OZARKSFIRST

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) Houston looked more like itself in the second half, with the 18th-ranked Cougars counting on big man Fabian White Jr. to finish off their American Athletic Conference tournament opener.

White was 5-of-7 shooting while scoring 11 of his 18 points after halftime, and finished with eight rebounds, and the Cougars overcame a 10-point deficit to beat Cincinnati 69-56 in an AAC quarterfinal game Friday.

"Once we got to halftime, we just came up with a new plan ... here's what we're going to do, play through Fabian and extend our pick-and-roll defense," Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said. "Cincinnati played with a lot of confidence that first half, whereas we played like this was our first game of the tournament."