Wichita State center Shaquille Morris, center, is fouled by Connecticut guard Antwoine Anderson during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, in Wichita, Kan. (Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle via AP)
The top teams—Cincinnati, Wichita State and Houston—stayed hot while the likes of Tulsa and Temple nipped at their heels in the American Athletic Conference.
No. 5 Cincinnati took care of business at home, destroying UCF 77-40. Freshman guard Trevor Moore led the game in scoring with 14 points in 13 minutes off the bench. He shot 2-4 from deep. Kyle Washington contributed 13 points and three blocks. Freshman Ceasar DeJesus led the Knights in scoring with 12 points on 4-7 shooting. UCF turned the ball over 16 times and were outrebounded by 17.
The Bearcats then went on to destroy SMU 76-51 on Sunday. This time, Washington led the Bearcats with 17 points, eight rebounds and two blocks in 18 minutes played. Jahmal McMurray and Jimmy Whitt carried the Mustangs by scoring 38 of the team’s 51 points. The duo also played a ton of minutes, getting 38 and 40 minutes, respectively. This SMU team is seriously hurting without star player Shake Milton, losing three straight.
Houston crushed Tulane on Sunday by a score of 73-42. Senior Devin Davis led in scoring with 16 points on 6-9 shooting. Armoni Brooks had a double-double off of the bench with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Melvin Frazier led Tulane in scoring with 11 points. Cameron Reynolds was next, with nine points and 11 rebounds.
Wichita State dominated UConn 95-74 on Saturday night in Wichita. Shocker’s star Landry Shamet had 16 points and four assists in just 23 minutes. He also shot 4-6 from deep. As a team, Wichita State shot a very efficient 14-28 from downtown. Shamet seems to be himself again, which is great news for the Shockers, who had struggled as a whole while Shamet was searching for his shot. Christian Vital and Jalen Adams each scored 22 for the Huskies. Vital shot and made 11 free throws and also grabbed six rebounds. The Shockers will play their next game on Thursday against a surprisingly hot Temple.
Temple won their fifth straight game with a win on the road over USF 73-55. The game was tied at half time, but then Temple came out of the locker room swinging in the second half. Quinton Rose had 20 points, six rebounds and four steals in 31 minutes for the Owls. Shizz Alston Jr. had 19 points, five rebounds and five assists while shooting 8-12 from the field. Isaiah Manderson was the bright spot for the Bulls with 18 points and eight rebounds on 9-12 shooting from the field. USF has lost 12 of their last 13 games but will have a chance to turn it around on Wednesday against in-state rival UCF.
Tulsa won a tight OT thriller at home on Wednesday night over Tulanesa 91-89. Sterling Taplin hit the game-winning shot with eight seconds left to lift the Golden Hurricane to victory. He had 17 points on the night. Junior Etou had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Tulane’s Samir Sehic led the game in scoring with 21 points on 8-11 shooting in 31 minutes before picking up his fifth foul.
Sean Janos is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at sean.janos@uconn.edu.
