Knights top Bulls for win No. 20
It was harder than expected, but UCF got its 20th win Thursday night with a 59-56 road victory over USF. The Knights (20-10) held USF (7-21) scoreless in the final 2:48 to clinch the win.
TAMPA — Matt Williams had 20 points and set UCF's career and single-season records for made 3-pointers, B.J. Taylor scored 17, including four 3s, and the Knights beat South Florida 59-56 on Thursday night for their fifth straight win.
Williams hit three 3s to give him 104 this season and 252 in his career — one more than each of the previous program marks — and became the 18th UCF (20-10, 11-7 American Athletic Conference) player to crack the 1,000-point plateau (1,018). Tacko Fall blocked four shots to give him 77 this season to break John Friday's 30-year-old, single-season school record (74).
Michael Bibby, son of the 17-year NBA veteran Mike Bibby, hit a 3 to give USF (7-21, 1-16) a 5-4 lead and the Bulls led until back-to-back 3-pointers by Williams and Taylor put UCF up 57-56 with 1:30 to play. The teams combined to miss their next four shots before A.J. Davis hit two free throws to cap the scoring with five seconds left and Bibby missed a potential tying 3 at the buzzer.
Troy Holston led USF with 14 points.
Mustangs win
Semi Ojeleye scored 26 points with a perfect night from the field and No. 14 SMU clinched at least a share of the American Athletic Conference title with a 93-70 victory over Tulsa on Thursday night.
Ojeleye made all nine of his field goal attempts, including a couple of highlight dunks and three 3-pointers. Jarrey Foster added 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting with a couple of slams of his own.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Mustangs (26-4, 16-1), who can clinch the league title outright with a win when they finish the regular season at home Saturday against Memphis.
SMU has a one-game lead in the AAC standings over No. 18 Cincinnati (26-4, 15-2), which won its home finale 65-47 over Houston earlier Thursday night.
Sterling Brown had 19 points while Shake Milton had 15 points and 10 assists for SMU. Ben Moore added 12 points.
Corey Henderson had 17 points for Tulsa (14-15, 8-9) and Junior Etou had 13.
Bearcats shine
Gary Clark had 14 points and seven rebounds in Cincinnati's balanced attack, and the 18th-ranked Bearcats rolled to their 26th straight win at home, 65-47 over Houston on Thursday night.
Cincinnati (26-4, 15-2 AAC) bounced back from a weekend loss to UCF and wrapped up its fourth undefeated season at Fifth Third Arena, which opened in 1989.
Houston (20-9, 11-6) came in with the secondbest offense in the league but came away with its lowest point total of the season. Rob Gray led with 17 points.
Damyean Dotson made a 3-pointer in the closing minutes, giving him the Houston record of 29 consecutive games with a 3. He moved one ahead of Robert McKiver's mark from 2007-08.
The Bearcats took control by closing the first half with a 20-4 run for a 37-20 lead.