Wikipedia
2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season
The 2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018 followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The conference held its media day in October 2018. Conference play began in December 2018 and concluded in March 2019.
| 2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball season | |
|---|---|
| League | NCAA Division I |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | November 2018 through March 2019 |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| TV partner(s) | ESPN, CBSSN, CBS |
| Regular Season | |
| Season champions | Houston |
| Season MVP | Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati |
| Tournament | |
| Champions | Cincinnati |
| Runners-up | Houston |
| 2018–19 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 Houston | 16 | – | 2 | .889 | 33 | – | 4 | .892 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 22 Cincinnati † | 14 | – | 4 | .778 | 28 | – | 7 | .800 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Temple | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 23 | – | 10 | .697 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UCF | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 24 | – | 9 | .727 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Memphis | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 22 | – | 14 | .611 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wichita State | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 22 | – | 15 | .595 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulsa | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 18 | – | 14 | .563 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Florida | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 24 | – | 14 | .632 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UConn | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 16 | – | 17 | .485 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SMU | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Carolina | 3 | – | 15 | .167 | 10 | – | 21 | .323 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tulane | 0 | – | 18 | .000 | 4 | – | 27 | .129 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2019 AAC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Head coaches
Coaching changes
- UConn hired former Rhode Island and Wagner coach Dan Hurley after firing Kevin Ollie following his sixth season as head coach.
- Memphis fired Tubby Smith after 2 seasons and replaced him with alum Penny Hardaway.
- East Carolina head coach Jeff Lebo resigned 6 games into the 2017–18 season and was succeeded on an interim basis by assistant coach Michael Perry. After the season, the school hired former Florida Gulf Coast head coach Joe Dooley, who previously served as head coach of the team from 1995-99.
Coaches
| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Years at school | Overall record | AAC record | AAC titles | NCAA Tournaments | NCAA Final Fours | NCAA Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | Mick Cronin | Murray State | 13 | 292–144 | 85–20 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Connecticut | Dan Hurley | Rhode Island | 1 | 14–16 | 5–12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| East Carolina | Joe Dooley | Florida Gulf Coast | 6 | 68–71 | 3–14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Houston | Kelvin Sampson | Houston Rockets (asst.) | 5 | 111–50 | 57–34 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Memphis | Penny Hardaway | East HS | 1 | 18–12 | 11–7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SMU | Tim Jankovich | SMU (asst.) | 4 | 69–37 | 28–25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| South Florida | Brian Gregory | Michigan State (advisor) | 2 | 29–33 | 11–24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Temple | Fran Dunphy | Penn | 13 | 269–160 | 58–49 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Tulane | Mike Dunleavy | Los Angeles Clippers | 3 | 24–67 | 8–45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tulsa | Frank Haith | Missouri | 5 | 95–64 | 54–35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| UCF | Johnny Dawkins | Stanford | 3 | 66–31 | 33–20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wichita State | Gregg Marshall | Winthrop | 11 | 290–101 | 23–12 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
Notes:
- Overall and AAC records are from time at current school and are through the end of 2018–19 season. NCAA records include time at current school only.
- AAC records only, prior conference records not included.
Preseason
Preseason Coaches Poll
The American Coaches poll was released on October 15, 2018, with UCF predicted to finish first in the AAC.[1]
| Coaches poll | ||
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCF | 114 (6) |
| 2 | Cincinnati | 107 (3) |
| 3 | Houston | 103 (2) |
| 4 | Memphis | 85 (1) |
| 5 | Connecticut | 75 |
| 6 | Temple | 74 |
| 7 | SMU | 63 |
| 8 | Wichita State | 60 |
| 9 | Tulsa | 48 |
| 10 | Tulane | 23 |
| 11 | East Carolina | 22 |
| 12 | USF | 18 |
Preseason All-AAC Teams
| Honor | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Preseason Player of the Year | B. J. Taylor, UCF |
| Preseason All-AAC First Team[2] | |
| Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati | |
| Jalen Adams, Connecticut | |
| Jeremiah Martin, Memphis | |
| Quinton Rose, Temple | |
| B. J. Taylor, UCF | |
| Preseason All-AAC Second Team | |
| Corey Davis, Houston | |
| Jarrey Foster, SMU | |
| Markis McDuffie, Wichita State | |
| Tacko Fall, UCF | |
| Jahmal McMurray, SMU | |
| Sterling Taplin, Tulsa | |
| Preseason Rookie of the Year | Nate Hinton, Houston |
Regular season
Rankings
| Increase in ranking | ||
| Decrease in ranking | ||
| Not ranked previous week |
Conference matrix
This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 18 conference games: one game vs. four opponents and two games against seven opponents.
