No. 12/15 SMU (29-4, 17-1) faces No. 15/18 Cincinnati (29-4, 16-2) in The American Championship final on Sunday at 3:15 p.m. ET/2:15 p.m. CT on ESPN. The Mustangs are the top seed after claiming the outright regular season league title. SMU set the program record for wins in a season by defeating UCF 70-59 in the semifinals on Saturday.
Â
SMU has won 15 straight and 25 of their last 26 games. SMU has held 23 of the last 26 opponents to 66 points or less. SMU has won five straight AAC tournament games. The Mustangs won three straight to claim the 2015 Championship, also at the XL Center.
Â
THE SERIES VS. CINCINNATI (4-7+): SMU and Cincinnati split the season with each team winning at home, UC won 66-64 Jan. 12 with SMU taking the rematch 60-51 Feb. 12. UC has won 5 of 8 since the two became league foes. Prior to the AAC, the series had been dormant since 1974-75. SMU won the only previous neutral site encounter in 1966, an NCAA Midwest Regional contest in Lubbock, Texas. (+3-7 officially)
Â
THIS SEASON VS. CINCINNATI (W, 60-51 at SMU Feb. 12): DALLAS (AP) -- Ben Emelogu hit two 3-pointers in the game-deciding 15-0 run for the Mustangs in a 60-51 win over No. 11 Cincinnati. The Mustangs had their spurt right after UC had scored 12 in a row soon after halftime to regain the lead. The Bearcats made only three of their last 21 shots after that -- and went without a field goal the final 4:11 of the game. After SMU had finished the first half with eight straight points to tie the game, and went ahead on
Shake Milton's 3-pointer, Kevin Johnson had a tying 3 for Cincinnati. Johnson also had a steal and slam before Kyle Washington's basket to give the Bearcats their biggest lead of the game at 40-31. But SMU got even on 3s by Emelogu,
Semi Ojeleye and Milton. Ojeleye had 18 points to lead SMU while
Sterling Brown had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Milton and Emelogu each had 11 points. Jacob Evans had 15 points for the Bearcats, while Johnson had 13 and Washington 11. Gary Clark had 12 rebounds. (L, 66-64 at UC Jan. 12):
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Troy Caupain scored 16 points and blunted SMU's comeback with a 3-pointer, helping the No. 22 Bearcats to a 66-64 victory. The Bearcats let most of a 15-point lead slip away, with SMU cutting it to 54-52 on
Jarrey Foster's 3-pointer. Gary Clark led Cincinnati with 18 points, including two 3s that matched his career high. The Mustangs had two shots in the closing seconds that went off the rim.
Sterling Brown led SMU with 20 points and 11 rebounds, but his 3-pointer missed that would have given SMU the lead with 10 seconds left.
Ben Moore missed a putback attempt to tie it. Kyle Washington had a pull-up jumper and a 3-pointer during a 16-point run that put Cincinnati ahead 27-12.
Â
LAST GAME - AAC Semifinal (W, 70-59 vs. UCF on March 11) - HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Sterling Brown scored 22 points and No. 12 SMU beat UCF 70-59.
Semi Ojeleye added 17 points, and
Shake Milton had 14 of his 16 points in the second half for the Mustangs (29-4). B.J. Taylor had 20 points, and Nick Banyard 16 for the Knights (21-11). Neither team led by more than six before Milton stole the ball from Tacko Fall under the UCF basket and made a 3-pointer for a 42-34 lead. After a technical foul on Taylor and
Sterling Brown extended the lead to 10 with two free throws. That was part of a 14-3 run that gave the SMU a 50-36 lead and control of the game with just over 9 minutes left. Taylor hit consecutive 3-pointers that cut the lead to eight points with 3 minutes left, but that was as close as UCF would get. Both hit 10 3-point shots, but each got just 10 points in the paint.
Â
