32
nd-straight home game with a 65-58 victory against No. 25/23 Cincinnati. The Cougars are tied for Nevada with the best record in the country at 23-1. Memphis held off UConn at home, 78-71, while USF followed suit and won in overtime on its home court against ECU, 72-68. UCF was victorious on the road, 71-65, at SMU.
Sunday, February 10
No. 12/12 Houston 65, No. 25/23 Cincinnati 58
Houston held Cincinnati scoreless over the final 6:11, staving off the Bearcats 65-58 on Sunday for a key American Athletic Conference win.
DeJon Jarreau scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and added eight rebounds and five assists. He scored 11 consecutive points in the second half, including six straight to give Houston a 63-58 lead with 3 1/2 minutes left.
Corey Davis Jr. also had 16 points. Davis and Jarreau each made free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal it for the Cougars (23-1, 10-1).
Houston entered Sunday ranking second nationally in field goal percentage defense, third in 3-point percentage defense and seventh in scoring defense.
Galen Robinson Jr. had 10 points for Houston, which won its eighth straight and extended its home winning streak to 32 games. Houston shot 49 percent from the field.
Jarron Cumberland scored 27 points on 9-of-25 shooting, and Cane Broome added 10 points for Cincinnati (20-4, 9-2), which had its eight-game winning streak snapped. The Bearcats shot 33 percent from the field, including 27 percent in the second half.
After taking a 58-57 lead on Cumberland's 3-pointer with 6:11 left, Cincinnati missed its last 11 field goals.
Houston led 34-33 at the half behind Davis' 11 points.
Cincinnati forced Houston into 13 turnovers, which led to nine points. Cincinnati committed four turnovers.
The Cougars were able to use their size to change shots and prevent the Bearcats from getting any easy looks. Brison Gresham had four blocks and the Cougars finished with nine as a team. Houston held a 42-36 advantage in rebounding. Houston held a 32-20 advantage in points in the paint.
Memphis 78, UConn 71
Kyvon Davenport scored a game-high 26 points and Memphis survived a strong second-half comeback try by UConn in a 78-71 American Athletic Conference victory Sunday at FedExForum.
Davenport had his first 20-point game for the Tigers since Jan. 3 when the UofM opened conference play with a victory at home over Wichita State. The victory allowed the Tigers to snap a three-game losing streak.
In addition to Davenport, the Tigers placed three others in double figures: Tyler Harris (12), Jeremiah Martin (12) and Raynere Thornton (11). Thornton finished with a team-high eight rebounds and Martin contributed a team-high six assists.
UConn was playing without its top player and leading scorer, Jalen Adams, out with a knee injury. Tyler Polley, averaging 7.4 points, led the Huskies with 20 points and Sidney Wilson added 16.
Memphis shot 48.2 percent, its best percentage since making 50 percent of its attempts against Wichita State.
While the Tigers (14-10, 6-5 The American) never trailed in the game, they had to battle to maintain the lead in the second half. The Huskies (13-11, 4-7 The American) crashed the boards with a vengeance in the second half, a development that nearly allowed them to erase a 16-point deficit.
UConn outrebounded the Tigers by 11 overall (37 to 26), but was particularly dominant in the second half, where they enjoyed a 24-8 advantage on the boards. Eric Cobb had nine of his 11 rebounds in the second half.
Ahead by seven at the half, the Tigers opened on a 9-0 run capped by a fastbreak dunk by Davenport and a layup by Mike Parks. Both baskets came via flashy assists from Jeremiah Martin. Martin's assist to Davenport came on a pass off the backboard and was followed by a quick flick to Parks on the next possession.
The fast start gave the Tigers a 46-30 lead, but UConn kept chipping away at the lead and eventually got it to single digits. A 3-pointer by Tyler Polley made it 56-48 midway through the half. The Tigers briefly regaining a double-digit lead before the Huskies' board crashing helped them make it a four-point game (72-68) with 1:14 to go.
Memphis, however, was able to finish strong, getting a put-back dunk from Raynere Thornton and going 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the final 30 seconds. Martin and Thornton each went 2-of-2 from the line.
Although the Tigers led by as many as 14 in the first half, they only led by seven (37-30) at the break.
UConn ended the half on a 9-2 run to trim the deficit to single digits. Memphis never trailed in the opening half after jumping to a 14-7 lead at the first media timeout. The Tigers stretched their lead to 35-21 with 4:04 to go in the half after two Davenport free throws.
In the first half, the Tigers shot 44.8 percent and outrebounded the Huskies, 20-13. Davenport had 16 points at the half to lead the Tigers.
UCF 71, SMU 65
Aubrey Dawkins scored a season-high 26 points, Collin Smith had a season-high 18 points with 10 rebounds, and the UCF men's basketball team earned its third road conference win of the season, defeating SMU 71-65 in Dallas Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Knights improved to 17-5 on the season and remain in third place in the American Athletic Conference Standings at 7-3. SMU moves to 12-11, 4-7.
It was just UCF's second win at SMU in the history of the series between the two teams. The Mustangs had previously held a 7-1 advantage in games played in Dallas. It's the Knights' second straight overall against SMU, having set a program record for points allowed in a 52-37 home victory last season.
