No. 7/9 Cincinnati and SMU picked up Wednesday-night wins in American Athletic Conference action as the Bearcats scored a road victory at UCF and the Mustangs held off Houston at home.
 
Cincinnati improved to 24-3 overall and 13-1 in The American with a 77-49 win against UCF at CFE Arena in Orlando, Fla. The Bearcats built a 40-18 lead by halftime and held the Knights to 29.6-percent shooting, allowing a 23-point effort by G Sean Kilpatrick to carry Cincinnati to the win.
 
In Dallas, SMU remained unbeaten at home this season as the Mustangs took a 68-64 win against Houston at Moody Coliseum. All 10 SMU players who entered the game contributed to the balanced scoring as G Nic Moore led the way with 16 points. SMU, which improved to 14-0 in home games this season, sits in third place in the American standings.
 
Two more games are on tap for Thursday as No. 22/24 Memphis visits Rutgers (7 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network and No. 21/21 UConn heads to Temple (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2). 
 
Memphis will play its first game in the state of New Jersey since the 1952-53 season. Both head coaches in Thursday’s game were members of Final Four teams as players —Memphis’ Josh Pastner with Arizona in 1997 and Rutgers’ Eddie Jordan with the Scarlet Knights in 1976.
 
Temple will face its third of five straight top-25 opponents when the Owls host UConn. The Huskies hold a 5-3 lead in the series, which dates to the 1950-51 season, but are 0-2 all-time in Philadelphia.