The American Today 2020-21 Standings Preseason
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American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Report Tuesday, November 24, 2020 Contact: Tom Fenstermaker, Director of Communications ([email protected]) 545 E. John Carpenter Freeway, Third Floor • Irving, Texas, 75062 • 336.259.1708 TheAmerican.org • Twitter: @American_MBB • Facebook: fb.com/AmericanConf • Instagram: AmericanConf 2020-21 STANDINGS AMERICAN OVERALL SCHOOL W-L PCT PF PA W-L PCT PF PA H A N L10 STREAK NOTABLE UCF 0-0 - - - 0-0 - - - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 - Darin Green Jr., shot 41.7% from 3-point range last season Cincinnati 0-0 - - - 0-0 - - - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 - Keith Williams Preseason All-Conference First Team East Carolina 0-0 - - - 0-0 - - - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 - Jayden Gardner led AAC in scoring in 2019-20 (19.7 ppg) Houston17/18 0-0 - - - 0-0 - - - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 - Preseason favorite in The American MemphisRV/RV 0-0 - - - 0-0 - - - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 - D.J. Jeffries and Landers Nolley II Preseason Second Team USF 0-0 - - - 0-0 - - - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 - Alexis Yetna returns after missing 2019-20 season SMU 0-0 - - - 0-0 - - - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 - Kendric Davis led AAC in assists last season with 6.6 apg Temple 0-0 - - - 0-0 - - - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 - Jake Forrester led Owls with 53.3% field goal percentage Tulane 0-0 - - - 0-0 - - - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 - Improved total wins by 8 and AAC wins by 4 from 18-19 Tulsa 0-0 - - - 0-0 - - - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 - Picked 10th in 2019-20 in AAC, finished tied for 1st Wichita State 0-0 - - - 0-0 - - - 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 - Return 3 starters from 23-8 squad in 2019-20 Rankings listed as AP/USA Today SCHEDULE & RESULTS THE AMERICAN TODAY PRESEASON HONORS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 2020-21 SEASON GETS UNDERWAY WEDNESDAY Preseason Player of the Year Florida College at USF (ESPN+) .................................11:30 a.m. The American opens the 2020-21 season with a RVMemphis vs. -/RVSt. Mary’s (ESPN2) ..............................2 p.m. Caleb Mills, G, Houston Lamar at 17/18Houston (ESPN+)............................................3 p.m. four-game slate on Wednesday, Nov. 25. USF will Mills was named to the American Athletic Sam Houston St at SMU (ESPN+) .....................................8 p.m. kick-off the season hosting Florida College at Conference 2019-20 All-Conference Second 11:30 a.m. Eastern on ESPN+. Memphis will take on Team after leading the Cougars with 13.2 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26 St. Mary’s on ESPN2 at 2 p.m. Eastern in the first RVMemphis vs. -/RVWKU/RVNorthern Iowa (ESPN/EU) ..... TBD round of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic points per game while coming off the bench in Sioux Falls, S.D. Houston will host Lamar at 3 for most of the season. He scored 20 or more FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+, while in the evening, SMU points eight times and in double figures 20 RVMemphis vs. TBD (ESPN/E2/EU) ......................................... TBD hosts Sam Houston St at 8 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+. times. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 Oklahoma at UCF (ESPN+) ....................................................2 p.m. HOUSTON NAMED PRESEASON FAVORITE Preseason Rookie of the Year USF vs. Rhode Island (ESPN3)....................................5:30 p.m. Houston has been selected as the preseason Moussa Cisse, C, Memphis Tulsa vs. TCU (ESPN3) ......................................................7:30 p.m. favorite to win the 2020-21 American Athletic In his final high school season, Cisse Temple vs. Virginia Tech (ESPNEWS) ..............................8 p.m. Conference men’s basketball title in voting by the league’s head coaches, the conference announced averaged 18.4 points, 15.3 rebounds and 9.2 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29 blocks in leading Lausanne to the Tennessee Tulsa vs. Liberty/South Carolina (ESPN2) .........................TBA Oct. 28. Lipscomb at Tulane (ESPN+) ...............................................2 p.m. Division II-A State Championship. Cisse was 17/18Houston vs. 14/13Texas Tech (ESPN2) ..................5:30 p.m. Houston garnered nine first-place votes and ranked the No. 2 center in the nation by USF vs. Virginia Tech (ESPN2) ............................................8 p.m. earned a total of 99 points to become conference 247Sports Composite. favorites for the second year in a row. Memphis, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30 which tallied two first-place votes, is picked to RV/- Preseason All-Conference First Team Auburn at UCF (ESPN+) ..................................................... 