FORT WORTH — The Houston Cougars basketball team and Memphis Tigers are set to meet in the American Athletic Conference Tournament championship game on Sunday.
No. 1 Houston (31-2) and Memphis (25-8) will meet for the third time in the past four weeks. The Cougars will be looking to win their third straight AAC Tournament championship.
For Houston, all eyes will be on senior guard Marcus Sasser, who is going into the matchup as a game-time decision, according to the university.
Sasser injured his groin after slipping on the floor late in the first half. He underwent treatment at the team hotel on Saturday night and will be re-evaluated by the associate athletic director for sports medicine John Houston, and team doctors before the game.
The Cougars defeated Cincinnati, 69-48, in the AAC Tournament semifinals to advance to the championship game.
Junior guard Jamal Shead had 16 points and nine assists. Junior forward J’Wan Roberts has 16 points and eight rebounds.
Memphis defeated Tulane, 94-54. Fifth-year big man DeAndre Williams led the way with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Fifth-year guard Kendric Davis had 20 points in the Tigers’ win.
Both Davis and Williams have shined for Memphis throughout the AAC Tournament. Davis had 33 points, and Williams had 35 points in the Tigers’ win against UCF in the conference quarterfinals.
Houston and Memphis first met on Feb. 19. The Tigers played without Davis, who missed the game due to an ankle injury.
The Cougars defeated the Tigers, 72-64. Sasser and Roberts had 20 points each. Roberts also had 12 rebounds.
The most recent meeting between the teams came last week on March 5. Shead had the game-winning buzzer-beater to lift UH past Memphis, 67-65. Shead had 16 points. Redshirt sophomore guard Tramon Mark had 16 points and eight rebounds in the win.
Following the conclusion of Houston and Memphis will also be the NCAA selection show, which will air at 5 p.m. on CBS. The Cougars will know what seed they are in the NCAA Tournament and what region they will play in.