Marcus Sasser scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half Sunday as No. 6 Houston pulled away from visiting SMU for a 70-48 victory in American Athletic Conference action.

Justin Gorham took care of business on the glass with 17 rebounds, giving him 36 in the Cougars' two wins over the Mustangs this season. Reggie Chaney came off the bench to add 10 points for Houston (15-1, 10-1 AAC).

Kendric Davis paced SMU (9-4, 5-4) with 11 points, while Feron Hunt and Yor Anei chipped in 10 each.

The Mustangs struggled to find any offensive rhythm against Houston, which entered the contest permitting only 56.5 points per game this season. SMU shot just 31.9 percent (15 of 47) from the field and 14.3 percent (2 of 14) from 3-point range.

Davis made only 3 of 12 shots, finishing six points under his average.

SMU played its fourth straight game without coach Tim Jankovich, who was diagnosed Monday with COVID-19.

Ahead by only four points as the second half started, the Cougars wasted little time expanding the lead. They rattled off the first nine points, establishing a 37-24 lead on Quentin Grimes' 3-pointer with 17:37 left and forcing a Mustangs timeout.

The first half was a pure rock fight between rivals as Houston's grinding, physical style quickly slowed down SMU's conference-leading offense, which entered the day averaging 77.5 points per game.

It took more than two minutes before anyone scored. The scores at the first three media timeouts were 5-4, 12-11 and 15-13, all in favor of Houston.

The Cougars managed a bit of separation with a 7-1 spurt that ended with a Chaney layup that made it 22-16. The Mustangs sliced the deficit to two before Sasser sank a pair of foul shots in the final minute that set the halftime score at 28-24.

--Field Level Media