Davis, Knights roll past Pirates
A.J. Davis scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and UCF defeated East Carolina 59-39 on Sunday.
Davis turned in his fourth double-double of the season and Cesar DeJesus added three 3-pointers and 15 points for the Knights (10-4, 1-1 AAC), who have six straight wins over East Carolina.
B.J. Tyson scored 13 points with the Pirates (6-7, 0-2) shooting only 32 percent and just 2 of 14 from the 3-point line in totaling their fewest points of the season.
The Knights had a 12-1 run, with five points from Davis, on their way to a 27-18 halftime lead, the fewest points UCF has given up in a half this season.
East Carolina got the first bucket of the second half but UCF responded with a 16-0 run with six points from Djordjije Mumin and five from DeJesus for a 43-20 lead. The Knights stayed ahead by double figures.
Martins Igbanu and Sterling Taplin each scored 15 points as Tulsa pounded the boards and defeated Tulane 65-56.
The win is the first American Athletic Conference road victory for Tulsa (9-5, 2-0) since Feb. 21, 2016, and ended a streak of 10 road losses in conference play.
The Golden Hurricane pulled down 52 rebounds, 36 off the defensive glass, outrebounding Tulane 52-30. Control of the boards helped Tulsa outscore the Green Wave 30-20 in the paint and 10-1 on second-chance points.
Junior Etou scored 14 points and Curran Scott 11 for Tulsa. Igbanu pulled down nine rebounds as seven players grabbed at least four boards.
The Bearcats’ shooting touch was off after a long layoff. The defense was crisp as always, allowing them to have an easy time extending their streak.
Gary Clark had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season, and Jarron Cumberland scored 15 points, leading No. 21 Cincinnati to an 82-48 victory over Memphis on Sunday that prolonged the nation’s longest active home-court winning streak.
Playing their first game in 10 days, the Bearcats (12-2, 1-0 AAC) came out rusty but turned up the defense and were in control by halftime.
“We were excited to play basketball, and play it the right way,” said Jacob Evans III, who had 12 points and six assists.
Clark had an alley-oop dunk and a 3-pointer that started a 15-2 run late in the half, pushing Cincinnati’s lead to 20 points. The Tigers shot three air balls during the spurt as the Bearcats’ defense took control. Cumberland hit a jumper and a 3-pointer as the Bearcats padded the lead to 30 points early in the second half.
“We looked rusty on offense early with Gary and Kyle [Washington] missing some shots,” coach Mick Cronin said. “We passed the ball well the entire game. If you continue to pass it well, you’re going to get some open shots.”
The Bearcats were picked to win the AAC — a slight favorite over newcomer Wichita State — and played up to expectations defensively.
Memphis (9-5, 0-1) had its worst showing of the season on offense, finishing with its fewest points and a seasonlow 32 percent shooting from the field. The Tigers were only 4 of 22 from beyond the arc.
“We just weren’t ready,” Memphis coach Tubby Smith said.
“I thought we came ready, but we were intimidated early on, especially with our turnovers.”