The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
AAC looks better this year, except for UConn
In midst of tough season, UConn could struggle during league play
The American Athletic Conference was going to be better this season and, for the most part, it has been.
With one notable exception, of course.
The league currently boasts a pair of Top 25 teams, and No. 8 Wichita State and No. 21 Cincinnati are about what we thought they’d be, though the Bearcats have slipped a bit from their preseason No. 12 ranking. SMU is SMU — small, position-less, ex- tremely well coached and invincible at home (31 straight wins at Moody Coliseum).
Houston is 10-2, with wins over Providence, Wake Forest and a 26-point lathering of Arkansas —the same Arkansas team that handed UConn its worst loss in 40 years.
Ah yes, UConn. The Huskies are nothing short of an abject disappointment. They’re 7-5 and coming off consecutive doubledigit road losses as they enter their league-opener on Saturday against
Wichita State. They’ve needed overtime to beat a pair of low-majors (Columbia, Monmouth) and struggled to put away winless Coppin State. Even their one decent win over Oregon (in Portland) isn’t so great, considering the Ducks are seemingly in a rebuilding season.
Once again, the most nationally visible program in the AAC isn’t helping the league’s profile. Overall, the conference is 19-24 against teams from the “Major 7,” if you will — ACC, Big 12, Big East, SEC, Big 10, Pac 12 and AAC. That .442 winning percentage is fourth among those seven leagues, ahead of the SEC, Big 10 and Pac 12.
Throw out UConn’s 1-5 record against those teams and the league’s record is a much more respectable 18-19 (.486). But we digress.
The AAC is one of four conferences in which all its teams are .500 or better. The league has eight teams in the RPI Top 100; a year ago, it had just five.
As it stands right now, the league looks like a three- or four-bid league ... maybe five. UConn is light years from earning one of those bids. The Huskies are likely going to have to win the AAC tournament in Orlando in March if they want to avoid missing the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years — and, perhaps, save Kevin Ollie’s job.
Anyway, while it may not be the “beautiful journey” that Jim Calhoun once described the Big East regular season, AAC play began Wednesday night (UCF at SMU) and continues with three more on Thursday before a busy slate this weekend. Here’s how the league looks as we near the end of non-conference play:
BEST TEAM: Wichita State hasn’t looked like the national championship contender some thought it would be, but the Shockers have still been pretty darn good. They’ve beat No. 18 Baylor and Oklahoma State, and their two losses were to No. 12 Oklahoma and a one-point loss to Notre Dame. And all this has been done without their top returning scorer and rebounder from a year ago, Markus McDuffie, who finally returned from a foot injury to play nine minutes in a tight win over FGCU on Friday.
Runner-up: We still think Cincinnati might have the league’s best starting five, but the Bearcats have yet to get consistent point guard play from Justin Jenifer and East Hartford’s Cane Broome. When and if they do, watch out.
WORST TEAM: After eight players bolted the program over the past year, not to mention its head coach being fired last season, USF has lived up (down?) to expectations. The Bulls are 6-6 and have losses to Appalachian State, Morgan State and FIU.
Runner-up: East Carolina is giving the Bulls a run for their money. The Pirates have lost to Central Connecticut State (!) and head coach Jeff Lebo has already resigned. Will there be any other coaching changes this season in the AAC?
BIGGEST SURPRISE TEAM: Houston has wins over Wake Forest and Providence (at Mohegan Sun, a virtual Friar home game), along with a 26-point shellacking of an Arkansas team that beat UConn by 35 a week earlier. Rob Gray, Jr. leads the league in scoring, Devin Davis is finally healthy and no one ever said Kelvin Sampson couldn’t coach.
Runner-up: You figured Tulane would improve in their second year under Mike Dunleavy Sr., and while they haven’t really played anyone, they began the season 6-0 and currently sit at 9-3.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: UConn. Again. Though at least the expectations weren’t that high this time around — the Huskies were picked to finish fifth in the league in the preseason coaches’ poll. Even that may be a bit too lofty. If Kevin Ollie wasn’t on the hot seat at the start of the season, he certainly is now.
