American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Report December 20, 2013 Contact: Chuck Sullivan, Director of Communications ([email protected] • 401.453.0660) 15 Park Row West • Providence, RI 02903 TheAmerican.org • Twitter: @American_MBB • Facebook: fb.com/AmericanConf 2013-14 STANDINGS AMERICAN OVERALL SCHOOL W-L PCT PF PA H A W-L PCT PF PA H A N STREAK NOTABLE Louisville 6/4 0-0 — — — 0-0 0-0 10-1 .909 86.3 60.5 9-0 0-0 1-1 Won 5 Cardinals play first of four straight road games against FIU UConn 10/10 0-0 — — — 0-0 0-0 9-1 .900 75.4 63.3 6-1 0-0 3-0 Lost 1 Stanford ended 54-game home nonconference winning streak SMU 0-0 — — — 0-0 0-0 9-2 .818 76.0 61.7 6-0 1-1 2-1 Won 4 Mustangs went 6-0 at the Curtis Culwell Center Cincinnati 0-0 — — — 0-0 0-0 8-2 .800 70.5 56.5 7-0 0-1 1-1 Won 1 Bearcats scored fewest points in a win since Jan. 23, 1993 USF 0-0 — — — 0-0 0-0 8-2 .800 71.2 67.5 6-2 2-0 0-0 Won 4 Bulls have won last four games by combined nine points Memphis 15/14 0-0 — — — 0-0 0-0 7-2 .778 83.7 70.9 4-0 0-1 3-1 Lost 1 Tigers saw six-game winning streak snapped against Florida UCF 0-0 — — — 0-0 0-0 6-3 .667 78.3 68.8 5-1 1-2 0-0 Won 3 Knights hit eight of their first nine shots against Jacksonville Houston 0-0 — — — 0-0 0-0 7-5 .583 74.7 69.8 6-1 1-2 0-2 Lost 1 Cougars play final nonconference game Saturday Temple 0-0 — — — 0-0 0-0 4-5 .444 77.6 76.4 1-3 1-1 2-1 Lost 2 Owls’ last two losses have been by a combined two points Rutgers 0-0 — — — 0-0 0-0 5-7 .417 77.9 75.8 5-5 0-2 0-0 Won 1 G Myles Mack has four straight games with at least 20 points Dec. 16 Associated Press Top 25: 6 - Louisville; 10 - UConn; 15 - Memphis Dec. 16 USA Today Top 25: 4 - Louisville; 10 - UConn; 14 - Memphis THIS WEEK THE AMERICAN TODAY WEEKLY HONORS Monday, December 16 USF extended its winning streak to four games and Player of the Week No games scheduled improved to 8-2 on the year with a win a 73-70 in an TaShawn Thomas • So. • F • Houston on-campus matchup in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Thomas averaged a league-high 23.0 points Tuesday, December 17 Classic. G Corey Allen Jr. hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with and 4.0 blocks to go with 7.5 rebounds and UCF 104, Jacksonville 64 37 seconds remaining to clinch the win, and led the Bulls 3.0 assists in a 1-1 week for the Cougars. He shot 78.3 1 Cincinnati 44, Pittsburgh 43 with 22 total points. F Victor Rudd had a double-double percent from the field (18-of-23) and 83.3 percent from 2 USF 68, Florida Gulf Coast 66 (2ot) with 19 points and 10 rebounds. the free throw line (10-of-12) in the two games. He Louisville 90, Missouri State 60 scored 19 points with nine rebounds and four assists in 1 Florida 75, Memphis 77 SMU takes a 9-2 record on the road to Laramie, Wyo. an 89-58 win against Alcorn State and had 27 points, six to take on Wyoming (9 p.m. ET, Root Sports) in the rebounds and seven blocks in a 79-76 loss at Louisiana Wednesday, December 18 Mustangs’ final regular-season nonconference game. in overtime. Thomas ranks third in the American Athletic Texas Southern 90, Temple 89 The matchup features two longtime head coaches, as Conference in scoring (17.5 ppg) and is second in the CCC SMU 82, Texas-Pan American 56 SMU ‘s Larry Brown is in his 39th season as a college or conference in rebounding (9.3 rpg). Stanford 53, UConn 51 pro head coach, while Cowboy head man Larry Shyatt is in his 40th year of coaching. Rookie of the Week Thursday, December 19 USF 73, Florida A&M 70 2 Mangok Mathiang • Fr. • F/C • Louisville Mathiang helped Louisville to a 79-63 win against Western Kentucky in the Cardinals’ Friday, December 20 only game of the week. He scored a career- SMU at Wyoming (Root Sports) ............................. 9 p.m. high 13 points, going 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line, and added five rebounds and Saturday, December 21 a block against the Hilltoppers. Middle Tennessee at Cincinnati (ESPN3) ............ 2 p.m. Rio Grande at UCF 3 .................................................. 4 p.m. Houston vs. Rice 4 ............................................... 4:30 p.m. Weekly Honor Roll Temple at Long Island 5 ...................................... 5:30 p.m. Kasey Wilson • Jr. • F • UCF Louisville at Florida International .......................... 6 p.m. Scored 20 points, including 15 in the second half, with Southeast Missouri State at Memphis (ESPN3) . 8 p.m. 10 rebounds, in a 79-64 win against Howard. Sunday, December 22 Danrad Knowles • Fr. • F • Houston Army at Rutgers (ESPN3) ........................................ 