No. 1 Houston rolls past Tulane, clinches share of AAC title

J'Wan Roberts scored 26 points and Marcus Sasser added 22 as No. 1 Houston rolled past Tulane 89-59 in an American Athletic Conference game Wednesday night in Houston.

The first-place Cougars (26-2, 14-1) won their eighth consecutive game and clinched at least a share of the AAC regular-season title by beating the second-place Green Wave (17-8, 10-4) for a second time this season. Houston won 80-60 on Jan. 17 in New Orleans, ending a five-game Tulane winning streak -- just as it did in on Wednesday night.

Tramon Mark scored 13 points and Jamal Shead had 10 as the Cougars matched their highest point total in an AAC game this season. Jarace Walker had a game-high 13 rebounds as the Cougars held a 46-27 rebounding edge, which included 18 offensive rebounds. Houston had a 42-20 edge in points in the paint.

Jalen Cook scored 23 points, 21 in the second half on 7-of-8 shooting, and Jaylen Forbes finished with 14 to lead the Green Wave.

The Cougars began the second half with a 13-3 run to take a 24-point lead, but Cook scored 11 points to help Tulane creep within 62-46 midway through the half.

Sasser then scored the next six points, however, to put Houston back in command.

The score was tied four times in the opening minutes before Tulane went cold and Houston heated up.

Sasser had eight points and a steal that led to Shead's layup during a 14-5 run that gave the Cougars a 23-14 lead.

Houston had seven offensive rebounds and five second-chance points as the Green Wave made just one field goal in a span of nearly 10 minutes.

With eight minutes left in the half, the Cougars scored 12 of the game's next 14 points to hold a 35-17 lead with five minutes to go before intermission.

The lead grew to as many as 19 points then shrunk to as few as 12 before Houston held a 40-26 halftime lead.