| Cincinnati | Connecticut | East Carolina | Houston | Memphis | SMU | South Florida | Temple | Tulane | Tulsa | UCF | Wichita State | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs. Cincinnati | – | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Connecticut | 2–0 | – | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. East Carolina | 0–1 | 2–0 | – | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Houston | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | – | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Memphis | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | – | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. SMU | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | – | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. South Florida | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | – | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Temple | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | – | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Tulane | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | – | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Tulsa | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | – | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. UCF | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | – | 1–0 |
| vs. Wichita State | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | – |
| Total | 14–4 | 6–12 | 3–15 | 16–2 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 0–18 | 8–10 | 13–5 | 10–8 |
Player of the week
Throughout the regular season, the American Athletic Conference named a player and rookie of the week.
| Week | Player(s) of the week | Rookie of the week |
|---|---|---|
| November 12, 2018 | Shizz Alston, Temple Markis McDuffie, Wichita State | Jayden Gardner, ECU |
| November 19, 2018 | Aubrey Dawkins, UCF | Tyler Harris, Memphis |
| November 26, 2018 | Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati | Cedrik Alley Jr. |
| December 3, 2018 | Armoni Brooks, Houston | Jayden Gardner (2), ECU |
| December 10, 2018 | DaQuan Jeffries, Tulsa | Tyler Harris (2), Memphis |
| December 17, 2018 | Shizz Alston Jr. (2), Temple Galen Robinson Jr., Houston | Alexis Yetna, USF |
| December 24, 2018 | Jarron Cumberland (2), Cincinnati | Alexis Yetna (2), USF |
| January 7, 2019 | Aubrey Dawkins (2), UCF | Nate Hinton, Houston |
| January 14, 2019 | Nate Pierre-Louis, Temple | Jayden Gardner (3), ECU Alexis Yetna (3), USF |
| January 21, 2019 | Jarron Cumberland (3), Cincinnati | Jayden Gardner (4), ECU |
| January 28, 2019 | Jarron Cumberland (4), Cincinnati | Alexis Yetna (4), USF |
| February 4, 2019 | Markis McDuffie (2), Wichita State | Jamarius Burton, Wichita State |
| February 11, 2018 | Corey Davis Jr., Houston | Cedrick Alley Jr., Houston |
| February 18, 2019 | Shizz Alston Jr. (3), Temple | Jayden Gardner (5), ECU |
| February 25, 2019 | Jeremiah Martin, Memphis | Dexter Dennis, Wichita State |
| March 4, 2019 | Tacko Fall, UCF | Jamarius Burton (2), Wichita State |
| March 11, 2019 | Corey Davis Jr. (2), Houston | Nate Hinton (2), Houston |
Honors and awards
All-AAC Awards and Teams
| Honor | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Player of the Year | Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati |
| Coach of the Year | Kelvin Sampson, Houston |
| Rookie of the Year | Alexis Yetna, USF |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Laquincy Rideau, USF |
| Most Improved Player | Josh Carlton, UConn Nate Pierre-Louis, Temple |
| Sixth Man of the Year | DeJon Jarreau, Houston |
| Sportsmanship Award | Galen Robinson, Jr., Houston |
| All-AAC First Team | |
| Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati* | |
| Corey Davis Jr., Houston* | |
| Jeremiah Martin, Memphis* | |
| B. J. Taylor, UCF | |
| Shizz Alston, Jr., Temple | |
| All-AAC Second Team | |
| Armoni Brooks, Houston | |
| Aubrey Dawkins, UCF | |
| Markis McDuffie, Wichita State | |
| Quinton Rose, Temple | |
| Jahmal McMurray, SMU | |
| All-AAC Third Team | |
| Jalen Adams, UConn | |
