American Athletic Conference Tournament Recaps

Mar 14, 2014 - 6:15 AM Memphis, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Jherrod Stiggers netted 19 points and the Houston Cougars upset 25th-ranked SMU, 68-64, in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday.

L.J. Rose and TaShawn Thomas donated 16 and 14 points, respectively, in the triumph, with Thomas also contributing nine rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots. Danuel House scored 11 in Houston's (17-15) fifth win in its last six games.

"Really proud of our guys, big win for us," said Houston head coach James Dickey. "J-Rod (Stiggers) kept us in the game in the first half and hit some big shots and when you have four guys in double figures that always helps."

The Cougars will take on Louisville in the semis.

Cannen Cunningham had 14 points in a reserve role for SMU (23-9), which has lost three in a row for the first time all season. Markus Kennedy finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Nick Russell added 10 points. Nic Moore shot 0-for-9 from the floor but handed out a game-high eight assists in the setback.

"We got outplayed," admitted SMU head coach Larry Brown. "You gotta give them credit ... I just thought they punched us in the mouth and we just didn't respond very well."

A pair of turnovers on Houston's first two possessions led to two easy SMU buckets and an early 4-0 edge. The spread reached 7-0 on a Sterling Brown corner triple and Houston took a timeout at 17:37 to regroup.

Stiggers injected some life into Houston's offense out of the break, hitting three 3-pointers to pull the Cougars within 14-13 midway through the opening period. Rose's triple at 8:12 gave Houston its first lead.

Russell netted eight points during a 12-4 SMU flurry to close the half and the Mustangs carried a 38-29 margin into the locker rooms.

Brown's layup just over two minutes into the second made it 42-32 before Thomas sparked a 16-4 Houston push. Thomas scored seven during the surge, while House and Stiggers hit consecutive 3-balls on the back end for a 51-46 Cougars edge at 12:29.

The lead held the rest of the way, with Houston sinking a number of timely baskets down the stretch. Thomas' layup with 1:23 remaining was the big one, as it gave the underdog Cougars a 64-59 advantage.

It was a three-point lead after two Moore free throws. House missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Thomas swatted Kennedy at the rim with 17 seconds left. House then sealed it with two from the stripe.

Game Notes

The Mustangs, who led the conference in field goal percentage (49 percent) during the regular season, shot just 40 percent in the loss ... Moore shot 8- of-10 from the free throw line.

Final Score: (5) Louisville 92, Rutgers 31

Memphis, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Jones supplied 18 points and six steals as fifth-ranked Louisville embarrassed Rutgers, 92-31, to reach the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.

Russ Smith netted 16 points with five assists, Terry Rozier had 14 points off the bench while Luke Hancock and Montrezl Harrel scored 13 apiece. Louisville (27-5) forced 26 turnovers which led to 44 points in the romp.

The Cardinals will take on Houston, which was a surprise winner over No. 25 SMU earlier, in the semis.

Myles Mack scored eight points and Kadeem Jack had seven with six rebounds for Rutgers (12-21), which led 7-6 early on before Louisville closed out the first half on a 52-9 run.

The Scarlet Knights edged South Florida, 72-68, in the opening round on Wednesday.

Mack's triple at 16:47 boosted Rutgers to a 7-6 lead before Louisville began a stretch that blew the game open.

Rozier scored five straight and Jones added a trey during the Cardinals' 13-0 flurry, which Smith capped with a jumper for a 26-10 margin.

A pair of Jack jumpers were the only points Rutgers mustered over the final 7:34 of the stanza, while Louisville got whatever it wanted offensively. Rozier's three-point play 1:24 before halftime put the finishing touches on a dominant first 20 minutes with the Cards on top, 58-16.

The Scarlet Knights scored six straight to open the second half, but Hancock's 3-ball four minutes in re-ignited the Louisville attack.

The final spread was the largest margin of victory between conference opponents this season.

Game Notes

Louisville has won 10 of its last 11 games ... The Cardinals outscored Rutgers 194-85 in the last two meetings ... Louisville improved to 21-3 in the month of March since 2012 ... Louisville outscored Rutgers 38-12 in the paint and 30-4 in transition ... Jack turned it over seven times ... Rutgers shot just 12-of-50 (24 percent) from the floor.