Runner-up: Temple has talent, has Josh Brown back healthy and has an excellent coach in Fran Dunphy. But the Owls also have losses to La Salle and George Washington, and didn’t really show up in a 14-point home loss to No. 1 Villanova.
BEST PLAYER: It was a bit of a surprise when SMU’s Shake Milton got preseason Player of the Year honors over Wichita State’s Landry Shamet, but that may have had to do with league coaches not being familiar with Shamet and the Shockers. To this point, Milton has largely lived up to that billing. He leads the league in assists (4.8 per game) and is fifth in scoring (17.2)
Runner-up: Shamet is right there with Milton, averaging 16.5 points and 4.5 assists while hitting 50 percent of his 3-pointers (28-for-56) and leading the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.4).
BEST NEWCOMER: SMU’s Ethan Chargois is threatening to run away with the league’s Rookie of the Year award. He’s tops among the league’s freshmen in scoring (13.2), rebounding (5.6), field goal percentage (55.0), 3-point shooting (48.1) and blocked shots (0.9). In fact, the 6-foot-9 forward is the only frosh among the league’s statistical leaders in any category.
Runner-up: Chargois’s teammate,
Jimmy Whitt, is a redshirt sophomore who sat out last season after transferring from Arkansas. He gives the Mustangs a true point guard while also averaging 11 points and 5.2 rebounds.
BEST NEW FACE/DIFFERENT PLACE: A year ago, Jahmal McMurray was chucking up 3s and averaging 20 points per game for USF. Now, he’s with SMU, after leaving the Bulls program last December and enrolling (but never playing) at a junior college. He’s scored 29 points and hit seven 3s in his first two games as a Mustang.
Runner-up: In better times for UConn, Terrence Samuel was a productive point guard off the bench in the Huskies’ run to the 2014 national title. He since transferred to Penn State, and is now playing as a grad transfer at USF. Samuel’s been a nice veteran presence and is among the league leaders in assists (4.2), free throw percentage ! (88.6) and steals (1.4). He returns to Gampel on Feb. 7 when the Huskies host the Bulls.
PREDICTED FINISH:
1. Wichita State: A healthy Markus McDuffie should put Shockers over the top.
2. Cincinnati: Kyle Washington has gotten off to a relatively slow start.
3. SMU: At least UConn will be spared its annual beating at Moody Coliseum this season.
4. Houston: Regular season finale vs. UConn didn’t even merit being moved to Toyota Center.
5. UCF: Injuries to B.J. Taylor, Aubrey Dawkins have been killers, but Taylor should return.
6. Temple: Josh Brown is back and healthy again.
7. UConn: Could Kevin Ollie be fired midseason? Highly doubtful, but worth watching.
8. Tulsa: Junior Etou is third in the league in scoring.
9. Memphis: Tubby has Tigers playing better than most expected.
10. Tulane: Cameron Reynolds is one of league’s best players.
11. ECU: A loss to Central Connecticut State (sans Donyell!) hastened Jeff Lebo’s departure.
12. USF: It’ll be fun seeing Terrence Samuel back in Storrs on Feb. 7.
FIRST TEAM
Rob Gray, Houston: League’s leading scorer never met a shot he didn’t like.
Shake Milton, SMU: Early favorite for Player of the Year.
Landry Shamet, Wichita State: Figures to be Milton’s prime challenger.
Gary Clark, Cincinnati: Second in league in rebounding, first in toughness.
Tacko Fall, UCF: 7-foot-6 monster leads league in blocks, field goal percentage.
SECOND TEAM
Jalen Adams, UConn: Leads league in minutes played … by a lot.
Junior Etou, Tulsa: Ex-Rutgers forward third in league in scoring.
Quinton Rose, Temple: Averaging 17 points per game.
Jacob Evans, Cincinnati: Bearcats’ top scorer.
Shaq Morris, Wichita State: After a year’s respite, league has another Shaq in the fold.