No. 12/14 Houston and SMU each picked up American Athletic Conference wins on Sunday, Jan. 2.

Sunday, January 2
SMU 72, UCF 60 - Box Score
No. 12/14 Houston 66, Temple 61 - Box Score

SMU 72, UCF 60 - Box Score
DALLAS -- (AP) — Kendric Davis had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and SMU defeated UCF 72-60 in American Athletic Conference play on Sunday.

Davis made 9 of 10 from the free-throw line to help the Mustangs (11-3, 2-0 American Athletic Conference) notch their eighth straight victory. Michael Weathers added 19 points, while Marcus Weathers totaled 10 points and eight rebounds. Zach Nutall scored 10.

SMU totaled 27 first-half points, a season low for the team.

Brandon Mahan had 17 points for the Knights (9-3, 1-1), whose five-game win streak came to an end. Cheikh Mbacke Diong had 12 points and seven rebounds, while Darius Perry scored 12.

No. 12/14 Houston 66, Temple 61 - Box Score
PHILADELPHIA -- — Fabian White Jr. had 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Jamal Shead scored 14 points to lead depleted No. 12 Houston past Temple 66-61 on Sunday night.

Houston (12-2, 1-0 American Athletic Conference) had 10 players available and only seven played, which was enough against Temple (7-6, 0-2 AAC), but certainly won't sustain the team through the meat of AAC schedule. Coach Kelvin Sampson was forced to use grad assistants and managers in practice over the last week with so many players out with injuries or in COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

Damian Dunn scored 14 points and Nick Jourdain had 12 for Temple, which made a run at an upset; had the Cougars as 16½-point favorites on the road.

Jahlil White buried a 3 that pulled the Owls to 57-54 with 6 minutes left and Jourdain followed with Temple's 10th 3-pointer to make it 59-57 with 3:53 left in the game.

Houston's Ramon Walker Jr., buried a 3 in front of his own bench as the shot clock expired to keep the Owls at bay.

The Owls also took advantage of Houston's miserable 3-point shooting (4 of 22) to hang tight at home.

The Liacouras Center was nearly empty on Sunday, with a number of factors perhaps the reason, like Temple's winter break, concerns over COVID-19 or years of lackluster basketball. But the small, dedicated crowd stood and cheered when Jeremiah Williams turned a steal into a fastbreak layup that pulled Temple to 42-41.

A second straight Final Four might be improbable for the Cougars without a healthy roster considering guard Kyler Edwards sat out with a sprained ankle, Marcus Sasser will miss the rest of the season after a recent surgery on his left foot and Tramon Mark also having season-ending surgery on his shoulder.