Cincinnati and No. 2 Houston both picked up American Athletic Conference men's basketball wins on Thursday, January 5.

Thursday, January 5
No. 2 Houston 87, SMU 53 - Box Score
Cincinnati 70, Wichita State 61 - Box Score

No. 2 Houston 87, SMU 53 - Box Score
HOUSTON (AP) — Jarace Walker tied his season high with 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Marcus Sasser added 14 points and a career high-tying seven assists and No. 2 Houston used a big first half to beat SMU 87-53 on Thursday night.

Walker scored 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the first half as Houston (15-1, 3-0 American Athletic Conference) built a 49-23 halftime lead.

Walker had 12 points combined over Houston’s last three games, including two points on 0-for-5 shooting against Central Florida on Saturday.

The Cougars have won six straight games since their only loss on Dec. 10 against Alabama.

J’Wan Roberts had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Tramon Mark and Terrance Arceneaux both scored 10 points for Houston, which shot 46%, including 10 of 30 on 3-pointers.

Houston outrebounded SMU 54-26 and held a 35-6 advantage in second-chance points. Through Monday’s games, Houston was 15th in the nation with 13.5 offensive rebounds per game and 18th in rebounding margin with a plus-8.1 margin.

SMU coach Rob Lanier pointed to Houston’s 21 offensive rebounds in particular for what the Cougars did so well Thursday.

“What they always do is rebound the ball on both ends, particularly on offense,” Lanier said. “They crushed us. … Then they guarded us. They are the top defensive team in the country. They played like it, but our defense didn’t compete well enough to keep us close enough to change the tenor of the game.”

Efe Odigie had 14 points and Zach Nutall added 12 for SMU (6-9, 1-1). Zhuric Phelps, who was leading SMU with 18.4 points per game, finished with six points on 2-of-11 shooting. The Mustangs shot 31%, including 3 of 20 on 3-pointers.

SMU took a 2-0 lead on a jumper by Odigie before Houston dominated from there, scoring the next 24 points over the next seven minutes to take a 24-2 lead on a dunk by Ja’Vier Francis with 12 1/2 minutes remaining. Walker had 11 points during the run.

Cincinnati 70, Wichita State 61 - Box Score
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Jeremiah Davenport scored 22 points off of the bench to lead Cincinnati over Wichita State 70-61 on Thursday night.

Davenport shot 8 for 12, including 6 for 9 from beyond the arc for the Bearcats (11-5, 2-1 American). Viktor Lakhin scored 14 points and added nine rebounds. Landers Nolley II recorded 12 points and was 5 of 12 shooting (2 for 7 from distance).

Craig Porter Jr. finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for the Shockers (7-8, 0-3). Melvion Flanagan added 11 points for Wichita State. In addition, Kenny Pohto finished with seven points, seven rebounds and two steals.