American Athletic Conference men's basketball teams went 2-2 on Sunday (Nov. 29), highlighted by No. 17/18 Houston's top-20 win over No. 14/13 Texas Tech at the site of the 2021 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship, Dickies Arena, in Fort Worth, Texas.
Tulane 68, Lipscomb 66 -
Box Score
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jaylen Forbes and Jordan Walker each scored 16 points and Tulane held off Lipscomb for a 68-66 win on Sunday.
Walker made two free throws with 37 seconds left for a 68-61 lead.
R.J. McGee added 12 points and seven rebounds and Sion James had 11 points for Tulane (2-0).
Romeao Ferguson had 18 points and seven rebounds for the Bisons (1-1). Greg Jones added 18 points and Ahsan Asadullah had 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
No. 17/18 Houston 64, No. 14/13 Texas Tech 53 -
Box Score
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Houston coach Kelvin Sampson heard the Texas Tech-heavy presence of a pandemic-limited crowd for the meeting of the old Southwest Conference foes on a supposedly neutral court in Texas.
The 17th-ranked Cougars still turned aside a rally after running out to a big lead against the No. 14 Red Raiders and coach Chris Beard.
Marcus Sasser scored 17 points playing close to home, Quentin Grimes added 15 and Houston never trailed in a 64-53 victory over Texas Tech on Sunday in a meeting of teams that went deep in the most recent NCAA Tournament in 2019.
Sasser, whose career high of 26 points came at SMU in Dallas as a freshman last season, was 5 of 15 from the field as the Cougars (3-0) overcame 35% shooting at Dickies Arena. That’s where they are set to play in the American Athletic Conference tournament this season near downtown Fort Worth and not far from the Dallas suburb where Sasser grew up.
A 3-pointer from Grimes opened the scoring and put the Red Raiders behind for the first time this season. Texas Tech (2-1) went six minutes without scoring in the first half and trailed by 18 just 12 minutes into the game.
Mac McClung scored 16 points but missed all six of his 3-point tries for the Red Raiders, who shot 22% from long range. Freshman Micah Peavy had 12 points.
Sasser put the Cougars up 53-33 with a 3 before the Red Raiders went an 11-0 run midway through the second half, the first nine points coming on free throws before a dunk by Peavy.
Terrence Shannon Jr. cut Texas Tech’s deficit back to nine with a steal and dunk before McClung’s driving layup was blocked out of bounds by Brison Greshman, who was immediately called for a technical foul, apparently for taunting. McClung’s free throws got the Red Raiders within seven.
Texas Tech had chances to get closer but couldn’t convert before Houston regained control and kept the lead around 10 the rest of the way. The Cougars scored their last 11 points on free throws, going 11 of 14 from the line over the final 6:43.
Tramon Mark had 11 points, while DeJon Jarreau scored eight points while leading Houston with nine rebounds and five assists. Justin Gorham had nine points and seven rebounds.
South Carolina 69, Tulsa 58 - Box Score
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jermaine Couisnard scored 20 points, AJ Lawson added 17 points, and South Carolina beat Tulsa 69-58 on Sunday in the Hall of Fame Classic.
South Carolina trailed 51-49 with 10:47 left after Tulsa’s 11-3 run. But the Gamecocks answered with a 15-0 spurt —with five points from Lawson — to push their lead into double figures for the rest of the way.
Tulsa went scoreless for nine-plus minutes in the second half, missing 13 consecutive field goals.
Couisnard and Lawson, who led the Gamecocks last season with 13.4 points a game, each made four 3-pointers as South Carolina (1-1) was 9 of 23 from distance. Keyshawn Bryant had his streak of six straight games in double-figure scoring snapped as he finished with two points in 18 minutes.
The teams combined for 44 turnovers.
Brandon Rachal scored 14 points for Tulsa (0-2), and Keyshawn Embery-Simpson and Elijah Joiner each added 11 points. Joiner also grabbed seven rebounds and Embery-Simpson scored all of his points in the first half. Tulsa was just 4 of 17 from 3-point range.
South Carolina is scheduled to play at Houston on Saturday, while Tulsa opens its home schedule against UT Arlington on Friday.
Virginia Tech 76, USF 58 -
Box Score
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Tyrece Radford scored 21 points, Cody Pemsl came off the bench to spark a breakaway run and Virginia Tech wrapped up a tumultuous three-game stay at Bubbleville with a 76-58 defeat of USF Sunday night.
Keve Aluma added 12 points for the Hokies, Hunter Cattoor added 13 while Pemsl and Cartier Diarra scored 10 each. Virginia Tech shot 54% from the floor with 11 assists on 27 baskets.
Virginia Tech (3-0) was caught up in the COVID-19 drama at Bubbleville as Temple, originally scheduled as its second game, went into quarantine after a player tested positive. The Owls were replaced at the last minute with Villanova, ranked No. 3 in the AP Top 25 poll.
Virginia Tech toppled the Wildcats in overtime.
David Collins scored 10 points for the Bulls (1-2) and, making 3 of 6 from the free throw line. Caleb Murphy scored 11 points and Michael Durr 10 points with seven rebounds for South Florida.
Aluma hit a 3 at the halftime buzzer for a 36-23 lead, closing with a 15-5 run over the last seven minutes to break open what had been a tight game. Pemsl scored six points in the breakaway run.
The teams had not played since 1995 when both were in the Metro Conference. Tech’s coach Mike Young had been 0-3 against USF’s Brian Gregory, facing him when the two were at other schools.