American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Report April 1, 2021 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 Wichita State-/RV 11-2 .846 72.7 68.5 16-6 .727 71.5 66.8 10-2 5-2 1-2 8-2 L 2 First regular season title since joining league Houston6/6 14-3 .824 74.9 58.9 28-3 .903 76.6 57.6 15-0 5-3 8-0 10-0 W 11 Grimes named to four All-America Third Teams Memphis 11-4 .733 70.1 61.1 20-8 .714 72.4 62.7 10-1 4-3 6-4 8-2 W 4 Tigers earn second NIT Championship (2002) SMU 7-4 .636 68.9 67.2 11-6 .647 74.6 68.1 6-2 5-2 0-2 5-5 L 2 Kendric Davis conference-record 14 assists vs. Cincinnati Cincinnati 8-6 .571 71.1 71.9 12-11 .522 68.9 72.3 5-5 5-5 2-1 6-4 L 1 Won 7 straight conference championship games UCF 8-10 .444 66.9 69.8 11-12 .478 67.2 69.4 6-3 4-8 1-1 7-3 L 1 Knights won 4 in a row to finish regular season Tulsa 7-9 .438 63.1 65.9 11-12 .478 68.4 65.6 7-5 4-4 0-3 3-7 L 1 Win over Houston was 1st top-5 win since 1996 USF 4-10 .286 63.0 72.4 9-13 .409 65.9 71.4 4-6 3-4 2-3 2-8 L 1 Collins became 10th player in league with 1,500 pts. Temple 4-10 .286 65.0 69.1 5-11 .313 65.8 68.8 3-5 2-5 0-1 2-8 L 1 Battle averaging 25 ppg in last 3 games Tulane 4-12 .250 62.8 68.8 10-13 .435 63.9 66.5 6-6 3-6 1-1 3-7 L 1 Forbes 19.7 ppg in last 7 games, 15.0 ppg before that East Carolina 2-10 .167 62.8 70.1 8-11 .421 66.8 67.9 7-6 1-4 0-1 1-9 L 5 Gardner became 15th player in league with 1,400 pts. Rankings listed as AP/USA Today SCHEDULE & RESULTS THE AMERICAN TODAY ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS THURSDAY, MARCH 18 HOUSTON IS FINAL FOUR BOUND Player of the Year NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST FOUR Houston advanced to the Final Four for the first Quentin Grimes, Jr., G, Houston Tyson Etienne, So., G, Wichita State WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA time since 1984 with a 67-61 win over Oregon State No. 11 Drake 53, No. 11 Wichita State 52 in the Midwest Region Final on March 29. Coach of the Year Issac Brown, Wichita State* NIT FIRST ROUND (FRISCO, TEXAS) The Cougars finished with a 41-29 rebounding No. 2 Boise State 85, No. 3 SMU 84 advantage over the Beavers, including 19 offensive Defensive Player of the Year rebounds, which led to 19 second-chance points. DeJon Jarreau, Sr., G, Houston FRIDAY, MARCH 19 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND Freshman of the Year BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA It is the Cougars’ sixth Final Four appearance (1967, Moussa Cisse, C, Memphis No. 2 Houston 87, No. 15 Cleveland State 56 1968, 1982, 1983, 1984, 2021). Most Improved Player SATURDAY, MARCH 20 Houston improved to 6-0 in regional finals. The Justin Gorham, Sr., F, Houston NIT FIRST ROUND (DENTON, TEXAS) Cougars are 2-3 in the national semifinals, reaching Sixth Man of the Year No. 1 Memphis 71, No. 4 Dayton 60 the national final in 1983 and 1984. Boogie Ellis, So., G, Memphis Darien Jackson, Sr., G, Tulsa SUNDAY, MARCH 21 JARREAU, GRIMES EARN REGIONAL HONORS NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SECOND ROUND Senior guard DeJon Jarreau was named the Sportsmanship Award INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Midwest Region Most Outstanding Performer after J.P. Moorman II, Sr., F, Temple No. 2 Houston 63, No. 10 Rutgers 60 posting near triple-doubles against Syracuse (9 All-Conference First Team points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists) and Oregon State THURSDAY, MARCH 25 Jayden Gardner, Jr., F, East Carolina (10-8-8) to go along with stifling defense. NIT QUARTERFINALS (DENTON, TEXAS) Quentin Grimes, Jr., G, Houston* No. 1 Memphis 59, No. 2 Boise State 56 Landers Nolley II, So., G, Memphis Junior guard Quentin Grimes was named to the Kendric Davis, Jr., G, SMU* Tyson Etienne, So., G, Wichita State* SATURDAY, MARCH 27 all-region team with 18.0 points per game and at least four 3-pointers in each of the four NCAA NIT SEMIFINALS (FRISCO, TEXAS) All-Conference