AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTES MARCH 12, 2018 Contact: Bill Potter, Senior Director of Communications & Digital Media [email protected] • 317.625.5772 • @billpotter_ 15 Park Row West • 3rd Floor • Providence, RI 02903 TheAmerican.org • @American_MBB • Facebook: fb.com/AmericanConf 2017-18 STANDINGS AMERICAN OVERALL SCHOOLAP/USA TODAY W-L PCT PF PA H A W-L PCT PF PA H A N STREAK NOTABLE *Cincinnati6/8 16-2 .889 71.9 55.4 8-1 8-1 30-4 .882 74.5 57.1 15-1 9-2 6-1 Won 7 One of six teams to have reached each of last 8 NCAA Tournaments Wichita State16/14 14-4 .778 81.3 70.8 7-2 7-2 25-7 .781 83.0 71.3 13-3 9-2 3-2 Lost 1 One of five programs to have won NCAA Tournament game in each of last 5 years Houston21/21 14-4 .778 75.8 64.2 9-0 5-4 26-7 .788 77.4 64.9 15-0 7-5 5-1 Lost 1 Posted consecutive 20-plus win seasons for first time since 2007-09 Tulsa 12-6 .667 72.3 69.4 8-1 4-5 19-12 .613 73.5 70.9 13-2 5-7 1-2 Lost 1 Five of top six scorers and rebounders return for Golden Hurricane Memphis 10-8 .556 70.9 72.4 5-4 5-4 21-13 .618 70.8 71.2 14-5 5-5 2-3 Lost 1 Top-rated 2017 recruiting class in The American, per 247Sports.com UCF 9-9 .500 59.7 60.4 6-3 3-6 19-13 .594 62.7 61.7 12-4 5-6 2-3 Lost 1 Reached NIT Final Four for first time in program history in 2016-17 Temple 8-10 .444 68.6 70.3 5-4 3-6 17-15 .531 70.3 70.7 8-5 4-8 5-2 Lost 1 Over 70 percent of Owls’ minutes, points from 2016-17 return UConn 7-11 .389 67.1 72.3 5-4 2-7 14-18 .438 68.2 73.1 11-5 2-9 1-4 Lost 2 Welcoming 8 newcomers to roster SMU 6-12 .333 64.7 65.9 4-5 1-8 17-16 .515 69.5 64.1 13-5 2-8 2-3 Lost 1 57-15 American record through 2016-17 is best in conference Tulane 5-13 .278 70.2 75.7 2-7 3-6 14-17 .452 73.2 74.1 9-7 3-8 2-2 Lost 3 Cameron Reynolds was first Tulane player to earn American individual accolade ECU 4-14 .222 65.6 78.6 2-7 2-7 10-20 .333 66.4 74.9 8-11 2-8 0-1 Lost 6 Kentrell Barkley, B.J. Tyson account for more than 95 percent of Pirates returning offense USF 3-15 .167 60.6 73.1 1-8 2-7 10-22 .312 63.3 70.6 7-11 3-10 0-1 Lost 1 10 newcomers join the Bulls in Brian Gregory’s first season * - Clinched American regular-season title COMING UP (all times Eastern) POSTSEASON HONORS POW6R POINTS PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Gary Clark, Cincinnati MADNESS Following Cincinnati’s 1-point win over Houston in the Aaron’s American ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Shawn Williams, ECU Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, three American teams were selected to the NCAA Tournament: COACH OF THE YEAR: Kelvin Sampson, Houston Cincinnati - No. 2 seed, South Region Wichita State - No. 4 seed, East Region SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Obi Enechionyia, Temple Houston, No. 6 seed, West Region DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Gary Clark, Cincinnati The average seed of the three bids - 4 - is the best in the five-year history of the conference, while Cincinnati’s No. 2 seed is the best seed earned by Wednesday, March 14 6TH MAN OF THE YEAR: Armoni Brooks, Houston a conference member. NIT: (5) Temple at (4) Penn State (ESPNU) ...............................................................8 p.m. MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Melvin Frazier, Tulane The three top 6 seeds marks the first time The American has earned three Thursday, March 15 such seeds in one NCAA Tournament. NCAA West Region: (6) Houston vs. (11) San Diego State (TBS) .....................7:20 p.m. SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Gary Clark, Cincinnati MORE MADNESS Friday, March 16 TEAM ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARD: Tulane Cincinnati is back in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth straight year, NCAA West Region: (4) Wichita State vs. (13) Marshall (TNT) ........................1:30 p.m. remaining in an exclusive club of six programs along with Duke, Gonzaga, NCAA South Region: (2) Cincinnati vs. (15) Georgia State (TBS) ..........................2 p.m. 1ST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE Kansas, Michigan State and North Carolina. Gary Clark, Sr., F, Cincinnati* Saturday, March 17 Jacob Evans III, Jr., G/F, Cincinnati Wichita State enters the NCAA Tournament as one of five programs to NCAA West Region: (6) Houston vs. (3) Michigan/(14) Montana (TBA) ..................TBA Rob Gray, Sr. G, Houston have won at least one