» Houston wins first AAC title, seeded No. 2.
FORT WORTH — Cutting down the nets is becoming a yearly tradition for the University of Houston.
Quentin Grimes had 21 points and Marcus Sasser added 16 as the second-seeded Cougars claimed the American Athletic Conference tournament title Sunday with a 9154 victory over fifth-seeded Cincinnati at Dickies Arena.
The Cougars (24-3) were seeded No. 2 in the Midwest Regional, their highest seed since 1984 when Hakeem Olajuwon and Phi Slama Jama lost to Patrick Ewing and Georgetown in the national championship game.
With a spot in the NCAA Tournament field long ago secured, the Cougars had one final item to cross off the list before heading into March Madness: win the conference tournament for the first time since 2010 as a member of Conference USA.
UH won AAC regular-season titles in 2019 and 2020.
The third time was the charm as the Cougars finally broke through against Cincinnati, which had won a league-record eight consecutive tournament games. The Bearcats won back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019 - both times over UH - before last year’s event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Needing the final seconds to advance past Memphis in Saturday’s semifinals, the Cougars got a breather in the championship game, punishing the Bearcats from the outside to build a 29point lead.
Grimes had 18 of his 21 points in the second half on 7-of-9 shooting, including four 3-pointers. He showed his versatility with a fastbreak dunk, a laser pass inside to Fabian White Jr. for a two-handed dunk and stepped in front of a pass for a steal and drained a 3pointer a few seconds later.
Grimes had 15, 21 and 21 points in three games to earn most outstanding player of the tournament.
Sasser had a pair of 3-pointers during a decisive stretch as the Cougars took a 41-27 lead at halftime. Cincinnati went five minutes without a field goal and missed 14 of 15 shots overall.
After the Bearcats (12-11) got within 12 points to begin the second half, UH went n a 12-0 run, highlighted by a dunk and 3-pointer by Grimes on back-to-back possessions.
Grimes and Sasser, the Cougars’ top scorers in the regular season, combined for 37 points on 14-of-23 shooting and seven 3pointers.
One of the most encouraging signs of the weekend for the Cougars was the performance of Sasser, a sophomore guard who struggled to end the regular season. Sasser, the Cougars’ second-leading scorer during the regular season, averaged 15 points and shot 43.8 percent in the tournament.
Jeremiah Davenport had 11 points for Cincinnati, which upset regular season champion Wichita State in the semifinals and was trying to steal a bid to extend its streak of nine straight NCAA appearances. Keith Williams, an ALLAAC second-team selection, had 11 points after missing the second half Saturday with an undisclosed injury.