On Sunday, the Knights got out to a fast start thanks to Aubrey Dawkins and Tacko Fall, who scored UCF's first 16 points of the game and gave the Black and Gold an early 16-8 advantage.
Dawkins knocked down two early three-pointers and had 14 of his 26 points in the first half, shooting 5-of-7 from the field.
Fall, meanwhile, converted two conventional three-point plays early on, making both of his free throw attempts. The big man scored all of his 10 points in the first half as the Knights led 36-28 at the break.
UCF extended its lead to 12 points multiple times early in the second half, as Smith helped lead the way. The 6-foot-11 forward scored six of the Knights' first eight points in the final 20 minutes and knocked down all four of his attempts from the stripe.
Smith added a game-high 10 rebounds for his fourth career double-double and third of the season. He also chipped in with a career-high five assists.
Jimmy Whitt Jr. scored a career-high 23 points for the Mustangs, whose losing streak stretched to four games. Isiaha Mike added 18 points and 10 rebounds. Ethan Chargois had 11 points.
UCF, which shot 52,0 percent from the floor as a team - the seventh time this season the Knights have been at 50.0 percent or better - benefited from the superior guard play of BJ Taylor.
Taylor, who leads UCF in scoring at 17.1 points per game, had one of his best outings of the season with just eight points. It marked just the second time this year he's failed to score in double figures, but it didn't matter.
Taylor had seven assists for the second straight game and recorded just two turnovers, while knocking down 2-of-4 attempts from beyond the arc.
As a team, the Knights also shot 43.8 percent from three-point range and 92.3 percent from the free throw line.
USF 72, ECU 68 (OT)
Mayan Kiir's big-time block before the buzzer sent things to overtime and USF took care of business at the free throw line down the stretch of a 72-68 victory over East Carolina on Sunday at the Yuengling Center.
USF (17-6, 7-4) secured its first five-game winning streak in league play since the 1991-92 season by sinking 16 free throws after David Collins registered the Bulls' final field goal with 6:09 left in regulation.
Collins finished with a game-high 21 points after making nine of 12 free throws, including three in overtime to help USF go 10-for-14 from the charity stripe in the final five minutes. The sophomore guard from Youngstown, Ohio added nine rebounds and five assists in his third straight 20-point outing.
Star forward Alexis Yetna missed his second straight game with an injury and Kiir played a huge role in his place. In addition to making the defensive play of the game, the sophomore from Bradenton, Fla., scored eight of his career-high 13 points after USF headed into halftime trailing, 39-28.
Laquincy Rideau made a pair of clutch free throws to tie the game at 62-62 with 12 seconds left in regulation. The redshirt junior guard finished with 12 points and four assists while the Bulls posted their second five-game winning streak of the season, a program first since 1990-91.
Justin Brown added 10 points while freshman forward Michael Durr pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds as USF dominated on the boards by a 46-22 margin.
ECU (9-14, 2-9) knocked down six of its first eight threes on the way to building a 39-28 halftime lead. The Pirates opened the game with a 17-7 advantage after making their first four shots from long range.
USF answered the bell right after the break and used a 14-2 run to take a 47-45 lead with 12:17 to play. ECU jumped back ahead by three before USF fired back with a 7-0 run and Brown's three spotted the Bulls a 54-50 advantage.
The Pirates took the lead back with 3:37 left in regulation and stayed ahead until Rideau's game-tying free throws with 12 seconds remaining. USF pulled ahead for the final time with 1:53 left in overtime on a pair of free throws by Kiir and the Bulls' defense limited ECU to a 2-for-8 shooting performance from the field in the final period.
UPCOMING GAMES
| WEDNESDAY 2.13.19 |
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Memphis |
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ECU |
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7 p.m. |
Greenville, N.C. |
Live Stats Live Video
TV:ESPN3 |
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SMU |
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Temple |
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7 p.m. |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
Live Stats Live Video
TV:ESPN3 |
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USF |
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UCF |
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7 p.m. |
Orlando, Fla. |
Live Stats Live Video
TV:ESPNEWS |
| THURSDAY 2.14.19 |
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Tulsa |
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Tulane |
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7 p.m. |
New Orleans, La. |
Live Stats Live Video
TV:ESPNU |
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Houston |
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UConn |
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7 p.m. |
Hartford, Conn. |
Live Stats Live Video
TV:ESPN |
| SATURDAY 2.16.19 |
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Memphis |
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UCF |
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6 p.m. |
Orlando, Fla. |
Live Stats Live Video
TV:ESPN2 |
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Temple |
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USF |
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6 p.m. |
Tampa, Fla. |
Live Stats Live Video
TV:ESPNU |
| SUNDAY 2.17.19 |
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Wichita State |
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Cincinnati |
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1 p.m. |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
Live Stats Live Video
TV:ESPN |
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Tulsa |
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ECU |
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2 p.m. |
Greenville, N.C. |
Live Stats Live Video
TV:ESPN3 |
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Houston |
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Tulane |
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2 p.m. |
New Orleans, La. |
Live Stats Live Video
TV:CBSSN |