2 p.m. Averaged 17.5 points and shot 72.2 percent (13-of-18) Valparaiso at UCF 3 (ESPN3) .............................. 2:30 p.m. in a 1-1 week. UConn at Washington (ESPNU) ........................ 3:30 p.m. USF vs. Mississippi State 2 ..................................... 8 p.m. Russ Smith • Sr. • G • Louisville Scored 14 points with 10 assists in a 79-63 win against 1 Jimmy V Classic, New York, N.Y. Western Kentucky. 2 Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic 3 Jackson Hewitt UCF Holiday Classic Shaq Goodwin • So. • F • Memphis 4 Dickies Shootout, Houston, Texas Scored 17 points with nine rebounds in a 73-59 win 5 Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational, Brooklyn, N.Y. against Arkansas-Little Rock. CCC Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas Myles Mack • Jr. • G • Rutgers All times Eastern Averaged 21.0 points, 6.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals in a 1-1 week. AMERICAN NOTEBOOK Introduction The Next Level HONOR BOARD The 2013-14 season will be the first for the American Three of the American Athletic Conference’s 10 coaches Athletic Conference. The American consists of 10 have been head coaches in the NBA. SMU’s Larry A look at American Athletic Conference players who have Division I teams that will play 18 conference games Brown has coached nine NBA teams between 1981 received national honors in 2013-14. as part of a double-round-robin schedule. The final and 2010. Rutgers’ Eddie Jordan was formerly the head Associated Press Preseason All-America regular-season standings will be used to seed the coach of the Washington Wizards and Philadelphia Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State Doug McDermott, Creighton American Athletic Conference Championship — the 76ers. Louisville’s Rick Pitino coached the New York Russ Smith, Louisville single-elimination tournament that will determine the Knicks and Boston Celtics. Andrew Wiggins, Kansas Mitch McGarry, Michigan league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Aside from his coaching career, Jordan was a member What’s In A Name? of the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, Los Ange- Blue Ribbon Preseason All-America Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State The American Athletic Conference existed as the Big les Lakers and Portland Trailblazers between 1977-84. Doug McDermott, Creighton East Conference from 1979 through June 30, 2013. The UConn coach Kevin Ollie played for 10 NBA teams Russ Smith, Louisville Andrew Wiggins, Kansas league formally changed its name as of July 1. between 1997 and 2010. Adreian Payne, Michigan State Who We Are International Affairs Sporting News Preseason All-America Five American Athletic Conference teams — Cincinnati, Louisville forward Montrezl Harrell was a member of First Team UConn, Louisville, Rutgers and USF — competed in the the USA Men’s U19 World Championship Team that Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State Andrew Wiggins, Kansas Big East Conference last season. Four teams — UCF, won the gold medal in the Czech Republic in early July. Doug McDermott, Creighton Houston, Memphis and SMU — played in Conference Harrell scored a team-high 17 points against Serbia in Jabari Parker, Duke USA. Temple was a member of the Atlantic-10 Confer- the gold medal game. Mitch McGarry, Michigan ence last season. Second Team Harrell and Memphis’ Shaq Goodwin were both mem- Gary Harris, Michigan State Russ Smith, Louisville Thirtysomething bers of the 2012 USA Men’s U18 National Team that Jahii Carson, Arizona State The American Athletic Conference is one of two Division captured gold in Brazil last year. Julius Randle, Kentucky Aaron Gordon, Arizona I conferences that has two teams that won 30 games last year. Louisville went 35-5 overall while Memphis Cincinnati guard Sean Kilpatrick and Louisville forward Third Team was 31-5. The ACC also has two 30-win teams from last Luke Hancock were members of the 2013 USA Men’s Andrew Harrison, Kentucky Aaron Craft, Ohio State season (Duke, Syracuse). World University Games Team that took ninth place in Rodney Hood, Duke Russia in July. C.J. Fair, Syracuse Montrezl Harrell, Louisville 20/20 Seven American Athletic Conference teams won at Doing It All least 20 games last season (UCF, Cincinnati, UConn, UCF guard Isaiah Sykes was the only player in the na- Oscar Robertson Trophy Preseason Watch List Jahil Carson, Arizona State Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Temple).