Box Score
Championship Central

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Corey Davis Jr. scored 17 points and top-seeded Houston weathered a late Memphis rally to defeat the Tigers, 61-58, in the semifinals of the 2019 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday inside FedExForum.
 
The No. 10/11-nationally ranked Cougars now boasts the nation’s best winning percentage (.939) at 31-2 and advance to their second-straight American Athletic Conference Championship final.
 
The Cougars handed Memphis just its third home loss of the year. All of the Tigers defeats at FedExForum came against ranked teams (No. 3 Tennessee and No. 23 Cincinnati).


 
 
Jeremiah Martin led Memphis with 23 points, most of them from the free throw line (12-of-24), as he made only 5-of-24 shots, including 1-of-7 from beyond the arc.
 
Memphis, which struggled offensively throughout the contest, crafted a 10-1 run to pull within 61-58 with a minute left. During that stretch, Houston the tournament's top seed, missed 10-straight shots and failed to score for more than four minutes. That included missing 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch.
 
But Martin missed a 3-point attempt with 20 seconds left. On the final Memphis possession, Tyler Harris missed a 3-pointer, then he attempted a final one that was blocked by Fabian White as time expired.
 
Memphis trailed by 10 at the half but rallied as both teams ramped up defensively.
 
Martin finished with a tournament record 35 free throws made over three games.
 
Houston, the tournament's top seed, moves on to Sunday's championship game on ESPN at 3:15 p.m. ET, against the winner of the second semifinal between No. 2 Cincinnati and No. 6 Wichita State.