The RoundHouse | 2/5/2018 9:23:00 AM
Around The American
Team(s) of the week: Temple knocked off No. 16 Wichita State 81-79 in overtime on Thursday. The up-and-down Owls backed that with Sunday's 83-76 win at Tulane.
The Owls (13-10, 5-6 American) have won three in a row and five of their past six.
Ugh: SMU is in a bad spot because of injuries. The Mustangs are hanging around the NCAA Tournament picture and a strong finish could make them the American's third or fourth team in the bracket. Thursday's 76-67 loss at Tulsa hurts.
Top performances: Temple freshman
Nate Pierre-Louis scored 11 points, on 4-of-7 shooting in the win over the Shockers. Against Tulane, he made 7 of 10 shots to score 18 points and handed out three assists. Teammate
Shizz Alston Jr. had 10 assists and one turnover, plus 15 points and five rebounds, at Tulane . . . East Carolina's
Shawn Williams scored a career-high 30 points in 45 minutes during an 88-85 home win over Memphis. He made 6 of 10 three-pointers and scored 10 of his points in overtime. Teammate
Kentrell Barkley scored 19 points and had 13 rebounds, for back-to-back double-doubles, against Memphis . . . Tulsa forward
Junior Etou recorded consecutive double-doubles with 17 points and 12 rebounds in Sunday's win at South Florida. He scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in a win over SMU. . . SMU's
Jahmal McMurray made 7 of 17 three-pointers to score 22 points in 40 minutes in the loss to Tulsa . . . Cincinnati's
Kyle Washington scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 65-57 win at Connecticut. Teammate
Gary Clark scored 14 points and recorded 10 rebounds in an 80-70 win over Houston . . . Central Florida guard
B.J. Taylor helped the Knights to a 70-61 win over UConn with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting . . . Wichita State center
Shaq Morris scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the loss at Temple . . . Memphis guard
Jeremiah Martin scored 33 points in the loss at ECU, playing all 40 minutes.
Keep an eye on this: SMU guard Shake Milton didn't play in the loss at Tulsa, sidelined by a right hand injury, according to the Dallas Morning News. The Mustangs are already without starter Jarrey Foster (knee) and reserve Everett Ray (foot).
Who's the new person: ECU guard Shawn Williams, a redshirt freshman from Little Rock, averages 10.7 points and reached double figures in scoring for the sixth straight game with his 30-point performance against Memphis.
Williams averaged 13.1 points and made 36.9 percent of his threes in American games.
Quote of the week: "They just keep feeding it to me, I'm going to knock it down for them," Williams said after the win over Memphis.
Get to know: Houston guard Corey Davis Jr. averaged 15.2 points in 10 conference games, up from 12.9 for the season. He leads the conference by making 3.3 three-pointers a game in conference play.
Davis, from Lafayette, La., transferred to Houston from San Jacinto (Texas) College, where he earned NJCAA All-American honors.
Time for trivia:
Q: How many Missouri Valley Conference titles did Memphis win?
A: The Tigers, MVC members from 1967-1973, shared the 1972 title with Louisville and won it outright in 1973. In 1972, Louisville defeated Memphis in an MVC playoff game in Nashville, Tenn., to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Memphis made its lone NCAA appearance as an MVC member in 1973. It defeated South Carolina, Kansas State and Providence before falling to UCLA in the championship game. It played in the NIT in 1972.
Big games ahead: Every game feels critical for Wichita State as it tries to maintain its NCAA seeding resume. The Shockers play at Memphis on Tuesday and play host to UConn on Saturday.
SMU can repair the damage to its NCAA hopes. It plays at Houston on Thursday and gets Cincinnati at home on Sunday.
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
