AAC Tournament

Thursday through Sunday, XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut.

Defending champion: Louisville

Schedule

Thursday, First Round

No. 9 UCF (12-17) vs. No. 8 East Carolina (13-18), 3:30 p.m.

No. 10 Houston (12-18) vs. No. 7 Tulane (15-15), 6 p.m.

No. 11 USF (9-22) vs. No. 6 UConn (17-13), 8 p.m.

Friday, Quarterfinals

UCF/East Carolina winner vs. No. 1 SMU (24-6), noon.

No. 5 Memphis (18-13) vs. No. 4 Temple (22-9), 2 p.m.

Houston/Tulane winner vs. No. 2 Tulsa (21-9), 7 p.m.

USF/UConn winner vs. No. 3 Cincinnati (22-9), 9 p.m.

Saturday, Semifinals

Friday afternoon winners, 3 p.m.

Friday evening winners, 5 p.m.

Sunday, Final

3:15 p.m.

Players to Watch

Will Cummings, Temple, G, Sr., 6-2 (14.1 ppg., 4.3 apg., 2.1 spg.)

Jaylen Bond, Temple, F, Jr., 6-8 (8.2 ppg., 8.3 rpg.)

Ryan Boatright, Connecticut, G, Sr. 6-0 (17.8 ppg., 4.0 apg.)

Daniel Hamilton, Connecticut, G-F, Fr., 6-7 (10.8 ppg., 7.6 rpg.)

Amida Brimah, Connecticut , C, So. 7-0 (10.8 ppg., 4.8 rpg., 2.4 bpg.)

Octavius Ellis, Cincinnati, F, Jr., 6-10 (10.0 ppg., 7.3 rpg. 2.1 bpg.)

Troy Caupain, Cincinnati, G, So., 6-3 (9.4 ppg., 3.3 rpg.)

Shaq Goodwin, Memphis, F, Jr., 6-9 (9.5 ppg., 7.1 rpg. 1.9 bpg.)

Nic Moore, SMU, G, Jr., 5-9 (14.4 ppg., 5.3 apg., 87.5 FT%)

Markus Kennedy, SMU, F, Jr., 6-9 (11.2 ppg., 6.0 rpg.)

Yanick Moreira, SMU, C, Sr. 6-11 (11.3 ppg., 6.4 rpg., 1.3 bpg.)

James Woodard, Tulsa, G, Jr. 6-3 (14.9 ppg., 4.6 rpg.)

Shaquille Harrison, Tulsa, G, Jr., 6-4 (13.3 ppg., 3.7 apg.)

Louis Dabney, Tulane, G, Jr., 6-3 (13.7 ppg., 3.3 rpg.)

Jherrod Stiggers, Houston, G, Jr., 6-4 (14.1 ppg., 2.5 apg.).

Outlook

SMU won the regular season title by defeating Tulsa, 67-62 on Sunday. The Mustangs were 15-3 in the AAC, while Tulsa was 14-4. SMU, which was a notable NCAA snub last year, doesn't have to worry about earning a berth this time. This is the one team assured a spot, while Tulsa and Cincinnati, the second and third place teams, appear in good position.

Temple went 0-4 against SMU and Tulsa and 1-1 with Cincinnati, and likely needs to at least beat Memphis in its opener to keep realistic NCAA hopes alive.

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