No. 25/25 SMU moved into first place in the American Athletic Conference standings, while UConn gained ground in the league race with a win Thursday night.
SMU outlasted Houston for a 75-69 win at Hofheinz Pavilion to move to 20-5 and 11-2 in The American. Three Mustangs were in double figures in scoring, led by 17 from F Markus Kennedy. G Nic Moore added 15 points and G Ryan Manuel chipped in 10 for SMU, which shot 53.7-percent from the floor in the contest. G Jherrod Stiggers scored 17 points to lead the Cougars.
UConn cruised to a 70-45 victory over Tulsa at XL Center to improve to 14-9 and 7-4 in The American. G Ryan Boatright led all players with 23 points and eight assists while F Daniel Hamilton had 11 points and 11 rebounds. C Amida Brimah chipped in nine points and seven blocks for the Huskies. G Marquel Curtis had a team-high 15 points for the Golden Hurricane.
The next conference action is Saturday with four games on the schedule. Memphis travels to USF (Noon, ESPNU,) Temple hosts East Carolina (2 p.m., CBSSN,) Tulane is at Cincinnati (2 p.m., ESPNU) and UConn takes on SMU at Moody Coliseum (9 p.m., ESPN.) ESPN’s College Gameday will be on location in Dallas Saturday morning prior to the clash between the Huskies and Mustangs.