Cincy beats Shockers to reach 4th straight AAC title game
Cincinnati survives wild final sequence to advance to AAC final
Cincinnati's Jeremiah Davenport misses the front end of a 1-and-1, and Wichita State takes it the other way but Alterique Gilbert just misses a triple which would have won it for the Shockers.
FORT WORTH, Texas -- — Mason Madsen had a team-high 10 points for short-handed Cincinnati, which overcame missing its last three free-throw attempts and held on to beat top-seeded Wichita State 60-59 on Saturday to advance to its fourth consecutive American Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.
Along with those missed free throws in the final 19 seconds, the Bearcats (12-10) also had more more turnovers (nine) than field goals made (eight) in the second half. After Cincinnati freshman Tari Eason missed a free throw with 8 seconds left, Morris Udeze got the rebound and Wichita State quickly got the ball to Alterique Gilbert, whose long 3-point attempt hit the front of the rim and then the back before bouncing off as time expired.
Gilbert had 14 points to lead Wichita State (16-5), which had won eight games in a row since a loss at Memphis on Jan. 21. Tyson Etienne, the conference's co-player of the year, had 13 points, while Udeze finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Eason had nine points and 11 rebounds for Cincinnati. Keith Williams, averaging a team-high 14.9 points, scored nine of Cincinnati's opening 16 points but he did not play in the second half.
The Bearcats are 9-3 since returning from a 25-day pause because of COVID-19 after a loss at Wichita State on Jan. 10.
Madsen hit a jumper with 3:52 left to tie it at 55, and there wasn't another score in the game until Mika Adams-Woods made two free throws with 1:59 left and Eason added a layup after another missed 3 by Gilbert.
The Shockers missed seven of their last eight field-goal attempts, the only make in the final 4:17 being Gilbert's layup with 19 seconds left that cut the gap to 60-59.
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Game Information
- Referees:
- Anthony Jordan
- Terry Wymer
- K.B. Burdett
2023-24 Big 12 Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
Houston | 15-3 | - | 32-5 |
Iowa State | 13-5 | 2 | 29-8 |
Baylor | 11-7 | 4 | 24-11 |
Texas Tech | 11-7 | 4 | 23-11 |
BYU | 10-8 | 5 | 23-11 |
Kansas | 10-8 | 5 | 23-11 |
Texas | 9-9 | 6 | 21-13 |
TCU | 9-9 | 6 | 21-13 |
Oklahoma | 8-10 | 7 | 20-12 |
Kansas State | 8-10 | 7 | 19-15 |
Cincinnati | 7-11 | 8 | 22-15 |
UCF | 7-11 | 8 | 17-16 |
Oklahoma State | 4-14 | 11 | 12-20 |
West Virginia | 4-14 | 11 | 9-23 |
2023-24 American Athletic Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
South Florida | 16-2 | - | 25-8 |
Florida Atlantic | 14-4 | 2 | 25-9 |
Charlotte | 13-5 | 3 | 19-12 |
UAB | 12-6 | 4 | 23-12 |
Memphis | 11-7 | 5 | 22-10 |
SMU | 11-7 | 5 | 20-13 |
North Texas | 10-8 | 6 | 19-15 |
Tulsa | 7-11 | 9 | 16-15 |
East Carolina | 7-11 | 9 | 15-18 |
Tulane | 5-13 | 11 | 14-17 |
Temple | 5-13 | 11 | 16-20 |
Wichita State | 5-13 | 11 | 15-19 |
UTSA | 5-13 | 11 | 11-21 |
Rice | 5-13 | 11 | 11-21 |