In the first American Athletic Conference men's basketball conference contest of the season, No. 9/11 Memphis picked up the win over Tulane.

No. 9/11 Memphis 84, Tulane 73 - Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Lester Quinones scored 16 points, Damion Baugh finished with 15 and No. 9 Memphis weathered a second-half rally and beat Tulane 84-73 on Monday night in the teams’ American Athletic Conference opener.

Precious Achiuwa finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds as Memphis (12-1, 1-0 AAC) won its 10th straight.

K.J. Lawson, who played two seasons at Memphis, led Tulane with 22 points. Christion Thompson added 17. Jordan Walker finished with 13, including nine straight points as Tulane (8-5, 0-1) tried to rally down the stretch.

Memphis held a double-digit lead with seven minutes left, but Tulane, behind Lawson and Walker, chipped away. The Green Wave got within 74-71 with 3:33 left and trailed 77-73 with 2:37 left.

But Memphis scored the game’s final seven points.

It took a bit for Memphis to get untracked, as the Tigers missed seven of their first eight shots.

While that allowed the Green Wave to build an early double-digit advantage, the Tigers closed the half with 13 straight points, part of a 17-2 run for a 40-30 lead at intermission. The Green Wave failed to score in the final 4:50 of the half.