PROVIDENCE, R.I. - There were two games on the American Athletic Conference men's basketball schedule on Thursday night as part of an ESPN2 doubleheader and in both games, the home team came away with the win. At Fifth Third Arena, rv/25 Cincinnati held off a game UCF team in a close contest, 60-55, as the Bearcats came-from-behind in the second half to get their 400
th win in their home venue. SMU also protected Moody Coliseum in its annual red-out game in a strong win over UConn, 77-59.
Thursday, February 21
rv/25 Cincinnati 60, UCF 55
Justin Jenifer, Cincinnati's 5-foot-10 senior point guard, scored seven of the Bearcats' last 12 points and assisted on three others to lead UC to a 60-55 come-from-behind victory over UCF on Thursday night before a sellout crowd of 12,377 fans at Fifth Third Arena.
The biggest shot of the game was Jenifer's three-pointer with 24 seconds left off a feed from Jarron Cumberland that gave UC a five-point lead.
UC (22-4, 11-2) has won 15-straight home games. The victory was 400th for the Bearcats at Fifth Third, which opened in 1989. UCF (19-6, 9-4) lost for the 11th time in 12 games all-time against UC.
Jenifer and Keith Williams each scored 12 points to lead UC. Cumberland, the conference's leading scorer with 19.3 points per game, was held to 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting. He scored only two points in the second half, but still made the pass that set up Jenifer's crucial three. He finished with seven rebounds six assists to go with four of UC's 14 turnovers.
Aubrey Dawkins scored 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting with four 3-pointers to lead the Knights. B.J. Taylor added 12 points with two triples and three assists.
UC trailed, 11-3, then scored 13-straight points to take the lead and went to intermission with a 26-18 lead. But that advantage was wiped out in three minutes and 17 seconds of the second half when the Knights scored the first 10 points to take a 28-26 lead.
The UCF run quickly ballooned into 18-2, which put the Knights up by eight. UCF led 46-40 with 7:56 left when Williams connected on a three-pointer from the corner to pull the Bearcats within three.
UC tied the game on a three-point play by Nysier Brooks with 5:23 to play and took the lead on Jenifer's layup over 7-foot-6 center Takco Fall. After UCF's Collin Smith missed a shot, Jenifer rebounded, dribbled down the floor, and passed to Trevon Scott, who converted a three-pointer from the wing to make it 53-48, UC, with 2:10 left.
Taylor then dropped in two free throws for UCF. The Knights had a chance to tie after Jenifer missed a three, but Taylor's three-point attempt was no good. When the ball went out of bounds in the struggle for the rebound, the officials first said it went off UC. But after viewing the replay, possession was awarded to UC.
Jenifer's clutch three-pointer gave the Bearcats a 56-50 lead with 24 seconds left, but that still wasn't enough to secure the win. Taylor made a layup to make it 58-55 with seven seconds left. Dawkins then fouled Williams, who converted both ends of the one-and-one with 6.3 seconds left to put the game away.
The win was the 24th straight conference victory at Fifth Third Arena for the Bearcats, who fed off the sellout crowd.
UCF committed 15 turnovers in the first half, one below its season high, but turned it over only two more times in the second. UC had 14 turnovers, but came back from a poor rebounding first half to win that battle, 28-24.
The Bearcats shot only 40.4 percent from the field, but made 7-of-14 from beyond the arc and out-scored UCF 16-14 in the paint despite Fall's intimidating presence.
SMU 77, UConn 59
Five times UConn has entered Moody Coliseum in the American Athletic Conference era. Five times SMU men's basketball has worn the red jerseys. And five times the Huskies have left without a win.
The red jerseys added the spark to snap SMU's five-game losing streak and give the Mustangs a 77-59 win on Thursday night behind a strong performance on both ends of the floor. SMU shot a season-high 57.1-percent (28-of-49) from the field, while holding UConn to 30-percent (21-of-70).
During the five-game losing streak, SMU never lost by more than eight points, falling on a last-second shot on three separate occasions.
SMU outscored UConn 40-20 in the paint.
Senior guard Jahmal McMurray led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting to go with four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Ethan Chargois and Isiaha Mike each knocked down a pair of threes Thursday. Mike has made at least one three in the last 11 games, including a six-game stretch from Jan. 19 through Feb. 10 where he made at least three in each contest.
The long-distance threat forced UConn to play heavy outside on defense, opening the lane for McMurray to drive the basket.
On the defensive end, SMU broke from its traditional man-to-man defense to play a zone that stifled the Huskies. Active hands and strong effort guided the Mustangs to their best defensive performance of the season in terms of opponent's field goal percentage (30.0).
Holding a 36-28 halftime lead, The Mustangs started the second period strong. Freshman forward Feron Hunt contested a shot on the defensive end and seconds later threw down a transition dunk. Later, Mike knocked down a lay-up and three-pointer on back-to-back possessions to cap off a 13-3 run and give SMU a 49-31 lead at the under-16 media timeout.
Hunt shone in the second half, and got the red-clad crowd on its feet with an emphatic dunk. Taking a ball reversal from senior guard Nat Dixon, Hunt blew past Eric Cobb, cocked back and delivered a two-handed slam to put SMU up 60-45.
The Huskies made a small run late in the second half, but appropriately McMurray hit a step-back three-pointer to give SMU a 68-56 lead at the final media timeout, effectively sealing the game.
UPCOMING GAMES