The American Athletic Conference had three men's basketball teams in action Thursday (Nov. 21), with USF and UConn picking up wins. UConn advanced to the semifinals of the Charleston Classic, while Tulane moves to the consolation bracket of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.

Mississippi State 80, Tulane 66 - Box Score

CONWAY, S.C. (AP) -- Freshman Iverson Molinar scored a season-high 21 points and Mississippi State beat Tulane 80-66 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.

Tyson Carter added 16 points and 11 rebounds, Reggie Perry scored 18 points, and the Bulldogs (5-0) shot 61% overall and made 13 of 19 shots in the second half.

''We've got guys who are capable of shooting,'' Carter said, ''and tonight was just a good night for Iverson and Reggie Perry.''

Mississippi State never trailed, established a 41-16 rebounding advantage, led by 25 and withstood a late rally to earn a matchup with No. 17 Villanova on Friday in one semifinal.

''As long as I've been coaching, I've never been in a situation where the rebound situation was what it was,'' Tulane coach Ron Hunter said. ''We were absolutely dominated. ... You just aren't going to win many games that way. ... It's just, we had a lot missed shots.''

Christion Thompson and K.J. Lawson each scored 12 points and Jordan Walker finished with 11 for the Green Wave (3-1) in their first loss under Hunter. Tulane used a late 16-5 run and pulled to 75-61 on Lawson's layup with just under 3 minutes left. D.J. Stewart countered with a three-point play with 2:17 to play to put Mississippi State back up by 17.

USF 69, Wofford 55 - Box Score

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- David Collins had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and USF beat Wofford 69-55 on Thursday night.

Justin Brown scored 16 points, including three 3-pointers, and Laquincy Rideau added 11 points for South Florida (2-2).

Nathan Hoover had 11 points for the Terriers (2-4), who have now lost four consecutive games. 

UConn 79, Buffalo 68 - Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- Brendan Adams had a career-high 20 points and Christian Vital added 16 points and 10 rebounds as UConn held off Buffalo 79-68 at the Charleston Classic on Thursday night.

The win by the Huskies (3-1) sets up a Big East past, present and future matchup with No. 18 Xavier on Friday night as former league heavyweight UConn faces current Big East beast in the Musketeers with the winner advancing the tournament finals.

The schools will soon be league rivals as UConn has announced a return to the Big East.

The Huskies rallied back from seven points down in the opening half and gained control midway through the second with a 15-9 run helped by the debut of Huskies freshman guard James Bouknight.

Bouknight, who missed UConn's first three games as he dealt with ramifications and charges from a September traffic accident, played some impactful minutes during the Huskies charge. He took a perfect pass from Adams as he skied for a layup, then fought off two defenders to put back a miss and put UConn ahead 58-49

The Bulls (2-2) closed to 65-62 on Davonta Jordan's foul shot with 4:07 left. But Adams followed with his second 3-pointer of the game and Buffalo could not get closer than four points the rest of the way.

Adams, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, surpassed his previous high of 15 points set in a win over Sacred Heart earlier this month.

Josh Carlton also had a double-double for the Huskies with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Buffalo led by as many as seven points in the opening half. The Bulls were still up 32-27 with three minutes to go when the Huskies rallied to finish the half on a 7-2 surge. Vital closed things with a close-in bucket to tie the game 34-all at the half.

Antwain Johnson and Josh Mballa each had 15 points to lead Buffalo.