7 p.m. finish second with 90 points. SMU was third with Texas A&M - Corpus Christi at SMU (ESPN+) ..............8 p.m. Keith Williams, G, Cincinnati 80 points, followed by Cincinnati (77), USF (61), Tulsa Jayden Gardner, F, East Carolina* All times ET and subject to change (50), Wichita State (44), UCF (37), East Carolina (34), Temple (18) and Tulane (15). Caleb Mills, G, Houston* Kendric Davis, G, SMU PACE AND DEFENSE Brandon Rachal, F, Tulsa Last season, Memphis ranked fifth in the country in defensive efficiency and led the country in field Preseason All-Conference Second Team goal percentage defense at 36.1, but what made Chris Vogt, C, Cincinnati Memphis unique was the pace the Tigers ran their D.J. Jeffries, F, Memphis offense. Of the top-10 defensive efficient teams, Memphis was the only school that ranked in the Landers Nolley II, G, Memphis top 100 in tempo, coming in at No. 28. Alexis Yetna, F, USF Tyson Jolly, G, SMU COUGARS CLEANED UP THE BOARDS In 2019-20, Houston led the country in rebounding * denotes unanimous selection margin at +9.5, is third in offensive rebounds with 14.42 per game and is third in total rebounds with 41.38 per contest. It was a team effort as well as only one Cougar, Nate Hinton, was in the top 200 individually (74th at 8.7 per game).Houston also ranked seventh in the nation in field goal percentage defense at 38.3 percent. AMERICAN NOTEBOOK AWARD CENTRAL SMU returns its top two scorers from a squad THE RECORD BOOK that went 19-11 last season. Kendric Davis led The The American’s single-game records: 2021 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy American in assists last season with 6.6 assists Watch List per game while scoring 14.2 points per game, while Individual Points Tyson Jolly led the Mustangs with 14.5 points per 43 Jeremiah Martin, Memphis vs. Tulane, 2/20/19 Caleb Mills, R-So., G, Houston 42 Russ Smith, Louisville vs. Houston, 3/14/14 contest. 41 Jeremiah Martin, Memphis at USF, 2/3/19 2021 Jerry West Award Watch List (SG) CINCINNATI shared The American regular season Individual Field Goals Caleb Mills, R-So., G, Houston championship in 2019-20 and returns its second 15 Shaq Goodwin, Memphis at UCF, 1/26/16 leading scorers. Keith Williams (12.6 ppg) scored in Dedric Lawson, Memphis vs. Iowa, 11/26/16 Jeremiah Martin, Memphis vs. Tulane, 2/20/19 2021 Julius Erving Award double figures in 12 of the last 13 games in 2019-20 Watch List (SF) and Chris Vogt (11.0 ppg) shot 64.8 percent from Individual 3-Point Field Goals Jayden Gardner, Jr., F, East Carolina the field last season. 11 Matt Williams, UCF vs. USF, 1/17/17 D.J. Jeffries, So., F, Memphis 10 James Woodard, Tulsa at SMU, 3/8/15 USF returns five of its top six scorers from a squad that went 14-17, including David Collins, who Individual Free Throws 2021 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award 17 Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati vs. Nebraska, 12/28/13 averaged 13.7 points per game. Also back is 2018- Watch List (C) 16 Jayden Gardner, ECU vs. Appalachian State, 11/30/18 Moussa Cisse, Fr., C, Memphis 19 Freshman of the Year Alexis Yetna, who missed 15 Four tied, last season due to an injury suffered in preseason. Last: David Collins, USF vs. Stony Brook, 3/20/19 NEW CONFERENCE FORMAT For the first time in conference history, the TULSA shared the regular season conference Individual Rebounds format consists of a 20-game, double round-robin title after being picked 10th in the preseason poll. 23 Shaq Goodwin, Memphis vs. Temple, 2/7/15 Jordan Tolbert, SMU vs. Nicholls State, 12/16/15 conference schedule for each of The American’s 2019-20 Coach of the Year Frank Haith and the 22 Precious Achiuwa, Memphis at Tulane (OT), 2/29/20 11 member institutions. Golden Hurricane return all-conference third-team 21 Trevon Scott, Cincinnati vs. UCF (2OT), 2/19/20 member Brandon Rachal, who was second on the NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS team with 12.1 points per game. Individual Assists Of The American’s 11 schools, 10 of them posted a 13 Russ Smith, Louisville vs. UConn, 3/8/14 winning record in non-conference play in 2019-20, WICHITA STATE returns three players with 17 Brandon Goodwin, UCF at Tulane, 2/19/15 Kendric Davis, SMU vs. Tulane, 2/1/20 led by Wichita State, who was 12-1 and Memphis, or more starts from a team that went 23-8 last 12 Seven tied, who was 11-2. season. Tyson Etienne (9.4 ppg) and Dexter Dennis Last: Jalen Adams, UConn at ECU 3/10/19 (9.2 ppg) combined for 18.6 points per contest out CONSISTENT SHOCKERS of the backcourt for the Shockers. Individual Blocks With a 2019-20 record of 23-8, Wichita State 9 Yanick Moreira, SMU vs. Midwestern State, 12/29/14 reached the 22-win mark for the 11th-consecutive UCF went 16-14 in 2019-20 and will be led by Darin Amida Brimah, UConn vs.