Both Houston and Wichita State picked up key road victories on Sunday (Dec. 8) in American Athletic Conference men's basketball action.

Houston 76, South Carolina 56 - Box Score

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Not everything's come easily for Quentin Grimes at Houston.

In fact, Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson had to remind his young, rising star what color his teammates were wearing. “He kept throwing to the other team,” Sampson said of Grimes' seven turnovers.

Grimes more than made up for that with 24 points as Houston opened fast and kept pushing forward for its third straight victory in a 76-56 win over South Carolina on Sunday.

Grimes is a 6-foot-5 transfer sophomore from Kansas who is making himself essential to the Cougars (5-2) this season.

“It's a big one for us coming in for a road win against the SEC," Grimes said.

Nate Hinton added 17 points and 11 rebounds for Houston, which quickly took control of the first meeting between the schools in 29 seasons.

The Cougars started with a 7-0 burst and rarely let up.

The team's leading scorer at 16.8 points a game coming in, Grimes had 16 of his points in the second half as the Cougars maintained a double-digit lead throughout.

“We just stayed in attack mode," Grimes said. “We didn't want to let our foot come up off the gas."

Grimes went for 20 or more points in his second straight game and the third time in Houston's past five contests.

Hinton helped Houston build its large lead, hitting two of his three 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the opening half as the Cougars went into the break ahead 39-27.

The built the margin to 15 points just three minutes into the second half on Grimes' basket from beyond the arc.

The Gamecocks (6-4) could not respond in losing for the third time in the past five games.

Houston started with a 7-0 burst and increased that edge throughout the opening half.

The Gamecocks cut things to 14-12 on Justin Minaya's 3-pointer 10 minutes before the half. That's when the Cougars closed the period with a 25-15 surge to take a 12-point lead at the break.

Houston's relentless attack had South Carolina on its heels much of the period. The Gamecocks struggled to find points, going 10 of 33 from the field (30.3%) and just 2 of 6 on foul shots.

Nate Hinton had 17 points, all but four coming in the first half, and 11 rebounds for the Cougars.

Maik Kotsar had 12 points and A.J. Lawson had 10 for South Carolina, which has lost three of its past five games.

“They came at us and we couldn't respond,” said Kotsar, a senior. “We need to be better at responding and that comes down to (player) leadership.”

Saint Louis 86, Tulane 62 - Box Score

PHOENIX (AP) -- Gibson Jimerson had 22 points as Saint Louis defeated Tulane 86-62 on Sunday in the Jerry Colangelo Classic.

Demarius Jacobs had 18 points for Saint Louis (8-1), which earned its fifth straight victory. Hasahn French added 18 points. Jordan Goodwin had 12 points for Saint Louis.

K.J. Lawson had 18 points for the Green Wave (7-2), whose four-game win streak was broken. Nic Thomas added 16 points. Teshaun Hightower had 12 points.

Wichita State 80, Oklahoma State 61 - Box Score

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- After getting outrebounded by a 48-31 margin in a 75-63 loss to West Virginia on Nov. 27, Wichita State made that part of the game a point of emphasis and it paid off on Sunday.

Tyson Etienne scored 19 points and had four assists, and Wichita State won the rebounding battle 42-31, while defeating Oklahoma State 80-61.

Erik Stevenson had 13 points and six rebounds, while Jaime Echenique also scored 13 points in just 10 minutes of action, for Wichita State (8-1). Jamarius Burton contributed seven points, eight rebounds, 11 assists and three steals.

''I was just getting out there and my teammates were finding me,'' said Etienne, a freshman who had his second-highest point total of the season. ''I was just shooting the ball with confidence, not doing anything different, just playing my game.''

The Shockers shot 82.4% from the floor (14 of 17) over the first 12-plus minutes of the second half, extending a 38-31 halftime lead to 29 points, before putting in their reserves down the stretch. Over the course of the second half, Wichita State's rebounding advantage was 21-13.

''Any time you can go on the road against a program like that, and get a win like that, it's special,'' said Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall. ''Our team really performed well. We played a beautiful brand of basketball for the great majority of the game. Congratulations to my guys. We turned the tables on the glass from the West Virginia game, which was a big key for us.''

Lindy Waters scored 11 points to lead Oklahoma State (7-2), one game after he connected for a career-high 30 points in an 81-74 loss to Georgetown. Cam McGriff added 10 points and seven rebounds.

''Credit to Wichita State, they physically manhandled us in a lot of ways, particularly as it relates to rebounding the ball,'' said Cowboys coach Mike Boynton. ''We didn't respond and therefore the result. Losses are never easy to take but certainly this one, just the way the game went, is more disappointing than anything.

''I think they pursued the basketball more aggressively than we did. They brought the fight to us, we didn't necessarily fight back strongly enough. It's a great lesson. A hard one but a good one.''

The Cowboys have now lost two in a row without starting point guard Isaac Likekele, who averages 13.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.9 steals per game, but sat out again due to illness.

For Oklahoma State, which won the NIT Season Tip-off Championship with a dominant 78-37 triumph over Ole Miss on Nov. 29 in Brooklyn, it was a reminder that the young team that went 12-20 last season still has a long way to go.

''A week ago today, people felt like maybe we had arrived, and obviously, that's not the case,'' Boynton said. ''We've got to get back to the drawing board. There's a lot of room for growth for this team.''