No. 2 Houston and Wichita State picked up wins in American Athletic Conference men's basketball action on Saturday, November 26.

Saturday, November 26
No. 2 Houston 49, Kent State 44 - Box Score
Wichita State 83, Tarleton State 71 - Box Score
Old Dominion 71, East Carolina 50 - Box Score

No. 2 Houston 49, Kent State 44 - Box Score
HOUSTON (AP) — Marcus Sasser scored 19 points, J’Wan Roberts added 11 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 2 Houston held on to beat Kent State 49-44 on Saturday and give itself an opportunity to take over the No. 1 ranking.

Sasser was 8 of 8 from the free-throw line to overcome a 5-of-16 shooting performance, including 1 of 10 on 3-pointers. Houston (6-0) shot 32% from the floor and was 2 of 17 on 3s.

The Cougars’ defense carried them, holding the Golden Flashes to 24% shooting, including 6 of 29 from beyond the arc. Houston outrebounded Kent State 56-33 and held a 28-18 advantage in points in the paint.

After Malique Jacobs nailed a 3-pointer with 1:05 left to give the Golden Flashes a 44-43 lead, Jamal Shead made a layup to put Houston back ahead with 48 seconds remaining. Jarace Walker blocked a layup by Sincere Carry with 34 seconds left, and Sasser made two free throws with 29 seconds remaining.

Giovanni Santiago and Carry missed 3-point attempts for Kent State, and Sasser got the rebound with 13 seconds left. Sasser made both free throws to ice the game.

VonCameron Davis scored 14 points and Jacobs had 11 points for Kent State (5-2).

Trailing by nine, the Golden Flashes went on an 11-2 run to tie it at 41 on a 3-pointer by Davis with three minutes left, but Sasser answered with a jumper with 1 1/2 minutes left to put Houston up by two.

Wichita State 83, Tarleton State 71 - Box Score
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Gus Okafor’s 27 points off of the bench sparked Wichita State to an 83-71 victory over Tarleton on Saturday night.

Okafor added eight rebounds for the Shockers (4-2). Kenny Pohto finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. Craig Porter Jr. finished 5 of 7 from the field, scoring 11 and blocking five shots.

The Texans (3-3) were led by Jakorie Smith with 19 points and three steals. Freddy Hicks and Lue Williams both scored 14. Hicks added eight rebounds and five assists.

Wichita State entered halftime up 44-32. Okafor paced the team in the first half with 14 points.

Old Dominion 71, East Carolina 50 - Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. -- East Carolina fell to Old Dominion, 71-50, Saturday at Chartway Arena.

Javon Small led the Pirates (5-2) with 13 points, while RJ Felton added eight.

Ben Stanley scored 15 points for ODU (4-3), which outscored the Pirates, 40-20, in the second half.