Southern Methodist 75, Houston 68: Nic Moore scored 22 of his career-high 28 points in the second half as the visiting Mustangs survived a scare from the Cougars in an American Athletic Conference clash.

Markus Kennedy added 15 points and 10 rebounds to record his fourth double-double in his last five games for Southern Methodist (16-4, 5-2 AAC), which did not commit a turnover in the second half. Nick Russell chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds for the Mustangs, who finished 27-of-32 from the free throw line.

Danuel House led the way with 22 points off the bench for Houston (11-9, 3-4), which led by as many as eight in the first half. TaShawn Thomas notched his eighth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Cougars, who dropped their second consecutive game.

House scored Houston's last 10 points of the first half to put the Cougars on top 31-25 at the break. Kennedy sparked a 9-0 spurt early in the second stanza to give Southern Methodist a 34-32 lead before the Cougars pulled ahead by four with just over 12 minutes remaining.

Russell gave the Mustangs a 57-52 advantage before House knocked down two clutch triples to trim the deficit to one with five minutes left in the game. Moore hit a jumper to stretch the lead to 65-58 with under two minutes remaining and SMU went on to record its fifth straight win.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Southern Methodist started 7-of-26 from the field before finishing 23-of-52. …. The Mustangs grabbed 10 offensive rebounds to win the battle of the boards 33-29. ... Thomas has scored 10 or more points in every game this season.