All three American Athletic Conference men's basketball teams in action Sunday (Dec. 22), UConn, ECU and Houston, all picked up wins. 

UConn 88, New Hampshire 62 - Box Score

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Point guard Alterique Gilbert scored 21 points to lead UConn over the University of New Hampshire 88-62 on Sunday.

Gilbert, who had scored a combined nine points over the previous two games, took over early in the second half with his own 9-0 run to make it 52-37 with 15:57 remaining.

''Just confidence and I think it's a mindset as well,'' Gilbert said. ''Just blocking everything out and knowing why you are here. I play the game just to have fun, I have fun with it and I really enjoyed it today.''

The red-shirt junior shot 6-for-12 from the field, 3-for-5 on 3-pointers and 6 of 6 at the foul line. He finished three points shy of his career high (24), which came against Florida State last season.

''Their guards totally dominated us,'' UNH coach Bill Herrion said. ''It was (Christian) Vital early . and then obviously Gilbert went crazy on us in the second half and we had no answers for him.''

Vital added 15 points with a team-high seven rebounds for the Huskies (8-3), who never lost the double-digit lead in the final 15 minutes.

The Huskies shot 65% in the second half and were 5-of-10 on 3-pointers. Gilbert scored 13 points after the break and was key on the 14-3 opening run.

''I think Al had a really good approach, he let the game come to him,'' UConn coach Dan Hurley said. ''He started the game with a mindset, a defensive mindset to start and he was going to get himself going offensively by being a pest defensively.

''He kind of let himself get into the flow that way instead of coming into the game being really offensive minded. I think his approach was great today.''

Freshmen James Bouknight (seven rebounds) and Akok Akok had 14 and 12 points, respectively. UConn was 11-for-24 on 3-pointers.

Nick Guadarrama led UNH (6-6) with 19 points and Jayden Martinez finished with 14.

UConn led 40-36 at the half behind 11 points from Vital and Gilbert's eight. After shooting 1-for-6 to start from the 3-point line, the Huskies finished 6-for-14.

Guadarrama had nine first-half points for UNH, which was also 6-for-14 on 3s.

The Wildcats jumped out to an 18-9 lead with help from four 3-pointers and Hurley called a timeout with 12:29 remaining to settle his Huskies down.

It worked.

Freshman Jalen Gaffney's 3-pointer ignited a 15-0 run that pushed the Huskies ahead 24-18 with 7:56 to play. UNH missed all seven field-goal attempts over a four-minute, 58-second scoreless stretch.

''We just made an emphasis to get after them and run them off the 3-point line,'' Gilbert said. ''And get out in transition a little bit.''

Houston 81, Portland 56 - Box Score

HONOLULU (AP) -- Quentin Grimes had 18 points and six assists as Houston breezed past Portland 81-56 in the Diamond Head Classic on Sunday.

Grimes knocked down 7 of 11 shots from the floor, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range, for the Cougars (8-3). He added five rebounds and two steals. Chris Harris Jr. came off the bench to score 13 on 5-of-8 shooting with five rebounds and three blocks. Fabian White Jr. scored 10.

Malcolm Porter was the only Pilot to score in double figures with 11. Portland (8-5) had just 26 points in the first half, a season low for the team.

The Pilots shot 35% from the floor and 29% from beyond the arc (7 of 24). Houston hit half of its 64 shots but made just 8 of 22 from distance and 9 of 18 at the free-throw line.

ECU 60, Charlotte 56 - Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Jayden Gardner scored 23 points and Tremont Robinson-White scored 18 and East Carolina beat Charlotte 60-56 on Sunday.

Drew Edwards' layup gave Charlotte a 56-55 lead with 91 seconds remaining. Gardner then sank four foul shots in a 20-second span and Robinson-White made 1 of 2 to seal the win.

Gardner and Robinson-White made 12 of the Pirates' 19 field goals and were a combined 16 of 27 from the foul line.

Edwards led the 49ers with 12 points.