game in the last five years (Gonzaga, Kansas, North Shaquille Morris, R-Sr., F, Wichita State Carolina, Oregon). Landry Shamet, R-So., G, Wichita State Friday, March 16 Returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010, a Houston NCAA West Region: (4) Wichita State vs. (5 West Virginia/(12) Murray State (TBA) .....TBA 2ND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE win in the 1st Round would be the program’s first NCAA win since the NCAA South Region: (2) Cincinnati vs. (7) Nevada/(10) Texas (TBA) ........................TBA Jalen Adams, Jr., G, UConn 1984 Final Four. Junior Etou, R-Sr., F, Tulsa RESULTS Melvin Frazier, Jr., G, Tulane MORE MADNESS Sunday, March 11 -- Aaron’s American Men’s Basketball Championship Jeremiah Martin, Jr., G, Memphis Cincinnati became the second straight American team to claim the regular- Game 11: (1) Cincinnati 56, (3) Houston 55 Shake Milton, Jr., G, SMU season and tournament titles, winning three games in as many days to capture The American championship. Saturday, March 10 -- Aaron’s American Men’s Basketball Championship HONORABLE MENTION ALL-CONFERENCE Game 9: (1) Cincinnati 70, (5) Memphis 60 A.J. Davis, R-Sr., G/F, UCF In those three wins, Gary Clark recorded double-doubles in each game, a Game 10: (2) Wichita State 77, (3) Houston 74 Quinton Rose, So., G, Temple first for the conference tournament and earning Clark Most Outstanding Kyle Washington, R-Sr., F, Cincinnati Player honors. Friday, March 9 -- Aaron’s American Men’s Basketball Championship Game 5: (1) Cincinnati 61, (9) SMU 51 ALL-ROOKIE TEAM The average margin across all 11 games of the championship was 8.3 points. Game 6: (5) Memphis 67, (4) Tulsa 64 Ethan Chargois, F, SMU Of the 11 games in the American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Game 7: (2) Wichita State 89, (7) Temple 81 David Collins, G, USF Championship, nine were been decided by 10 or fewer points. Game 8: (3) Houston 84, (6) UCF 56 Nate Pierre-Louis, G, Temple Fabian White, F, Houston The highest NCAA Tournament seed received by an American Athletic Thursday, March 8 -- Aaron’s American Men’s Basketball Championship Shawn Williams, G, ECU* Conference team came in 2014, when Louisville was given a No. 4 seed. Game 1: (9) SMU 80, (8) UConn 73 *unanimous selection Game 2: (5) Memphis 79, (12) USF 77 AWARDS Game 3: (7) Temple 82, (10) Tulane 77 ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Cincinnati’s Gary Clark became the first player in American Athletic Confer- Game 4: (6) UCF 66, (11) ECU 52 Most Outstanding Player: Gary Clark, Cincinnati ence history to capture three individual awards in the same season when Kyle Washington, Cincinnati he was named American Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Rob Gray, Houston was voted the Sportsmanship Award. Clark is also the first player to earn Corey Davis Jr., Houston two defensive player of the year accolades in their career in the five-year Kyvon Davenport, Memphis history of The American. Landry Shamet, Wichita State AMERICAN NOTEBOOK BIG EAST FOOTBALL MEDIA SERVICES GETTING DEFENSIVE SPINNING RECORDS ALIVE Entering the tournament, Cincinnati and Houston rank Houston put forth one of the best offensive games in Ameri- A year after being one of the youngest conferences in the nation, The among the top 10 teams in the country in terms of field-goal can Athletic Conference history of Feb. 25, setting records American boasts several of the most experienced teams in major percentage defense. The Bearcats (37.1) are second in the for the following: college basketball. Wichita State (87.1), Tulsa (75.8) and Temple (72.6) nation, while Houston (39.6) is ninth. Points in a conference game 109 are all among the top 20 teams in returning possession minutes, Scoring margin in a conference game 51 while Cincinnati (69.9) sits 22nd. GETTING DEFENSIVE, PART II Points in a half, conference game 62 (1st half) Best adjusted defensive efficiency in KenPom era (2002-present): Field-goal percentage 66.7 (ties overall record) HELP HELP Team AdjD Year Three-pointers made 18 (ties overall record) Six American Athletic Conference squads took place in charity Virginia 83.9 2017-18 exhibitions to raise money for hurricane and other disaster victims. Memphis 84.2 2008-09 MAJOR EVENTS Houston played Baylor, while UConn met Providence and Tulane Kentucky 84.4 2014-15 The American is 19-26 against Major 7 opponents. In 2016-17, hosted LSU.