The American Athletic Conference had nine men's basketball teams in action Saturday (Jan. 18), as Houston and Tulsa both improved to 4-1 in league play.

Tulsa 67, Tulane 54 - Box Score

NEW ORLEANS - (AP) - Martins Igbanu scored 19 points and made 11 of 12 free throws as Tulsa shot 59% in the second half and beat Tulane, 67-54, on Saturday for its third straight win.

Jeriah Horne scored 16 points and Brandon Rachal added 16 with seven rebounds for the Golden Hurricane (12-6, 4-1 American Athletic Conference). Elijah Joiner had seven rebounds and four assists.

Tulane scored 28 points in the second half, a season low for the team, and finished shooting 38% from the floor (21 of 55).

K.J. Lawson had 15 points and six rebounds for the Green Wave (10-8, 2-4). Teshaun Hightower added 14 points and Christion Thompson had 10.

Tulsa plays Memphis at home on Wednesday. Tulane takes on East Carolina on the road next Saturday.

Houston 65, No. 16 Wichita State 54 - Box Score

WICHITA. Kan. (AP) -- It was the type of validating victory that made Houston coach Kelvin Sampson get a bit reflective.

After the Cougars emphatically took down No. 16 Wichita State, 65-54, on Saturday, beating a ranked team in a very difficult environment, Sampson thought back to this season's origins.

''I could see in November where we were going to be pretty good, but we weren't very good in November,'' he said. ''And then I could see in December again where we were going to be pretty good.''

The Cougars can officially be considered pretty good.

Houston (14-4, 4-1 American) built a 49-27 lead early in the second half behind balanced scoring a clinical defense. Fabian White scored 14 points to lead the Cougars, and DeJon Jarreau had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Marcus Sasser and Quentin Grimes scored 10 each for Houston.

But holding Wichita State (15-3, 3-2 American) to 22 points below its season average and to just one double-digit scorer (Tyson Etienne with 10) was the Cougars' biggest achievement.

''We did a really good job on their shooters,'' Jarreau said. ''I thought we just played to our culture, rebounding a defense.''

It started right away as the Cougars led 35-25 at halftime, allowing the Shockers to make just four of 18 shots inside the 3-point arc.

A Wichita State team looking to bounce back at home from its second loss of the season managed just 25 first-half points.

''Today, they came in and just manhandled our team,'' Shockers coach Gregg Marshall said. ''Manhandled us.''

The Cougars really blew things open in the first seven minutes of the second half. Houston led 49-27 after Brison Gresham's dunk with 12:56 remaining.

''When someone broke down defensively, someone was there to cover for them,'' Sampson said. ''When we doubled in the post, we were ready behind the double team. It was just great team defense.''

Things were so bad for the flustered Shockers, Marshall took a time-out, something he is notoriously hesitant to do.

''We're taking bad shots, making bad decisions,'' Marshall said. ''We're trying to do it ourselves as opposed to getting someone a good shot. That's just not going to work.''

Wichita State would finally wake up and rally. After missing 19 of its first 23 two-point shots, the Shockers made six of their final eight. They got as close as nine twice in the final two minutes before the Cougars sealed the game at the free throw line.

''I don't care how much we were up, I will take an 11-point win here every time,'' Sampson said.

UCF 55, USF 54 - Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Dazon Ingram sank 3 of 4 free throws in the final 53 seconds and UCF closed the game on a 6-0 run to fend off USF, 55-54, on Saturday.

Justin Brown's 3-pointer with 2:14 remaining in the game gave South Florida a 54-49 lead. Matt Milon answered with a 3-pointer to pull the Knights (11-7, 2-4 American Athletic Conference) within 54-52. Ingram made 1 of 2 foul shots to cut the deficit to one and added two foul shots with 13 seconds left to wrap up the victory. The Bulls (8-10, 1-4) missed their final three shots, two of them from 3-point range.

Ingram and Ceasar DeJesus topped UCF with 11 points each. Brandon Mahan snagged 10 rebounds to go with eight points.

Sophomore Michael Durr paced South Florida with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

The Bulls shot just 36% from the floor and 15% from distance (4 of 26). UCF shot 43% overall and 39% from distance (7 of 18).

SMU 68, Temple 52 - Box Score

DALLAS (AP) -- Tyson Jolly had a career-high 25 points plus 14 rebounds as SMU topped Temple 68-52 on Saturday night.

Isiaha Mike had 12 points and 10 rebounds for SMU (13-4, 3-2 American Athletic Conference), which earned its fourth consecutive home victory. Kendric Davis added 10 points and nine assists. Feron Hunt had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Temple totaled 25 second-half points, a season low for the team.

Jake Forrester had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Owls (10-7, 2-4). Nate Pierre-Louis added 12 points and six rebounds. Quinton Rose had 10 points.

No. 14/15 Villanova 61, UConn 55 - Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - (AP) - The "UConn! UConn! UConn!" shouts grew louder as Villanova fans were hushed with their team trailing, the thousands of Huskies die-hards that traveled to Philadelphia injecting the back-and-forth game with that ol' heated Big East feel.

Jermaine Samuels scored 19 points and made the decisive three-point play that pushed No. 14 Villanova ahead for good in a 61-55 victory over Connecticut on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center, home of the NBA's 76ers and NHL's Flyers. Samuels converted a three-point play with 2:51 left for a 52-51 lead and then buried a 3 with 31 seconds remaining for a four-point lead that clinched another tight one for the Wildcats (14-3).

Samuels delivered in the clutch just as he did last month when he hit the winning 3 with 21 seconds left in the same building to knock off then-No. 1 Kansas.

"That's just my teammates having trust in me," Samuels said.

The Huskies (10-7) kept it close against their pending Big East rival and attacked the paint with authority to offset a miserable effort from 3-point range (2 of 15). Christian Vital fought through the lane and tossed in a layup that brought the Huskies within two with 24 seconds left. But a full-court press on Villanova came up empty and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl sank two free throws to secure the Wildcats' 10th win in 11 games.

Collin Gillespie scored 12 points and Villanova made 11 of 23 3-pointers.

Vital led the rebuilding Huskies with 13 points and eight rebounds.

"People better get us now, that's all," Hurley said. "It's coming."

Gillespie averaged 15.1 points and hit a team-high 38% of his 3s entering the game but was shut down in the first half, shooting 0 for 3. Once he started scoring, the Wildcats started rallying. Gillespie hit consecutive 3s and scored 10 straight points to help bring the Wildcats back from six points down to a 43-all tie with 7:43 left.

But Villanova's leading scorer, Saddiq Bey (15.4 points), went scoreless the rest of the game after having nine points in the first 7 minutes.

Bey had the ball knocked loose at midcourt and Vital snagged it for a driving layup and a 37-33 lead. The Huskies scored on 10 straight possessions -- all 2-point buckets -- until a missed 3 ended the streak, but with a six-point lead.

"Attitude is so important to us," Robinson-Early said. "Down by six, we could tank and call it quits or we could talk to teach other and get each other going."

The Wildcats were 10 1/2-point favorites against DePaul and needed overtime Tuesday at home to survive a serious scare and win by four. The Wildcats were 9 1/2-point favorites against UConn and were tested early until they shook off a rut in the beginning and connected from long range. They hit six of their 11 3s in the first half that give another one to the Wildcats.