The American Athletic Conference was bound to be tough to predict this season, with several wild cards. Sunday was a reminder of that, especially on top of one of Saturday’s results, as the three games in the conference all defied what has been happening in at least some sense.
It was not what you would call a wild day, as there just were not enough games, but it was quite an interesting one.
Start with one of the first games of the day as UConn hosted a surging Cincinnati team. The Bearcats have had their stumbles this season, including star Jarron Cumberland, but he and the team have risen of late as they came in with five straight wins to get into a first-place tie with Houston, who they beat last week in the first of their two meetings. They managed to pull out a big win at Wichita State on Thursday after some travel difficulties as well, something they might not have been able to do earlier this year. With Mick Cronin gone to UCLA, they were a wild card – they had talent, especially with Cumberland’s return, but how they would adjust to the coaching change was the big question.
Cincinnati led by as many as 10 points in the first half, but UConn closed the half on a 16-2 run to take the lead. It was neck-and-neck in the second half, and despite each team having chances to win it, overtime was needed, where the Huskies finally pulled out a close one, a 72-71 win for their first consecutive wins since December. UConn had lost a number of nail-biters, so finally getting one is a boost, and doing so over a team in first place just adds to it.
Speaking of Wichita State and Houston, they battled in Houston on the afternoon, and it wasn’t pretty for the visiting team. The Shockers were among the preseason favorites with a significant portion of last season’s NIT semifinalist returning, especially given how unpredictable a lot of the conference was otherwise. They started conference play well enough with three straight wins, but have now lost three in a row after the Cougars annihilated them 76-43 to regain sole possession of first place in the conference.
The box score tells you all you need to know. The Cougars shot 50 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Shockers 44-30, and Wichita State shot just 26.4 percent from the field, including 2-24 from long range. The Shockers’ five conference losses have all come in the last seven games, including two at home to Houston and Cincinnati, which gives you some sense of where they rightly stand in the pecking order among those three teams.
The other game on the day saw Tulsa, at one time a hot team with six straight wins and a surprise team in first place, go to UCF and lose 83-75. Now the Golden Hurricane have lost two in a row to fall back into third place, although they’re tied with Cincinnati in the loss column. UCF has had a tough season, but knocking off a contender like that is satisfying.
Add those to Memphis losing at home to a South Florida team that lost five straight not so long ago, including one at home to those same Tigers, and it was quite a couple of days in the American Athletic Conference, to say the least.
Side Dishes
The surprises on the day didn’t end in the American Athletic Conference. In the Big East, Marquette handled Butler 76-57 thanks to an 11-24 afternoon from long range. Best of all for thems, Markus Howard was not a big part of that, as he was 3-9 from deep en route to a team-high 17 points. That means the other Golden Eagles were a scorching 8-15 from deep, and with that Butler is now 3-5 after roaring out to a 15-1 start to the season. The bottom line result isn’t as surprising as the game not being much of a contest, as the Golden Eagles are a good team.
Wisconsin won a battle of two teams badly needing a win, knocking off visiting Ohio State 70-57. The Badgers had lost three out of four, while the Buckeyes had won three straight but need to keep the momentum going after they lost six of seven before that streak. Also in the Big Ten, Northwestern got off to a fast start against Rutgers and led by as many as 18, but the Scarlet Knights rallied to leave town with a 77-73 overtime win, avoiding a bad loss.
Other results of note: UNC Greensboro ran away from Samford 95-67 to stay a game back of East Tennessee State and Furman in the Southern Conference; Princeton held off Columbia 81-74 to go to 5-1 in Ivy League play, while Penn moved to 4-2 with a 79-73 win at Cornell; two teams that won on Sunday are tied atop the MAAC at 8-5, as St. Peter’s used a big second half to win 81-69 at Monmouth and Rider handled Niagara 73-58; Loyola-Chicago continues to chase the top two in the Missouri Valley as they held off Valparaiso 70-68; and Washington State got 34 points and 10 rebounds from C.J. Elleby and out-rebounded Washington 44-33 to knock off the Huskies 79-67 on the day they honored former head coach George Raveling.
Tonight’s Menu
A relatively light night of action gets started early and has a few heavy-hitting matchups.
- The first game of the night is in the Big South, where USC Upstate hosts Charleston Southern (6 p.m.) Later on in the conference is a big one as Winthrop hosts Radford, while High Point visits Gardner Webb, Longwood hosts Campbell and Hampton hosts UNC Asheville (7 p.m.)
- An ACC showdown comes up early on as Duke hosts Florida State (7 p.m.)
- The Patriot League has first place on the line as Boston University hosts Colgate (7 p.m.)
- A busy night of MEAC action is highlighted by Morgan State hosting NC Central, while Bethune-Cookman hosts Howard, Coppin State hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore and South Carolina State hosts Delaware State, all with a 7:30 p.m. tip, then Florida A&M hosts North Carolina A&T at 8 p.m.
- The SWAC gets going later on, with Alcorn State at Grambling, Alabama A&M at Mississippi Valley State and Alabama State at Arkansas-Pine Bluff all tipping at 8:30 p.m. before Jackson State hosts Southern at 9 p.m.
- The Big 12 takes over later on as Texas hosts Baylor and Texas Tech hosts TCU (9 p.m.)
- Further west is a Big Sky matchup as Portland State travels to Northern Colorado (9 p.m.)
