UConn and Memphis picked up wins in their respective home finales Thursday night (March 5) in American Athletic Conference men's basketball action. With the win, Tulsa has earned at least a share of the regular season title.

UConn 77, Houston 71 - Box Score
STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- UConn hasn't played in a postseason tournament in four years.

Coach Dan Hurley believes this season's Huskies are good enough to break that streak.

Christian Vital scored 26 points in his final home game and UConn beat No. 21 Houston 77-71 on Thursday night.

Freshman James Bouknight added 17 points and Isaiah Whaley had 13 for the Huskies (18-12, 9-8 American Athletic Conference), who won their fourth straight game, but just their second this season over a ranked opponent.

“We're a good team that's finally learning how to win," Hurley said. “I would think if we continue to play well, we'll get a chance to play somewhere.”

Quentin Grimes scored 24 points and Caleb Mills added 20 for Houston (22-8, 12-5), which fell into a tie for second place in the conference.

UConn took control with a 15-2 run in the second half while Houston's Nate Hinton and DeJon Jarreau dealt with foul trouble.

The Cougars led by seven at the half.

But Hinton picked up his third foul early in the second half and Bouknight converted a four-point play that energized UConn.

A 3-pointer from Vital tied the game at 41 and an off-balance shot by Jalen Gaffney gave UConn its first lead of the half at 47-45.

Jarreau was called for a charge and fouled out with just under six minutes left.

That led to a jumper by Vital at the other end that put UConn up 60-53, part of the decisive run.

“We kind let ourselves get sped up whenever the crowd got into it,” Mills said. “We've got to mature in that aspect of the game.”

Grimes hit a pair of long 3-pointers late that cut the UConn lead to 75-71 with 25 seconds left. But Vital won the game from the foul line.

“I could tell through a lot of possessions that he wasn't going to let us lose," Whaley said. “Especially toward the end, when they started hitting a lot of 3s. He demanded the ball so he could go to the free-throw line, because he wasn't going to let us lose.”

Houston had 71 shots to just 48 for UConn, but the Huskies made 24 of theirs and were 25 of 33 from the foul line. Houston shot 36.6% (26 of 71) and made all 10 of its free throws.

The Cougars scored the game's first five points, but then missed 10 consecutive shots, allowing UConn to go on a 16-0 run over the next seven minutes.

Houston fought back and took the lead at 32-30 on a contested jumper from the left wing by Mills.

Mills and Grimes scored every point in a 10-0 run over the final two minutes of the first half, which was capped by Grimes' 3-pointer from the right baseline at the buzzer.

Memphis 68, Wichita State 60 - Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Precious Achiuwa tallied 14 points and 16 rebounds to lift Memphis to a 68-60 win over Wichita State on Thursday night.

Tyler Harris had 19 points for Memphis (21-9, 10-7 American Athletic Conference). Lester Quinones added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Dexter Dennis had 15 points and six rebounds for the Shockers (22-8, 10-7). Jamarius Burton and Jaime Echenique added 13 points apiece.

The Tigers evened the season series against the Shockers with the win. Then-No. 23 Wichita State defeated then-No. 21 Memphis 76-67 on Jan. 9.