Houston defeated Tulane on the road to remain in first place of the American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings on Wednesday, Feb. 23.

Wednesday, February 23
East Carolina 64, South Florida 60 - Box Score
SMU 75, Tulsa 61 - Box Score
Houston 81, Tulane 67 - Box Score
UCF 75, Cincinnati 61 - Box Score

East Carolina 64, South Florida 60 - Box Score
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- (AP) — Brandon Suggs had 15 points as East Carolina edged past South Florida 64-60 on Wednesday night.

Tristen Newton had 15 points for East Carolina (14-13, 5-10 American Athletic Conference), which broke its four-game home losing streak. Tremont Robinson-White added 13 points.

Russel Tchewa had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls (7-20, 2-13), who have now lost six straight games. Caleb Murphy added 11 points. Corey Walker Jr. had 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Pirates improve to 2-0 against the Bulls on the season. East Carolina defeated South Florida 65-57 last Thursday.

SMU 75, Tulsa 61 - Box Score
DALLAS --  (AP) — Marcus Weathers tallied 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead SMU to a 75-61 win over Tulsa on Wednesday night, the Mustangs' 14th consecutive home victory.

Kendric Davis had 17 points and seven assists for SMU (20-6, 11-3 American Athletic Conference). Emmanuel Bandoumel added 14 points. Michael Weathers had 11 points and six rebounds.

Jeriah Horne had 24 points for the Golden Hurricane (9-17, 3-12).

The Mustangs improve to 2-0 against the Golden Hurricane for the season. SMU defeated Tulsa 74-69 on Dec. 29.

Houston 81, Tulane 67 - Box Score
NEW ORLEANS -- (AP) — Kyler Edwards and the 14th-ranked Houston Cougars are showing the type of resilience and stamina that coach Kelvin Sampson is gratified to see as the postseason nears.

Edwards scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half as No. 14 Houston took control en route to an 81-67 over recently resurgent Tulane on Wednesday night.

The Cougars' seventh road victory this season came on the heels of a double-overtime triumph at Wichita State just three days earlier.

"This team has a resolve about them and a toughness about them that I really respect," Sampson said. "For those guys to come out and play that hard in the second half when it was winning time – just respect. I'm around these kids every day, so nothing they do surprises me at this point."

Taze Moore punctuated his 18-point performance with a two-handed alley-oop dunk with just more than a minute remaining, and Fabian White Jr. had 12 points and three blocked shots for the Cougars (23-4, 12-2 AAC), who shot 62% in the second half, including 6 of 13 from 3-point range.

"We just told our guys, ‘Don't hesitate. Let it fly. And if it misses, we're going to go attack the offensive glass,'" Sampson said.

Reserve J'Wan Roberts saw extended playing time after starting forward Josh Carlton had early foul trouble, and Roberts responded by grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking two shots for Houston, which outrebounded the Green Wave 43-28.

"It's just really about being ready when your name is called," Roberts said. "My confidence is getting better and I'm just going out there and playing free, not thinking about making mistakes."

Jalen Cook scored 19 points and Kevin Cross added 16 for Tulane (12-12, 9-6), which led by as many as five points during a tight first half, but struggled to stay close during the final 20 minutes. Sion James and Jaylen Forbes each scored 13 for Tulane.

"They're a good basketball team; we've beaten everybody in the league but them," Tulane third-year coach Ron Hunter said. "We played a top 20 team in the country — in my opinion, top 10. ... Remember, they were in the Final Four a year ago."

The intimate, 89-year-old Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse appeared to have virtually all of its 4,100 seats occupied, with a number of fans standing for what had the potential to be a benchmark matchup for the Green Wave. Tulane came in with victories in five of its previous seven games.

The crowd was raucous during the first half, when there were eight lead changes and six ties.

"That was an incredible environment," Hunter said. "We lost a basketball game, but I thought our program won."

Houston closed the first half on an 8-3 run, with Edwards' free throws giving the Cougars a 32-27 halftime lead.

"We had a solid first half," Cook said. "In the second half, we came out like we didn't have any hope. We just have to learn off this."

The Cougars opened the second half with Edwards' 3 and Moore's layup to take their first double-digit lead, and their advantage hovered around 10 points for the remainder of the game, growing as large as 16.

"It was really tough to play at Wichita — two overtimes, and with toughness we got it done," Roberts added. "Same when we came here."

UCF 75, Cincinnati 61 - Box Score
ORLANDO, Fla. -- (AP) — C.J. Walker had 13 points as UCF defeated Cincinnati 75-61 on Wednesday night.

Isaiah Adams had 12 points for UCF (17-9, 9-7 American Athletic Conference), which earned its fifth straight home victory. Cheikh Mbacke Diong added 11 points as did Darius Perry.

David DeJulius had 16 points for the Bearcats (17-11, 7-8). Jeremiah Davenport added 15 points and 12 rebounds. Mike Saunders Jr. had six rebounds.