TicketsCINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati men's basketball team has earned the No. 5 seed in the 2021 American Championship and will face No. 4 seed SMU in quarterfinals action Friday, Mar. 12, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Tipoff is 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
UC (10-10, 8-6 American) is coming off an 82-69 road win at East Carolina on Sunday. Mason Madsen and Jeremiah Davenport scored 19 points each and Keith Williams added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
SMU (11-4, 7-4) hasn't played since a 71-56 road win at East Carolina on Feb. 8 after its last eight games of the season were canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Mustangs' program. Kendric Davis led SMU against the Pirates with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting with eight assists.
SMU SERIES
Friday's matchup will mark the 21st meeting between UC and SMU. UC owns a 15-5 lead overall but the series is tied 2-2 at neutral sites. The Bearcats pushed their win streak in the series to eight consecutive games by defeating the Mustangs 76-69 earlier this season in Dallas (Jan. 7). Five Bearcats scored in double figures at SMU led by Jeremiah Davenport's 18 points and 10 rebounds. The return game in Cincinnati, scheduled for Mar. 4, was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within SMU's program.
UC and SMU have faced off in each of the last three AAC Championship events with the victor going on the win the tournament crown. SMU topped UC in the championship game in 2017, 71-56, at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. UC claimed a pair of quarterfinal wins over SMU in 2018 (61-51 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida) and in 2019 (82-74 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee).
TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
UC has won six consecutive games and eight of its last nine contests at the AAC Championship, having won each of the last two tournament titles. The Bearcats cut down the nets after defeating Houston in 2018 (56-55 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida) and again in 2019 (69-57 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee). The 2020 event was canceled due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In all, UC has won two AAC Tournament titles, played in three tournament championship games and advanced to the semifinals four times in the six-year history of the event.
Cincinnati owns a 9-4 record all-time at the AAC Championship, having won six in a row. UC opponents at the event have included UCF (1-0), UConn (1-3), Houston (2-0), Memphis (1-0), SMU (2-1), Tulsa (1-0) and Wichita State (1-0).
The school record for most consecutive league tournament titles is five when the Bearcats won the Great Midwest Conference tournament crown during all four years of the league (1992-95) before winning the 1996 Conference USA tournament title during their first year in the league.
UC has won 12 league tournament titles in school history: Metro Conference (two: 1976-77); Great Midwest Conference (four: 1992-95); Conference USA (four: 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004) and AAC (two: 2018-19).
UC (10-10, 8-6 American) is coming off an 82-69 road win at East Carolina on Sunday. Mason Madsen and Jeremiah Davenport scored 19 points each and Keith Williams added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
SMU (11-4, 7-4) hasn't played since a 71-56 road win at East Carolina on Feb. 8 after its last eight games of the season were canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Mustangs' program. Kendric Davis led SMU against the Pirates with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting with eight assists.
SMU SERIES
Friday's matchup will mark the 21st meeting between UC and SMU. UC owns a 15-5 lead overall but the series is tied 2-2 at neutral sites. The Bearcats pushed their win streak in the series to eight consecutive games by defeating the Mustangs 76-69 earlier this season in Dallas (Jan. 7). Five Bearcats scored in double figures at SMU led by Jeremiah Davenport's 18 points and 10 rebounds. The return game in Cincinnati, scheduled for Mar. 4, was canceled due to COVID-19 issues within SMU's program.
UC and SMU have faced off in each of the last three AAC Championship events with the victor going on the win the tournament crown. SMU topped UC in the championship game in 2017, 71-56, at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. UC claimed a pair of quarterfinal wins over SMU in 2018 (61-51 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida) and in 2019 (82-74 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee).
TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
UC has won six consecutive games and eight of its last nine contests at the AAC Championship, having won each of the last two tournament titles. The Bearcats cut down the nets after defeating Houston in 2018 (56-55 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida) and again in 2019 (69-57 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee). The 2020 event was canceled due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In all, UC has won two AAC Tournament titles, played in three tournament championship games and advanced to the semifinals four times in the six-year history of the event.
Cincinnati owns a 9-4 record all-time at the AAC Championship, having won six in a row. UC opponents at the event have included UCF (1-0), UConn (1-3), Houston (2-0), Memphis (1-0), SMU (2-1), Tulsa (1-0) and Wichita State (1-0).
The school record for most consecutive league tournament titles is five when the Bearcats won the Great Midwest Conference tournament crown during all four years of the league (1992-95) before winning the 1996 Conference USA tournament title during their first year in the league.
UC has won 12 league tournament titles in school history: Metro Conference (two: 1976-77); Great Midwest Conference (four: 1992-95); Conference USA (four: 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004) and AAC (two: 2018-19).