Houston inched closer to the American Athletic Conference men's basketball regular season title with a win on Sunday, Feb. 27.

Sunday, February 27
Houston 75, SMU 61 - Box Score
Memphis 81, Wichita State 57 - Box Score
Temple 75, Tulane 70 - Box Score

Houston 75, SMU 61 - Box Score
HOUSTON -- — Fabian White Jr. had 21 points and nine rebounds and Josh Carlton added 19 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 14 Houston to a 75-61 win over SMU on Sunday.

Taze Moore chipped in 11 points, and Jamal Shead finished with 10 points and 11 assists for Houston (24-4, 13-2 American Athletic Conference).

"We had an advantage inside with Josh and Fabian," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. "The good news is that we exploited it. We tried to really attack them inside. … It was our game plan to get the ball inside and attack the offensive glass."

Houston owned a 48-30 advantage in points in the paint, shot 45% and had a 49-25 advantage in rebounds in their fourth straight win. The Cougars also grabbed 21 offensive rebounds and turned them into 18 second-chance points.

Houston entered ranked 13th in nation in offensive rebounds, averaging more than 13 per game.

"Sometimes you have to play to your identity," Sampson said. "Our kids defend and rebound. We are not a great shooting team. We are kind of hit and miss at the free throw line. We are hit and miss at the 3-point line, but defensive rebounding is something that consistently we have been good at."

Kendric Davis scored 19 points and Michael Weathers had 10 for the Mustangs (20-7, 11-4). SMU shot 39% and struggled on 3-pointers, hitting four of 21.

SMU coach Tim Jankovich said Sunday's game had a similar feel to SMU's win over Houston on Feb. 9 where the Mustangs rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half.

"It felt much the same except when it just became apparent that we just can't get a defensive rebound," Jankovich said. "Yes, offensively, we didn't shoot the ball well. I give Houston a lot of credit. I thought their defense was outstanding.

"The game was rebounding. They dominated the boards. Every timeout, the last nine timeouts that's all we were begging, and we couldn't get it done."

Houston has a two-game lead over the Mustangs for first place in the AAC heading into the final week of the regular season.

"Just win this game," White said of the Cougars' mentality coming in. "This was for the conference championship. It's one versus two. Just try to win this game by any means."

Houston used a 23-6 run to push its lead to 27-10 midway through the first half on a layup by J'Wan Roberts. The Cougars led by as many as 19 in the first half and took a 37-22 lead into halftime.

SMU cut the lead to 43-35 on a 3-pointer by Emmanuel Bandoumel with 16 minutes remaining, but the Mustangs got no closer than eight when Houston responded with a 15-2 run to increase its lead to 63-42 on layup by Carlton with 6½ minutes to go.

Memphis 81, Wichita State 57 - Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- (AP) — Landers Nolley II had a season-high 22 points as Memphis easily beat Wichita State 81-57 on Sunday.

Nolley II hit 4 of 6 3-pointers.

Jalen Duren had 13 points and three blocks for Memphis (17-9, 11-5 American Athletic Conference), which earned its fifth straight home victory. Lester Quinones added 12 points. DeAndre Williams had 12 points.

Wichita State totaled 17 first-half points, a season low for the team.

Tyson Etienne had 11 points for the Shockers (13-12, 4-9). Ricky Council IV added 10 points. Craig Porter Jr. had seven steals and six assists.

The Tigers improve to 2-0 against the Shockers on the season. Memphis defeated Wichita State 82-64 on Jan. 1.

Temple 75, Tulane 70 - Box Score
PHILADELPHIA -- (AP) — Damian Dunn scored 19 points and Jahlil White added a double-double to help Temple get past Tulane 75-70 on Sunday.

White finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Owls (16-10, 9-6 Amterican Athletic Conference), who have won five straight at home. Tai Strickland and Zach Hicks added 15 points each. Hicks added eight rebounds.

Jaylen Forbes had 19 points for the Green Wave (12-13, 9-7). Jalen Cook added 14 points. Kevin Cross had 13 points and eight rebounds.

The Owls evened the season series against the Green Wave. Tulane defeated Temple 92-83 on Feb. 12.