It will open play in the South Region on Friday in Sacramento, California against the winner of the Kansas State/Wake Forest game. ![]() SMU will open the NCAA Tournament as the sixth seed in the East Region on Friday against the winner of the game between Providence and USC.Ĭincinnati also will be a sixth seed. The Mustangs have held 24 of its last 27 opponents to 66 points or fewer. It was only a matter of time until we hit our stride in tournament play, so I guess we just needed a little time to get it together."Ĭincinnati was the 19th of SMU's 34 opponents to shoot 40 percent or worse this season. "Our chemistry is as high as any team in the country. "We just had to take our time to get our rhythm," he said. Ojeleye said the team got better as the tournament progressed. The Mustangs advanced to the championship game with a narrow 81-77 win over East Carolina in the quarterfinals and a 70-59 victory over UCF in the semifinals. Regular-season champion Cincinnati won the tournament and with it the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. It was held March 811, 2018, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. SMU was seeded fourth in 1957, fifth in 1985 tournament and received a sixth seed in 2015 after winning the AAC Tournament in Hartford. The 2018 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament ended the 201718 season of the American Athletic Conference. Jankovich said he was happy because the team will be playing on Friday and that will mean an extra day of rest after playing in a late conference final. 6 they received.īut coach Tim Jankovich said he's not about to whine. They have won six straight AAC Tournament games and were hoping for a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament than the No. SMU: The Mustangs have more wins than any team in program history. "We were scrambling around, trying to cause havoc and get steals and deflections in," said Cincinnati's Gary Clark, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. SMU hit four of its first five 3-point attempts in the second half to extend a nine-point lead to 17 at 48-31. ![]() It was the lowest scoring first half of the season for the Bearcats.Ĭincinnati made just one of its first 15 shots from the field, shot 34 percent for the game and missed 20 of 24 shots from behind the arc. "From that, there was no looking back," said Brown. A 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer by Ben Emelogu II from just inside the midcourt logo gave the Mustangs a 32-23 lead. They shot 50 percent from the field and made 10 of their 19 shots from 3-point range.īrown scored six points to spark SMU on a game-opening 11-2 run. They went 17-1 to win the league's regular-season title, with the only loss coming by two points at Cincinnati in January. SMU started the year 4-3, but has reeled off 26 wins in 27 games. Jarron Cumberland had 14 points to lead Cincinnati (29-5), which has not won a conference title since capturing the Conference USA crown in 2004. ![]() I feel like we're going to make a good run in the (NCAA) Tournament." We're gelling on and off the floor and it's showing. "Our confidence is very high," Brown said. The Mustangs took the championship in 2015, but missed last year's postseason under NCAA sanctions. It was the second AAC title in three years for SMU (30-4). Tournament MVP Semi Ojeleye added 14 points, Jarrey Foster had 13 and Ben Moore scored 12. Sterling Brown led the Mustangs with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting. ![]() The Mustangs won their 16th straight game on Sunday, taking the American Athletic Conference championship with a 71-56 victory over Cincinnati. (AP) - Nobody will be heading into the NCAA Tournament with more momentum than SMU. The All-Tournament Team included Temple's Will Cummings, UConn's Ryan Boatright and Rodney Purvis, and SMU's Nic Moore, and Yanick Moreira.Box Score | Postgame Notes | Photo Gallery | Tournament Central Congratulations to the 2015 Men's Basketball Champions the SMU Mustangs.
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