UAB, Florida Atlantic and SMU all picked up wins as American Athletic Conference men's basketball league play opened up on Tuesday, January 2.
No. 17 Florida Atlantic 79, East Carolina 64 - Box Score
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) Florida Atlantic saved its best for the end of its American Athletic Conference debut.
Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin each scored 20 points and No. 17 FAU used a 14-0 run in the closing minutes to finish off a 79-64 win over East Carolina on Tuesday night.
Bryan Greenlee scored 13 off the bench and Vladislav Goldin finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Owls (11-3, 1-0). The big run at the end turned a two-point edge into a 16-point lead.
“Nice to get back home and start conference play, begin a new chapter in the American Athletic Conference and start off the right way,” FAU coach Dusty May said. “I thought our guys stayed the course. It was a back-and-forth game.”
It was, until it wasn't. The late spurt turned a nailbiter into what looked like a runaway, even though East Carolina either led or was tied for half the game.
Brandon Johnson scored 15 for East Carolina (7-7, 0-1), while Quentin Diboundje added 13 before departing with a lower extremity injury with 5:31 remaining. RJ Felton had 12 for the Pirates, who missed their last eight shots.
East Carolina has now lost 75 of its last 78 games against ranked opponents - and is 0-57 in such games on the road.
“We were there. We put ourselves in position,” East Carolina coach Michael Schwartz said. “I thought for 35 minutes we executed what we tried to execute. And we saw all game what an elite team they are, but in the last five, six minutes ... they exploded like a volcano. They just erupted and you can see the speed and just how dynamic they are on offense.”
A 12-2 run turned a three-point deficit into a 52-45 lead for FAU with 12:15 left. East Carolina simply wouldn't go away, making it a one-possession game - down by three points or less - on six separate occasions in the next seven minutes.
But six straight FAU points, a mini-burst where Greenlee made a 3-pointer and then found Goldin for a 5-footer, gave the Owls what was then their biggest lead, 71-63 with 3:15 left. They kept pulling away from there.
“Over the course of the last couple years, we've proven we can find different ways to win,” May said.
UAB 78, UTSA 76 - Box Score
SAN ANTONIO -- Efrem Johnson scored a jumper with two seconds left to lift UAB to a 78-76 win over UTSA Tuesday night in both teams' American Athletic Conference debut in San Antonio.
Yaxel Lendeborg recorded 23 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks to lead the Blazers (9-5, 1-0 AAC). Jordan Ivy-Curry led the Roadrunners (6-8, 0-1) with 20 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Ivy-Curry made two free throws with 25 seconds remaining to set up the final play for UAB. After Johnson's jumper and a timeout, Eric Gaines stole the inbound pass to seal the win for the Blazers.
SMU 66, Charlotte 54 - Box Score
DALLAS – SMU used a 17-3 run in the first half to take a 19-13 lead and never looked back in a 66-54 victory over Charlotte in both teams' American Athletic Conference opener at Moody Coliseum on Tuesday.
After Charlotte built an early 10-2 lead, SMU dominated the rest of the way, holding the 49ers to 34.5% shooting for the game. The Mustangs also had a 45-31 rebound advantage with eight steals and seven blocked shots. SMU dominated in the paint, 40-20, and in bench points, 26-12.
Zhuric Phelps led the Mustangs with 13 points and a pair of steals. Samuell Williamson added 12 points and six rebounds. Tyreek Smith had a season-high 11 rebounds, nine points and two blocks. Lu'cye Patterson led Charlotte with 19 points.