Final Score: (13) Cincinnati 61, UCF 58

Memphis, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Sean Kilpatrick scored 21 points with nine rebounds as No. 13 Cincinnati held off upset-minded Central Florida, 61-58, in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.

Justin Jackson netted 12 of his 14 points in the first half to go along with eight rebounds and four blocks for the Bearcats (27-5), who will play UConn in the semifinals.

Isaiah Sykes paced the Knights (13-18) with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Kasey Wilson and Calvin Newell scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, in defeat. Central Florida reached the quarters with a 94-90 double-overtime win over Temple on Wednesday.

Cincinnati won both regular season meetings against the Knights by an average of 23 points.

The Knights trailed by the halftime margin of three when Cincinnati scored seven straight to take a 45-35 lead just before the midway point of the second half.

UCF answered with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to two, and the Knights tied it at 53-apiece after a Sykes three-point play with just under three minutes to play.

Staphon Blair fouled Jackson inside the paint and Blair was then called for goaltending after he swatted the ball as it was on its way down to the rim. Jackson missed the ensuing free throw and the Bearcats grabbed a two-point lead with 1 1/2 remaining in the game.

Titus Rubles committed a flagrant foul after clobbering Justin McBride, but McBride missed both free throws and Wilson missed a 3 to conclude the possession.

Kevin Johnson followed with trey with 36 ticks on the clock and make it a five-point game as the Bearcats held on.

"Kevin Johnson made a big shot for us, obviously, in the game and we were able to get enough stops to win," said Bearcats coach Mick Cronin. "But other than that, I don't know how much we did well or how much we have to be proud of."

The Knights jumped out of the gate to a 10-4 lead until the Bearcats settled in. Kilpatrick scored eight straight points for Cincinnati during a 22-4 surge that followed the initial Central Florida run.

Kilpatrick scored 10 points total during the burst and Jackson, who added eight during the run, capped it with a jumper to give the Bearcats a 26-14 lead with over seven minutes to play in the first half.

Cincinnati would go cold from that point, with Jackson converting a dunk and Kilpatrick making a pair of free throws as the Knights closed to within three, 30-27, at the break.

"(We) had a great opportunity down the stretch," said UCF coach Donnie Jones. "Cincinnati is a great team, Mick has done a terrific job with them."

Game Notes

Cincinnati shot 22-for-48 from the field and held UCF to 20-of-53 shooting ... The Bearcats had a 33-31 edge on the boards ... UCF shot 4-for-18 from beyond the arc ... Cincinnati had a 12-2 advantage on the fastbreak.

Final Score: (21) Connecticut 72, (19) Memphis 53

Memphis, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Niels Giffey scored a career-high 24 points on 6-of-8 shooting from 3-point range to lead 21st-ranked Connecticut to a 72-53 win over No. 19 Memphis in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.

DeAndre Daniels tallied 13 points, while Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright each netted 11 for the Huskies (25-7), who will face Cincinnati in the semifinals on Friday.

"We really came in with a good mind-set," said Giffey. "Like coach (Kevin Ollie) said, we had to stick to certain points that we were emphasizing."

UConn swept the regular season series against Memphis before taking care of the Tigers again on their home floor on Thursday.

Joe Jackson and Chris Crawford were the only Tigers (23-9) in double figures with 10 points apiece in the setback.

Memphis was held to a paltry 14-of-53 shooting, including 5-for-18 from beyond the arc. The Tigers did have 37 attempts from the free throw line, but only converted 20 for a 54.1 percent success rate.

UConn, meanwhile, shot a blistering 27-of-51 from the field and 10-for-20 from 3-point range.

The Tigers led 4-3 in the early going, but that would be the last time they held an advantage. UConn led 8-7 when Amida Brimah converted a three-point play to jumpstart a 10-1 run and the rout was on.

A pair of David Pellom free throws cut the deficit to eight with 3 1/2 minutes to play in the first, but the Huskies ended the half on a 9-3 run to push the spread to 41-27 at the half.

Giffey knocked down a 3 before Boatright made a layup to make it a 20-point lead, 53-33, with under 16 minutes left in the second.

Lasan Kromah's layup at the midway point of the second gave the Huskies a game-high 25-point advantage as they cruised down the stretch.

Game Notes

UConn shot 7-for-12 from beyond the arc in the first half ... The Huskies had a 15-6 edge in assists ... UConn owned a 36-35 margin on the boards ... The Huskies outscored Memphis, 30-18, in the paint.