The RoundHouse | 1/15/2018 8:56:00 AM
By
Paul Suellentrop
Team(s) of the week: Connecticut gave itself a break from its gloomy season with a win over Central Florida (62-53) and at Tulane (67-57).
The Huskies (10-7, 3-2) won with defense and rebounding. They held UCF to 19 baskets and forced 15 turnovers. The Green Wave went 4 for 19 from three-point range.
Houston set an American record by making 18 three-pointers (34 attempts) in a 104-71 win over Tulsa. The Cougars (14-3, 4-1) finished the week with a 65-49 win at East Carolina.
Ugh: SMU's NCAA resume took a hit with a 66-64 home loss to Temple. The loss snapped a 33-game win streak at Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs bring a three-game losing streak to No. 5 Wichita State on Wednesday.
Top performances: UConn guard
Jalen Adams led the Huskies to a win at Tulane with 25 points, six assists (five turnovers) and five rebounds in 38 minutes . . . Memphis guard
Jeremiah Martin averaged 28.5 points in wins over Tulane and at Temple. He made 15 of 15 foul shots vs. Tulane and 10 of 18 shots vs. the Owls. Martin played 43 minutes in the overtime win over Temple and also recorded six rebounds, six assists (eight turnovers) and two steals . . . Houston guard
Rob Gray scored 34 points and handed out eight assists in the rout of Tulsa. Gray made 12 of 17 shots, 5 of 8 behind the arc . . . Wichita State guards
Landry Shamet and
Conner Frankamp (also four rebounds and two blocks) both scored 16 points in a 72-69 win at Tulsa. Tulsa guard
Sterling Taplin scored a career-high 26 points, making 6 of 10 threes. He had seven assists and one turnover in 30 minutes . . . Cincinnati's
Gary Clark went 6 for 9 from the field to score 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a win over SMU. Bearcats guard
Jacob Evans added 18 points and four assists. In a win over South Florida, Evans scored 16 points and had four assists and two steals.
Keep an eye on this: Shamet leads the nation in three-point shooting at 52.3 percent. In five conference games, he is 15 of 26 (57.7 percent). Xavier McDaniel is the last Shocker to lead the NCAA in a statistical category – 27.2 points and 14.8 rebounds in 1985.
Quote of the week:
"It makes us really excited to go on the road and have a fan base like that," Wichita State coach
Gregg Marshall said after Saturday's win at Tulsa. "I guess they're really excited to be in the same league as Tulsa. There was a tremendous following, as usual, however I didn't expect it to be that large. It was very loud and helpful in our win."
Get to know: SMU guard Shake Milton, a junior from Owasso, Okla., is on watch lists for the Naismith, Lute Olson and Bob Cousy awards. He is the preseason American Player of the Year. Milton plays 36.3 minutes a game and leads the Mustangs in scoring (17.4 points) and assists (4.5).
Time for trivia:
Q: Where did SMU coach Tim Jankovich play college basketball?
A: Jankovich played one season at Washington State before transferring to Kansas State. He played for Wildcats coach Jack Hartman and averaged 8.1 points and 4.1 assists as a senior in 1981-82.
Big games ahead: UCF and SMU are hanging around the edges of the NCAA picture. Both play games this week that can improve their resume. UCF plays host to No. 14 Cincinnati on Tuesday. On Wednesday, SMU is at Wichita State.
On Saturday, Wichita State travels to Houston. On Jan. 4, the Shockers defeated the Cougars 81-63 at Koch Arena.
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
