AAC Basketball: Cincinnati thwarts Memphis second half rally to win
Solid first half enough for the Bearcats, as they held off a late rally by Memphis to keep pace with SMU in the AAC
A second half rally by the Memphis Tigers would not be enough to upset the No. 15-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats.
Cincinnati held on to get an 87-74 victory Thursday night, as they remain undefeated at home (17-0) and are tied for first with SMU (both 14-1) in the AAC.
The Bearcats put together a strong first half, shooting 58 percent from the field, including 50 percent from three-point range.
Because of the offensive explosion, Cincinnati went into halftime with a 51-32 lead, appearing well on their way to an easy victory.
However, Memphis refused to leave Cincinnati quietly. Jeremiah Martin and Dedric Lawson sparked the comeback.
Martin scored 13 of his game-high 23 points during the second half, while had during that time frame. Lawson would finish the game with 21 points and 10 rebounds, which gave him his 18th double-double this season.
Kyle Washington led the Bearcats with 16 points on the night.
Every game is important from here on out for Cincinnati. They’ll need to win out to make sure they clinch a share of the AAC regular season title. They have Central Florida, Houston and UConn still left on the schedule. Two of those three games are on the road.
The Central Florida game will be on the road as they face off Sunday. A loss doesn’t kill their chances, but, with SMU having two of its last three at home, it makes it tough to gain any ground. SMU is also undefeated (16-0) at home. The Bearcats would need SMU to lose one of its three remaining games. SMU has UConn, Tulsa and Memphis still to play.
A loss for SMU can help, should Cincinnati win out on the rest of its schedule.
The loss for Memphis has an effect on them as they now drop to sixth in the AAC standings.
Memphis wasn’t in contention for the regular season conference title. However, dropping to sixth means they risk not having a first round bye in the conference tournament.
The Tigers need to place in the top five in order to get a bye. UCF at 9-7 occupies that fifth place spot. Memphis has Houston, Tulane and SMU remaining. They take on the Cougars Sunday.