National Basketball Association
Cincinnati 61, Southern Methodist 51
When: 12:00 PM ET, Friday, March 9, 2018
Where: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Officials:
# Don Dailey, # Zelton Sneed, # Rick Randall
Attendance:
N/A
By Field Level Media
Kyle Washington finished with 15 points and seven rebounds and eighth-ranked Cincinnati held off ninth-seeded Southern Methodist 61-51 in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship on Friday afternoon in Orlando, Fla.
Cane Broome added 13 points and Gary Clark had a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards for top-seeded Cincinnati (28-4), which advances to face fifth-seeded Memphis in the semifinals on Saturday after the Tigers got past Tulsa 67-64 later Friday afternoon on a Kareem Brewton Jr. 3-pointer in the game's waning seconds.
Jahmal McMurray had a game-high 17 points and Ben Emelogu II scored 11 with seven rebounds for SMU (17-16). The Mustangs earned an 80-73 victory against eighth-seeded Connecticut in its AAC tourney opener on Thursday to set up a showdown with the Bearcats.
Cincinnati claimed the regular-season AAC championship after going 16-2 in conference play to earn a first-round bye in Orlando. The Bearcats won their final four regular-season games, including a 62-61 decision against then-No. 11 Wichita State on Mar. 4 to claim the title.
Despite winning 10 of its first 13 games, SMU stumbled to a 6-12 mark during the conference portion of the schedule and dropped eight of their final nine games.
SMU struggled from 3-point range in Friday's contest, making just five of its 21 attempts (23.8 percent). Meanwhile, Cincinnati also struggled from long range (2 for 14, 14.3 percent) -- but the Bearcats got to the free-throw line 19 times and made 11 compared to two trips and two makes for the Mustangs.
The Bearcats took both of their regular-season meetings with the Mustangs, earning a 76-56 home victory against SMU on Jan. 7 and a 76-51 win on the road on Feb. 11.
Cincinnati clung to a 28-27 lead at halftime after Emelogu's layup with four seconds remaining in the opening half brought SMU within a point. The Bearcats led by as many as six over the first 20 minutes.
An Elijah Landrum layup with 15:28 remaining had the Mustangs ahead 38-32, but the Bearcats pulled into a tie at 38 with 13:06 to play and proceeded to build a double-digit lead as big as 12 in the closing minutes to seal the win.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Southern Methodist |
|
Cincinnati |
|
Jahmal McMurray 17 |
Scoring |
Kyle Washington 15 |
|
Ben Emelogu II 2 |
Assists |
Jarron Cumberland 8 |
|
Ben Emelogu II 7 |
Rebounds |
Gary Clark 11 |
|
Ben Emelogu II 2 |
Free Throws Made |
Cane Broome 4 |
|
Ben Emelogu II 3 |
Steals |
Jarron Cumberland 1 |
|
Jahmal McMurray 1 |
Blocks |
Gary Clark 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Southern Methodist
|
51 |
39.3 |
5-21 |
2-2 |
7 |
30 |
1 |
8 |
12 |
| Cincinnati
|
61 |
42.1 |
2-14 |
11-19 |
17 |
37 |
4 |
2 |
11 |
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