PROVIDENCE, R.I. - It was another thrilling night of American Athletic Conference men's basketball action on Thursday as the top-four teams in the standings were all in action. No. 12/12 Houston claimed a share of the regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in the 2019 Air Force Reserve American Men's Basketball Championship with a Texas-showdown win over SMU, 90-79. No. 25/rv UCF upset No. 20/19 Cincinnati, 58-55, as the Knights downed ranked opponents twice in a season for the first time in program history. Temple earned a road victory at UConn, 78-71, behind a career-high 34 points for Shizz Alston, Jr., and clinched a bye into the quarterfinal round of next week's tournament.
Wednesday, March 6
No. 25/rv UCF 58, No. 20/19 Cincinnati 55
Five days after earning its first win over a ranked team this season - a 69-64 road victory at then-No. 8/6 Houston - the now No. 25 UCF men's basketball team returned home Thursday and defeated No. 20/19 Cincinnati 58-55 to earn two wins over ranked teams in the same season for the first time in program history.
The Knights improved to 23-6 on the season, the most regular season wins ever for a UCF squad.
And it all happened on senior night.
UCF senior center Tacko Fall was surprised by a visit from his mother, the first in nearly seven years.
Fall's mom Mariane Sene had never been to the United States to see her son play basketball. She had been able to watch clips of him on YouTube, but since he left their native country of Senegal, she had not seen him play the sport he's grown to love in person.
Fall opened Thursday night's game with a dunk and finished 10 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots to help lead UCF to victory.
He and his teammates fed into the energy in CFE Arena. It was the sixth-largest home crowd in program history at 9,141.
Senior BJ Taylor led the way for UCF with a game-high 22 points on a trio of three-pointers and had six rebounds in the victory.
His final board was the most crucial, as he held onto the rock following Cane Broom's missed three-pointer that secure the victory for the Knights.
The Knights held the Bearcats to 37.1 percent shooting and outrebounded Cincinnati 40-33 in the game.
UC was led by Tre Scott who had team highs with 20 points, nine rebounds and two 3-pointers on 9-of-15 shooting. Jarron Cumberland was held to 10 points on 5-of-18 field goal attempts.
Temple 78, UConn 71
Shizz Alston, Jr. scored a career-high 34 points to lead Temple to its 10th win away from home this season, a 78-71 decision at UConn (14-16, 5-12) that clinched a first-round bye for the Owls (22-8, 12-5) at next week's American Athletic Conference Championship.
Temple can now finish no lower than the No. 4 seed in the regular season AAC standings, and will play its first game in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament on Friday, March 15.
The Owls led for the entire first half after a 9-0 start, with three 10-point leads and a five-point, 35-30 halftime lead.
It was a different story in the second half with seven ties and six lead changes, and the Huskies at one point leading by as many as six.
After the final tie at 60-60 with 5:37 remaining, the Owls used an 8-2 run to take the lead for good.
The Huskies twice came within three points in the final 40 seconds, but Alston and De'Vondre Perry combined to go 8-of-8 at the free throw line to seal the victory.
Alston hit an impressive 12-of-14 field goals including 4-of-5 from long range, and made all six of his free throw attempts. He has now scored 30 or more points three times this season.
For the eighth time this year, Quinton Rose hit the 20-point mark, scoring exactly 20 points and leading the Owls with eight rebounds.
Nate Pierre-Louis scored 13 points and grabbed seven boards, while J.P. Moorman II dished a game-best five assists and tied his career high in leading all players with four steals.
Junior Christian Vital led the way for the Huskies, finishing with 26 points on 8-for-13 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. Sophomore big man Josh Carlton posted a new career-high as he scored 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while classmate Tyler Polley was the third Husky in double figures with 13.
No. 12/12 Houston 90, SMU 79
Houston rebounded from its second loss of the season to wrap up at least a share of the American Athletic Conference regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
Armoni Brooks had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Corey Davis Jr. added 17 points and No. 12 Houston beat SMU 90-79 on Thursday night.
With No. 25 UCF's 58-55 home victory over No. 20 Cincinnati, the Cougars (28-2, 15-2) clinched at least a share of its first regular-season championship since it shared the Southwest Conference crown in 1991-92.
Brooks made six 3-pointers, Davis had four and the Cougars shot 53-percent overall, going 12-of-29 from behind the arc. Breaon Brady added 16 points, Galen Robinson Jr. had 11, and Houston turned 15 SMU turnovers into 22 points.
The 28 regular-season tied the 1967-68 team, which included Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes, for most in school history.
Jahmal McMurray had 24 points, and Ethan Chargois added 21 points for SMU (13-16, 5-12). Isiaha Mike scored 15 points, and Feron Hunt had 10 for the Mustangs. They shot 52 percent in losing for the ninth time in 10 games.
Houston used a 21-6 run over an eight-minute span to open up a 27-16 lead. Brooks hit three consecutive 3-pointers to lead the run.
Houston led 46-37 at the half behind 12 points each from Brady and Brooks.
After SMU opened the second half with Jarrey Foster's 3-pointer to cut the lead to six, Houston responded with an 11-0 run to up the lead to 57-40 with 17 minutes remaining on seven straight points by Davis. SMU got no closer than nine the rest of the way.
The Mustangs were able to keep it close with hot shooting in the first half, hitting 68-percent from the floor, including 7-of-10 on 3-pointers. The Mustangs were 21-of-26 from the free throw line.
Houston's bench outscored the Mustangs' bench 37-1.
UPCOMING GAMES