A LOOK AT THE AAC
The UH/AAC Report: UH loses Battle of the Cougars, plus other blowouts and big wins
Sep 18, 2019, 6:55 am
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This week saw UH falling to Washington State by seven, UCF continuing to roll, a couple blowouts, and Temple picking up a big upset win. Let's dive into week three of the AAC:
UH loses Battle of the Cougars
Losing to a top 25 team on a "neutral site" by seven isn't what you want from a program looking to gain more respect nationally, but it isn't necessarily a bad thing either. The Fighting Holgorsens will get right. Dana said as much on The Bench With John and Lance. While he estimates it could take up to two years. I think it could happen much faster if they get transfers.
Other Key Results
UCF 45, Stanford 27: It's the Golden Knights' world and all other AAC teams are living in it. Good win over a PAC 12 team.
Tulane 58, Missouri State 6: The Green Wave beat up on a lesser talented team in a tune up before their Thursday night showdown with UH.
Temple 20, Maryland 17: The Owls threw a cold bucket of ice water on one of the hottest teams in the country. They held the #21 ranked Terps 54 points under their early season average.
Navy 42, ECU 10: The Midshipmen picked up the first conference win of the season by besting the Pirates. They even outpassed the Pirates 153 to 138.
Memphis 42, South Alabama 6: The Tigers continue to roll despite losing NFL talent. This team will be one to watch this season.
Stars of the week
Tyjae Spears, RB, Tulane: The freshman had eight carries for 89 yards and a touchdown. He added one catch that went for an 88 yard touchdown. Not bad for your third collegiate game.
Dillon Gabriel, QB, UCF: He completed 73% of his passes for 347 yards and four touchdowns against Stanford at home. This performance makes the loss of McKenzie Milton sting a lot less.
Temple's Defense: The Owls held the high scoring Terps to 3.5 yards per rush, 4.6 yards per pass attempt, and only 17 points. Considering Maryland scored 79 and 63 in their first two games respectively, I was impressed.
Five games to watch this week
UH vs Tulane
UCF vs Pitt
SMU vs TCU
Temple vs Buffalo
UConn vs Indiana (Indiana is a -27 favorite. Who's taking the Huskies and the points?)
Three players to watch this week
Dillon Gabriel, UCF: Coming off last week's performance against a Power Five school at home, can Gabriel replicate or one up himself on the road against another Power Five School?
TJ McDaniel & Xavier Jones, SMU: The two running backs combined for 267 yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries last week against TX State. TCU offers a much different type of opponent as they allow only 62 yards a game on the ground.
UH Offense: The Tulane defense gives up 14.7 points, 181 yards passing and 95 on the ground on a per game basis so far in this young season. That's a stingy defense to go against considering the Coogs offense has struggled to get going and rev up to full potential.
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Amen Thompson had 21 points and 11 rebounds and the Houston Rockets had a dominating second half to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 109-97 on Thursday night to open a home-and-home set.
Alperen Sengun added 22 points, eight assists and three steals, and Tari Eason scored 21 points as the Rockets snapped a three-game losing streak. They had lost their last eight road games.
Trey Murphy III scored 26 points to lead the Pelicans. Zion Williamson had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Thompson had 12 points in the second half, including a dunk to cap the Rockets' opening spurt right out of the break that put them ahead for the first time — and for the rest of the game. They later had a 12-0 run in the third quarter.
When Houston trailed by double figures in the first quarter, Thompson had a highlight two-handed slam. He went around rookie Yves Missi and made a double-clutch move to get the dunk.
Takeaways
Rockets: Houston, currently the fifth seed in the Western Conference, is 11-3 against division foes this season.
Pelicans: Williamson was only 5-of-15 shooting from the field, but did hit 10 of 12 free throws.
Key moment
The Rockets never led until a 9-1 run in the first two minutes of the second half, a quick spurt that Thompson capped with a dunk. They led the rest of the way, going ahead by as many as 17 points.
Key stat
Thompson had eight dunks.
Up next
The Rockets and Pelicans play again Saturday night, this time in Houston.