The RoundHouse | 11/27/2017 10:05:00 AM

By Paul Suellentrop

Around the American
 
Team(s) of the week: No. 12 Cincinnati is the lone American team to emerge from the week with its reputation fully intact. The Bearcats defeated Buffalo, Richmond and Wyoming to win the Cayman Islands Classic.
 
Ugh: Central Florida entered the season mentioned as an NCAA at-large candidate. That goal took a hit with an 83-45 loss to No. 23 West Virginia and a 46-43 loss to St. John's. UCF (4-2) is 18 of 83 (21.7 percent) from three-point range and has committed 23 more turnovers than its opponents.
 
North Carolina A&T defeated East Carolina 87-81 in Greenville, N.C.
 
Top performances: Cincinnati's Gary Clark earned tournament MVP honors by averaging 16.3 points and 9.3 rebounds in three games. Teammate Kyle Washington had 16 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Wyoming in the championship of the Cayman Islands Classic . . . SMU senior Ben Emelogu scored 20 points in a win over then-No. 2 Arizona, making 5 of 7 three-pointers . . . Former Shocker Corey Henderson Jr. scored a career-high 24 points for Tulsa in a win over Central Arkansas . . . Tulane's Melvin Frazier scored 20 points, grabbed eight rebounds and recorded five steals in a win over Miami (Ohio) . . . Wichita State's Rashard Kelly handed out a career-high eight assists in a win over Marquette to go with six points, three blocks and 10 rebounds. Teammate Landry Shamet averaged 17.3 points in the Maui Invitational, highlighted by 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting in a 92-82 win over California. Shocker center Shaq Morris scored 25 points in that win, in addition to blocking four shots and grabbing seven rebounds.
 
Wichita State's Rangie Bessard scored a season-high 23 points, making 10 of 15 shots, and handed out four assists in a 76-53 win over Cal-Irvine, the first for women's coach Keitha Adams as a Shocker. . . South Florida's Kitija Laska made 9 of 11 threes and scored 36 points in a 76-66 loss to No. 6 Notre Dame . . . No. 1 Connecticut defeated Michigan State 96-62 with Azura Stevens scoring 25 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Stevens helped the Huskies defeat No. 15 Maryland 97-72 with 18 points and 12 rebounds earlier in the week in her first start.
 
Keep an eye on this: Temple sophomore guard Quinton Rose averages four turnovers a game. He committed five in Sunday's 87-83 loss at La Salle.
 
Who's the new person: Houston freshman Fabian White scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 97-58 win over Incarnate Word. White, from Atascocita, Texas, made 6 of 7 shots and also registered three blocks and three steals.
 
Quote of the week: "Everybody's got to look themselves in the mirror," UConn coach Kevin Ollie told the Hartford Courant. "That's including me, that's every player, because our effort, the defensive effort, wasn't there."
 
Get to know: Cincinnati senior forward Gary Clark is a three-season starter who is on watch lists for the Oscar Robertson (player of the year), Lute Olson (player of the year) and Karl Malone (power forward) awards.
 
Time for trivia:
Q: Which current American member ranks first in winning percentage in conference games in conference history?
 
A: SMU is 57-15 in four seasons (.792), just ahead of Cincinnati (56-16).
 
Big games ahead: Thursday is a big night for the American with Missouri playing at UCF and South Carolina visiting Temple.
 
Saturday is even bigger. Cincinnati plays No. 15 Xavier and Wichita State travels to No. 22 Baylor. Arkansas visits Houston and No. 10 Southern California is at SMU.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.