No. 3 Houston and Wichita State both picked up victories in American Athletic Conference men's basketball action on Sunday, February 5.

Sunday, February 5
Wichita State 86, Tulsa 75 - Box Score
No. 3 Houston 81, Temple 65 - Box Score

Wichita State 86, Tulsa 75 - Box Score
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 19 points as Wichita State beat Tulsa 86-75 on Sunday.

Pierre was 8-of-18 shooting (3 for 11 from distance) for the Shockers (12-11, 5-6 American Athletic Conference). James Rojas scored 17 points and added nine rebounds. Jaykwon Walton shot 6 for 12 (2 for 5 from 3-point range) and 3 of 5 from the free throw line to finish with 17 points.

The Golden Hurricane (5-17, 1-10) were led in scoring by Tim Dalger, who finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Sam Griffin added 14 points for Tulsa. BB Knight also had 13 points.

Wichita State took the lead with 13:54 left in the first half and did not give it up. Pierre led his team in scoring with 14 points in the first half to help put them ahead 45-26 at the break. Wichita State was outscored by Tulsa in the second half by eight points, with Walton scoring a team-high 11 points in the final half.

No. 3 Houston 81, Temple 65 - Box Score
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jarace Walker scored 23 points, Marcus Sasser had 13 and No. 3 Houston earned retribution against Temple with an 81-65 win on Sunday night.

The Owls failed in their bid for a second upset after they toppled the Cougars from No. 1 in the AP men’s college basketball poll with a 56-55 win last month in Houston.

The Cougars (22-2, 10-1 American Athletic Conference) are now poised to regain the top spot in the AP poll after a dominant second half in Philly. No. 1 Purdue lost to Indiana and No. 2 Tennessee lost to Florida, leaving an opening for Houston to ascend to No. 1 on Monday.

Khalif Battle led Temple (14-10, 8-3) with 24 points.

Temple has traditionally struggled to draw a full house at Liacouras Center, even for games that included city rivals or Top 25 teams or in seasons full of NCAA Tournament promise. The arena was packed Sunday, and Owls students swayed behind the basket from the opening tip.

Temple gave fans plenty of reason to cheer with nine 3-pointers in the first half. Battle hit a 3 for a 26-25 lead, Zach Hicks hit one for a three-point lead and Damian Dunn buried one that sent the Owls into halftime ahead 37-33.

Unlike the first game, the Owls couldn’t take it to the wire.

Playing the biggest home game in coach Aaron McKie’s four seasons, the Owls wilted offensively and didn’t have the defensive chops to slow Houston. The Cougars burst the game open with a 13-0 run to open the second half and never let the Owls make a serious run the rest of the way.

Consider, in the first game, Temple did not make a bucket over the final 7:18 and was 5 of 21 from the field in the second half. Yet the offensive woes were offset by holding Houston to 34% shooting.

When Walker hit a 3 for a 56-48 lead Sunday with 8:47 left, it was good enough for one more point than Houston scored in the first game. They had 25 more in them.