| David Collins, UCF | |
| Tacko Fall, UCF | |
| DaQuan Jeffries, Tulsa | |
| Laquincy Rideau, USF | |
| All-Rookie Team | |
| Jayden Gardner, ECU* | |
| Nate Hinton, Houston* | |
| Alexis Yetna, USF* | |
| Tyler Harris, Memphis | |
| Dexter Dennis, Wichita State |
* Unanimous Selection
Postseason
American Athletic Conference tournament
| First round Thursday, March 14 | Quarterfinals Friday, March 15 | Semifinals Saturday, March 16 | Championship Sunday, March 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Houston | 84 | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Connecticut | 45 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | South Florida | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Connecticut | 80 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Houston | 61 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Memphis | 58 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UCF | 55 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Memphis | 79 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Memphis | 83 | |||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Tulane | 68 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Houston | 57 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Cincinnati | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Cincinnati | 82 | |||||||||||||||||
| 10 | SMU | 74 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Tulsa | 65 | |||||||||||||||||
| 10 | SMU | 74 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Cincinnati | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Wichita State | 63 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Temple | 74 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Wichita State | 80 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Wichita State | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
| 11 | East Carolina | 57 | |||||||||||||||||
NCAA Tournament
The winner of the AAC tournament, Cincinnati, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
| Seed | Region | School | First Four | First Round | Second Round | Sweet Sixteen | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | West | Houston | N/A | defeated (14) Georgia State, 84–55 | defeated (11) Ohio State, 74–59 | eliminated by (2) Kentucky, 58–62 | |||
| 7 | South | Cincinnati | N/A | eliminated by (10) Iowa, 72–79 | |||||
| 9 | East | UCF | N/A | defeated (8) VCU, 73–58 | eliminated by (1) Duke, 76–77 | ||||
| 11 | East | Temple | eliminated by (11) Belmont 70–81 | ||||||
| W–L (%): | 0–1 (.000) | 2–1 (.667) | 1–1 (.500) | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) Total: 3–4 (.429) |
NIT
Memphis and Wichita State received at-large bids to the NIT.
| Seed | Bracket | School | First round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | TCU | Memphis | defeated (6) San Diego, 74–60 | eliminated by (2) Creighton, 67-79 | |||
| 6 | Indiana | Wichita State | defeated (3) Furman, 76–70 | defeated (2) Clemson, 63–55 | defeated (1) Indiana, 73–63 | eliminated by (5) Lipscomb, 64–71 | |
| W–L (%): | 2–0 (1.000) | 1–1 (.500) | 1–0 (1.000) | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 (–) Total: 4–2 (.667) |
CBI
South Florida received an at-large bid to the CBI.
| School | First round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals (Best-of-three) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Florida | defeated Stony Brook, 82–79OT | defeated Utah Valley, 66–57 | defeated Loyola Marymount, 56–47 | defeated DePaul, 63–61, 96-100OT, 77-65 |
| W–L (%): | 1–0 (1.000) | 1–0 (1.000) | 1–0 (1.000) | 2–1 (.667) Total: 6–1 (.857) |
NBA Draft
No AAC players were drafted in the 2019 NBA draft.
References
- ^ Groeschen, Tom. "Cincinnati Bearcats edged out for 1st place in AAC men's basketball Media Day poll". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
- ^ "Coaches Select UCF as Preseason Favorite". American Athletic Conference. October 15, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
- ^ "American Athletic Conference - 2019 MBB Championship Bracket" (PDF). theamerican.org.