SMU

SMU Falls To Cincinnati In American Tournament Quarterfinals

by Smacker Miles
Stephan Dawson/D210SPORTS

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Cincinnati eliminated SMU from the American Athletic Conference Tournament, beating the Mustangs 74-71. SMU couldn’t get shots to fall, which is. understandable after over a month off due to covid-19 contact tracing. The Mustangs entered the tournament seeded 4th, 1 spot in front of the Bearcats. SMU is now (11-5) overall, and (7-5) in the American. Cincinnati moves to (11-10) overall, including 2 wins over SMU.

The beginning of the game was pretty even, both teams showing up in a big way defensively. With 5 minutes to go in the 1st half, the game was tied at 19. Shortly thereafter, the Bearcats got hot, ending the first half on a 6-0 run and taking a 7-point lead into the break. UC came out of half time even hotter, going on another 6-0 run, building their lead to 13 in a hurry. The lead got as high as 18, before SMU got UC in foul trouble, rallying and cutting the lead to 3 as time expired.

Cincinnati Guard, Jeremiah Davenport was the Bearcats biggest offensive threat, scoring 8 points in the first half and 19 on the day. Statistically, the difference was Cincinnati’s 44% shooting, compared to SMU’s 36%. The Bearcats had 4 players score 10 or more points, while SMU had only 1.

Point guard, Kendric Davis was the Mustangs leading scorer with almost half of their points. He finished with 35 points, nearly doubling his scoring average heading into post-season, which was 17.7 ppg. Davis has been outstanding all season, leading the AAC in assists, making himself an obvious choice for the All-American Conference roster. He’s also received national recognition, earning a spot on the National Player of the Year watch list.

SMU Head Coach, Tim Jankovich said he was proud of his team for their effort and the way they’ve handled adversity this year. Jankovich advocated for his team to have a birth to the NIT, suggesting the committee not hold the Mustangs limited competition against them. 

Cincinnati will play in the Semi Final game on Saturday at 2 pm CT in Dickies Arena in Fort Worth against the #1 seed, Wichita State. The American Tournament Championship game will be Sunday afternoon. 

Smacker graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. While at Texas, Smacker won four Big 12 Championships as part of the Women’s Swimming and Diving team. Smacker knew she wanted to be a sports reporter from a young age, because she’s from a big sports family. Her parents met as college coaches and that lifestyle led to several moves. One of the Miles families’ stops was right here in Dallas, which led to the start of Smacker’s swimming career and her love of our Dallas teams. After college, Smacker made her way back to Dallas to do an internship with the Dallas Cowboys in the fall of 2017. She’s also interned at Longhorn Network, covered breaking news in Baton Rouge and helped start a content company she’s worked with most recently. Smacker can’t wait to reconnect with the Dallas area teams and tell the stories of the athletes and coaches in our community. A Dallas native, Wilkins graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor of arts in journalism and marketing from the Mayborn School of Journalism. Wilkens has worked for major brands and nonprofit organizations throughout the DFW metroplex including the Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Hip Hop Dance Festival, Zerlene Rogers Beauty & Brains, CBS Radio, DERMASCOPE Magazine and more.

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