CBB Review hands out awards for each conference tournament in 2024. Up next is the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
Being a top 3-seed in the American Athletic Conference Tournament was a kiss of death for every team. It would have been the top 4-seeds, but UAB broke that up.
Memphis got bounced by a 12-seed Wichita State and a determined 11-seed Temple corraled SMU. 6-seed SMU joined the company of 3-seed Charlotte and 2-seed Florida Atlantic. Temple’s run to the championship game was impressive as they stifled teams and showed true grit and determination.
The semifinal games included 1-seed USF, 2-seed FAU, 4-seed UAB, and 11-seed Temple. FAU and USF had two byes, UAB had one, and Temple had played four games to get into this position to play in the championship.
Hysier Miller set an AAC record for most points in the tournament with 96 points. Yaxel Lendenborg also set a record for rebounds with 38 in three games.Â
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CBB Review American Athletic Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Alejandro Vasquez, UAB
This was a difficult one because a couple of deserving players in Eric Gaines and Yaxel Lendeborg. Gaines and Vasquez each scored 45 points. However, Vasquez was ejected in the first game against Wichita State. He bounced back in fashion, scoring 45 points in just two games, which is impressive. Vasquez also put up a career-high 29 points in the Championship game. He went 11-for-16 from the field, 5-for-6 from 3-point range, and sank both free throws. Vasquez was an offensive boost for the Blazers by shooting over 62% from the field and 60% from 3-point range. Lendeborg was definitely Mr. Consistent, but it’s hard not to give it to the guy who shot lights out.
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Hysier Miller deserves this; however, the loss ruined his chances. He scored 32 points to beat his career-high in the championship game. Miller was the pillar of the Temple team. Temple showed up defensively and had impressive comebacks led by Miller. However, in the Championship, the four previous games wore out this team’s tenacity.
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CBB Review All-American Athletic Conference Tournament First Team
- G: Alejandro Vasquez, UAB – 3 GP (15.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.0 APG, 58.1 FG%)
- G: Hysier Miller, Temple – 5 GP (19.2 PPG, 4.6 APG, 4.2 RPG, 3.2 SPG)
- F: Yaxel Lendeborg, UAB – 3 GP (15.0 PPG, 13.7 RPG, 2.7 APG, 2.3 BPG, 1.0 SPG, 55.2 FG%)
- F: Ezra Ausar, East Carolina – 2 GP (21.0 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.0 SPG, 65.0 FG%)
- C: Vladislav Goldin, FAU – 2 GP (22.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.0 APG, 1.5 BPG, 1.0 SPG, 70.8 FG%)
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UAB’s NCAA Tournament Prediction
Sweet 16
Andy Kennedy’s UAB team has been impressive. His birthday weekend worked out for him. Grabbing the second tournament win and first conference championship in the American Athletic Conference.
This team is exceptionally balanced. With solid guard play from starters Eric Gaines and Efrem “Butta” Johnson, the double-double machine in Yaxel Lendeborg tallied his 19th of the season in the championship game. Christian Coleman is an excellent Blazers wing player, and Alejandro Vasquez can catch fire and boost this team. UAB played Clemson and lost by one but beat Maryland by three and Drake by one. This team has been on a roller coaster ride, but they play for each other and can explode offensively.