Men's Basketball Sports

Houston ends season with share of 2020 AAC championship

Kelvin Sampson doing the ceremonial cutting of the nets in March 2019 after Houston won the American conference. Sampson was named Coach of the Year at the Houston Sports Award on Tuesday evening | File Photo

Kelvin Sampson cutting the nets at Fertitta Center in 2019 after winning the AAC regular-season championship. | File photo

The Cougars earned a share of the American Athletic Conference regular-season championship after defeating the Memphis Tigers 64-57, and Wichita State defeated Tulsa 79-57 on Sunday afternoon.

The Cougars share the 2020 AAC title with the Golden Hurricane and the Cincinnati Bearcats, who each finished with a 13-5 conference record.

“When you go through the grind of the season (if Tulsa loses) and there are three champions, there are three deserving teams,” head coach Kelvin Sampson said.

Even though all teams finished as champions, Cincinnati will be the No. 1 seed in the AAC tournament, Houston will be No. 2 and Tulsa will be No. 3 due to the winning percentage against each other.

The title marks the first time since 1984, the end of the Cougars’ Phi Slama Jama era, that Houston wins back-to-back regular-season conference championships.

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