Second Team No. 1 Memphis 90, No. 1 Colorado 67 Tournament games. Keith Williams, Sr., G, Cincinnati DeJon Jarreau, Sr., G, Houston NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SWEET SIXTEEN COUGARS ON A ROLL Justin Gorham, Sr., F, Houston INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Houston has Marcus Sasser, So., G, Houston No. 2 Houston 62, No. 11 Syracuse 46 111 victories, which rank second only to Gonzaga Brandon Rachal, Sr., F, Tulsa (123 wins). SUNDAY, MARCH 28 All-Conference Third Team NIT FINAL (FRISCO, TEXAS) Brandon Mahan, Sr., G, UCF FINAL FOUR PARTICIPANT AND NIT CHAMPS Darius Perry, Sr., G, UCF No. 1 Memphis 77, No. 4 Mississippi State 64 With Houston in the national semifinals and Feron Hunt, Sr., G, SMU Memphis earning the NIT Championship, The Khalif Battle, So., G, Temple MONDAY, MARCH 29 American became the fourth conference to have Jaylen Forbes, So., G, Tulane NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP ELITE EIGHT a Final Four participant and the NIT Champion in Alterique Gilbert, R-Sr., G, Wichita State INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA the same season since 2010. No. 2 Houston 67, No. 12 Oregon State 61 All-Freshman Team Isaiah Adams, G, UCF SATURDAY, APRIL 3 Year Conf. Final Four NIT Champ Tari Eason, F, Cincinnati NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL FOUR 2014 Big Ten Wisconsin Minnesota Moussa Cisse, C, Memphis INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 2018 Big Ten Michigan Penn State Caleb Murphy, G, USF No. 2 Houston vs. No. 1 Baylor (CBS) ......... 5:14 p.m. 2019 Big 12 Texas Tech Texas Damian Dunn, G, Temple Ricky Council IV, G, Wichita State 2021 The American Houston Memphis All times ET and subject to change * denotes unanimous selections OFFICIAL BRACKET PRESENTED BY 20162021 DIVISION NCAA I MEN’S DIVISION I MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST ROUND SECOND ROUND SWEET 16 ELITE 8® NATIONAL SEMIFINALS NATIONAL SEMIFINALS ELITE 8® SWEET 16 SECOND ROUND FIRST ROUND MARCH 20 MARCH 22 MARCH 28 MARCH 30 APRIL 3 APRIL 3 MARCH 29 MARCH 27 MARCH 21 MARCH 19 FIRST FOUR® 16 Norfolk St. (16-7) 54 11 Wichita St. (16-5) 52 52 Mt. St. Mary's (12-10) 16 80 Michigan St. (15-12) 11 MARCH 18 16 App St. (17-11) 53 W 11 Drake (25-4) 53 W E 60 Texas So. (16-8) 16 E 86 UCLA (17-9) 11 1 Gonzaga (26-0) 98 79 Baylor (22-2) 1 1 Gonzaga 87 76 Baylor 1 16 Norfolk St. 55 55 Hartford (15-8) 16 1 Gonzaga 83 62 Baylor 1 8 Oklahoma (15-10) 72 62 North Carolina (18-10) 8 8 Oklahoma 71 63 Wisconsin 9 9 Missouri (16-9) 68 85 Wisconsin (17-12) 9 1 Gonzaga 85 81 Baylor 1 5 Creighton (20-8) 63 73 Villanova (16-6) 5 5 Creighton 72 84 Villanova 5 12 UCSB (22-4) 62 63 Winthrop (23-1) 12 5 Creighton 65 51 Villanova 5 4 Virginia (18-6) 58 69 Purdue (18-9) 4 13 Ohio 58 61 North Texas 13 13 Ohio (16-7) 62 78 North Texas (17-9) 13 WEST 1 Gonzaga Baylor 1 SOUTH 6 USC (22-7) 72 April 3 April 3 65 Texas Tech (17-10) 6 6 USC 85 66 Texas Tech 6 11 Drake 56 53 Utah St. (20-8) 11 6 USC 82 72 Arkansas 3 3 Kansas (20-8) 93 85 Arkansas (22-6) 3 3 Kansas 51 68 Arkansas 3 14 Eastern Wash. (16-7) 84 68 Colgate (14-1) 14 6 USC 66 72 Arkansas 3 7 Oregon (20-6) 75 Florida (14-9) 7 7 Oregon 95 78 Florida 7 10 VCU (19-7) NATIONAL 70 Virginia Tech (15-6) 10 7 Oregon 68 CHAMPIONSHIP 70 ORU 15 2 Iowa (21-8) 86 APRIL 5 72 Ohio St. (21-9) 2 2 Iowa 80 81 Oral Roberts 15 15 Grand Canyon (17-6) 74 75 Oral Roberts (16-10) 15 1 Michigan (20-4) 82 78 Illinois (23-6) 1 1 Michigan 86 SEMIFINALS SEMIFINALS 58 Illinois 1 16 Texas Southern 66 49 Drexel (12-7) 16 1 Michigan 76 58 Loyola Chi. 8 8 LSU (18-9) 76 71 Loyola Chicago (24-4) 8 8 LSU 78 71 Loyola Chi. 8 9 St. Bonaventure (16-4) 61 60 Georgia Tech (17-8) 9 1 Michigan 49 61 Oregon St. 12 5 Colorado (22-8) 96 56 Tennessee (18-8) 5 5 Colorado 53 80 Oregon St. 12 12 Georgetown (13-12) 73 70 Oregon St. (17-12) 12 4 Florida St. 58 65 Oregon St. 12 4 Florida St. (16-6) 64 69 Oklahoma St. (20-8) 4 4 Florida St.