All seven American Athletic Conference men's basketball teams picked up victories on the opening night of the 2019-20 season.

Tulsa 80, Houston Baptist 72 - Box Score

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Jeriah Horne had 22 points as Tulsa topped Houston Baptist 80-72 on Tuesday in the third annual season-opening Blackboards & Backboards Game.

Martins Igbanu had 16 points for Tulsa. Brandon Rachal added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Darien Jackson had five steals for the hosts.

Houston Baptist scored the first basket of the game and led by up to eight points before Tulsa closed the first half with a 13-2 run for a 41-38 lead. The Hurricanes had a had a 24-8 advantage in points in the paint and made 14 of 16 free throws. For the game it was 48-20 in the paint and 21 of 27 from the foul line.

Ian DuBose had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies. Jalon Gates added 16 points. Ty Dalton had eight rebounds.

Over 3,300 elementary and junior high school youth representing 22 schools were in attendance for the Hurricane opener. The victory extended Tulsa's non-conference winning streak to 14 games over three seasons.

East Carolina 80, VMI 68 - Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Jayden Gardner scored 28 points as East Carolina topped VMI 80-68 in a season opener on Tuesday night.

VMI led 45-44 when Kamdyn Curfman hit a 3-pointer with 16:22 remaining but Gardner scored the next seven points for East Carolina and the Pirates led the rest of the way.

Tristen Newton added 20 points for the Pirates and Brandon Suggs scored 12.

Greg Parham scored a career-high 23 points for the Keydets. Jake Stephens added 10 points.

Memphis 97, South Carolina State 64 - Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- James Wiseman, the nation's top-rated recruit, had 28 points and 11 rebounds as No. 14 Memphis beat South Carolina State 97-64 on Tuesday night.

Fellow freshman Precious Achiuwa added 14 points and eight rebounds for Memphis (1-0). Wiseman connected on 11 of 14 shots and blocked three shots before checking out for good midway through the second half.

Ian Kinard led South Carolina State (0-1) with 13 points, and Jahmari Etienne scored 11.

Memphis controlled all aspects of the game, from rebounding to defense. By the early minutes of the second half the Tigers' lead had reached 21, and they continued to stretch the advantage while coasting the rest of the way.

It didn't take long for Wiseman, who missed the entire preseason dealing with injuries, to show why he was the top prize in the nation's No. 1 recruiting class. From the opening play, when he scored inside, to alley-oops and rebound putbacks, Wiseman dominated.

But at least for the first half, the Bulldogs stayed in the game thanks to early 3-point shooting and Memphis' inability to connect from outside the arc. The Tigers missed their first six shots from 3-point range.

Still, Wiseman was the key. By halftime, he already had 20 points and eight rebounds. Memphis' defense had held South Carolina State to 39.3% shooting, even after the Bulldogs made their first five shots.

All of that translated to a 50-32 lead for the Tigers at halftime.

USF 70, Arkansas Pine-Bluff 41 - Box Score

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- David Collins had 18 points as USF easily defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 70-41 on Tuesday night in a season opener.

Laquincy Rideau had 10 points and 10 rebounds for South Florida.

USF returns 12 players and four starters from last season's record-breaking team. USF set a school record with 24 wins last season while winning the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) championship title.

Shaun Doss and Markedric Bell each scored 10 points for the Golden Lions, who turned it over 21 times.

SMU 74, Jacksonville State 65 - Box Score

DALLAS (AP) -- Tyson Jolly totaled 21 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals to propel SMU to a 74-65 victory over Jacksonville State on Tuesday night in a season opener for both teams.

Isiaha Mike scored 14 points for the Mustangs. Feron Hunt added 13 points and nine rebounds, while Ethan Chargois scored 10.

Jacara Cross and reserve De'Torrion Ware topped the Gamecocks with 13 points apiece. Kayne Henry came off the bench to score 10 with eight rebounds.

Temple 70, Drexel 62 - Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – Aaron McKie made his debut as the Temple men's basketball head coach Tuesday night a successful one as the Owls held off city-foe Drexel for a 70-62 win in front of 7,025 fans at the Liacouras Center.

Temple looked equally good and bad during their season-opener, making athletic plays like a first half tomahawk dunk by senior Quinton Rose while making unforced turnovers that kept them from pulling away from the upstart Dragons.

Temple made 11 steals in the contests while forcing 17 Drexel turnovers.  On the flipside, the Dragons won the battle of the boards, 46-39, and pulled down 16 offensive caroms.

With the score deadlocked (31-31) at the half, junior Nate Pierre-Louis took over for the Owls.  He scored 12 of his 14 second half points over a 10-minute stretch to lift Temple to a 54-42 advantage.

Drexel hung around and eventually cut the deficit to five points, 65-60, with just over a minute to play, but a three-point play by senior guard Alani Moore II pushed it back to 68-60 and the Owls coasted home from there.

Wichita State 68, Omaha 54 - Box Score

WICHITA, Kan. -- Trey Wade became the first Shocker newcomer in 20 years to debut with a double-double, and Wichita State pulled away for a 68-54 victory over Omaha Tuesday night at Charles Koch Arena.
 
WSU (1-0) won its season-opener for the 17th time in 18 years.
 
Wade – a 6-foot-6 junior forward – finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes. He's the first WSU player since O.J. Robinson (13 pts, 11 reb vs. McNeese State on Nov. 19, 1999) to post a double-double stat line in his first game as a Shocker.
 
Dexter Dennis added 17 points and nine boards while playing a team-high 35 minutes. He was 5-of-9 from three.
 
Grant Sherfield finished with 12 points and six assists with just one turnover.

Fellow freshman Tyson Etienne supplied nine points off the bench on 3-of-8 three-point shooting.
 
Ayo Akinwole paced Omaha (0-1) with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Goddard Eisenhower product Matt Pile pulled 15 rebounds and scored six points for the Mavericks.
 
Ahead 31-25 at halftime, WSU created separation early in the second half. Back-to-back Dennis threes keyed a 10-2 push that upped the margin to 14, and the Shockers led by double-digits the rest of the way.