Waiting in the Wings: UCF loses cool at Tulsa, Tulane runs past SMU

UCF lost at Tulsa last night, 66-61. UCF was ice cold shooting in the first half, but good defense kept it close the entire way. A late chance at a breakthrough was squashed as tempers flared. Following several questionable offensive fouls, both Marcus Jordan and Keith Clanton got called for technicals for complaining to the referees with 0:15 left in the game to put it out of reach.

Keith Clanton had 15 points and 11 rebounds. A.J. Rompza had 11 points. Tristan Spurlock had 10 points and 7 rebounds off the bench.

Meanwhile, Southern Methodist lost at Tulane, 80-74. SMU kept a lead throughout the first half, but the Green Wave ran them over half-way through the second half, and they never looked back. The Mustangs were outscored 63-49 in the second half. It became a free-throw contest late, but the lead was simply insurmountable.

Robert Nyakundi led the Mustangs with 26 points. Jeremiah Samarrippas had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Again, their bench scored only 5 points.

On Saturday night, SMU (10-10, 2-4) will host Tulsa (12-9, 5-2), UCF (15-5, 5-2) will host Southern Miss (18-3, 5-1), and Houston (10-9, 2-4) will host UTEP (10-10, 3-3).