FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Fabian White Jr. scored 20 points, fellow big man Josh Carlton had 18 and 18th-ranked Houston beat Memphis 71-53 in the American Athletic Conference championship game Sunday.
A day after White played less than three minutes in the Cougars' semifinal win because of back tightness, the first-team All-AAC forward helped the top-seeded Cougars (29-5) earn the AAC's automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
Memphis (21-10) had to wait for the NCAA selection show that started about a half-hour after the game ended to find out for sure it would make the tournament for the first time since 2014.