Southern Methodist 68, Houston 64: Nic Moore scored 16 points as the Mustangs held off the Cougars to improve to 14-0 at home.

Ben Moore, Ryan Manuel and Shawn Williams each scored eight points in a balanced effort for Southern Methodist (21-6, 10-4 AAC), which bounced back from a loss to lowly Temple. Nick Russell handed out five assists and Markus Kennedy blocked a pair of shots for the Mustangs.

TaShawn Thomas collected 15 points and eight rebounds as Houston (12-14, 4-9) fell for the seventh time in eight games. Jherrod Stiggers scored 16 points off the bench and Danuel House added 15 points for the Cougars.

Kennedy’s layup put Southern Methodist on top 53-44 with seven minutes left and Moore’s 3-pointer just over a minute later kept the gap at eight points. Stiggers’ 3-pointer with just under three minutes left brought the deficit back down to five points but Russell responded with a jumper and the Mustangs finished it off at the free-throw line.

The Cougars held a six-point lead late in the first half before Southern Methodist ended the period with a 14-6 burst to take a 32-30 lead into the break. Stiggers’ layup knotted it at 37 four-plus minutes into the second but Houston would go over seven minutes without a field goal as the Mustangs grabbed an eight-point advantage.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Southern Methodist has won 10 of its last 12 games and sits in third in the AAC but still has games against Connecticut, Louisville and Memphis over the last four contests. … The Mustangs entered the game leading the AAC in defensive field-goal percentage at 37 percent and held Houston to 39.3 percent shooting. … The Cougars did not help themselves with a 12-of-20 effort from the free-throw line.