Memphis and Tulane picked up wins Wednesday night, November 22, in American Athletic Conference men's basketball action.
Memphis 71, Michigan 67 - Box Score
NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) Ashton Hardaway hit the first five 3-pointers of his collegiate career in scoring 17 points and helped Memphis hold off Michigan 71-67 Wednesday in the Battle 4 Atlantis with both head coaches making their first appearances on the bench this season.
Juwan Howard, recovering from heart surgery on Sept. 15, was an observer while Phil Martelli continued to serve as interim head coach. Penny Hardaway was back for Memphis after returning from a three-game suspension resulting from recruiting violations.
Penny Hardaway has two sons on the team, freshman Ashton and graduate senior Jayden. Ashton, who had just two points this season, was 5 of 7 from the arc, including three consecutive 3-pointers in the second half while Michigan (3-2) was cutting a 16-point deficit to one with three minutes left.
Jaykwon Walton and David Jones hit 3-pointers and Memphis (4-0) was able to rebuild a nine-point edge with a minute remaining. But Dug McDaniel hit a couple baskets and Tray Jackson put in a baseline 3-pointer after a held-ball turnover to trail by two with 9.1 seconds left. Memphis was able to break the press and Jones made two free throws for the final score.
Memphis will play the Stanford-Arkansas winner in a semifinal Thursday while Michigan will get the loser.
Jones scored all 11 of his points in the second half, including the Tigers’ last nine points, and Caleb Mills finished with 10 for Memphis.
Olivier Nkamhoua scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half for Michigan before fouling out with 2:39 left. Nimari Burnett added 16 points and McDaniel scored all 13 of his points in the second half. Tarris Reed Jr. had 12 rebounds to go with eight points and four blocks.
Michigan outrebounded Memphis 50-28, including 19-6 on the offensive boards for a 15-4 edge on second-chance points. But the Wolverines committed 18 turnovers leading to 21 Memphis points. Memphis' bench outscored Michigan's 32-10.
The Tigers led 37-25 after a 17-6 run to end the first half. Burnett hit a 3-pointer to get Michigan within a point with nine minutes remaining before the Tigers pulled away, capping their run with eight straight points on 3-pointers by Jayden Hardaway and Jahvon Quinerly and a step-back jumper by Mills that left a defender falling backwards.
Burnett had 13 first-half points, getting the last basket of the half for the 12-point margin.
Tulane 84, California 81 - Box Score
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. (AP) Kevin Cross scored 27 points and Tulane edged California 84-81 to claim third place in the SoCal Challenge Surf Division on Wednesday night.
The Green Wave trailed by as many as 11 points midway through the second half, but Sion James hit a turnaround jumper, Kolby King scored off a Cal turnover and Tre' Williams scored at the basket to tie the game at 67-67 with 6:48 left and Percy Daniels dunked with 5:19 left to put Tulane in front for the first time. Cross sandwiched two short jumpers around a second-chance layup by Jaylen Forbes in a 6-0 run that put the Green Wave in front 83-77.
Cross was 8 of 14 from the field and converted 7 of 9 from the free throw line as Tulane (4-1) shot 51.6% from the field (32 of 62). James was 4 for 4 from beyond the arc and finished with 18 points and Forbes added 12.
Jaylon Tyson was 5 of 7 from distance and finished with 24 points and nine rebounds to lead Cal (2-4). Fardaws Aimaq added a double-double with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Jalen Cone contributed 18 points.
Ole Miss 77, Temple 76 - Box Score
PHILADELPHIA (AP) Allen Flanigan scored 26 points, including two free throws with 9.2 seconds left, and Mississippi defeated Temple 77-76 on Wednesday.
Quante Berry of Temple missed a 3-pointer from the right wing as time ran out.
Hysier Miller got a pair of second-chance free throws for Temple's first lead at 76-75 with 1:39 to play. Both teams then swapped empty possessions marked by contested, difficult shots before Matthew Murrell of Ole Miss tried to spin in a layup. The ball ended up in a scrum and went off a Temple player out of bounds with 17.9 seconds to go.
Flanigan then drove into the lane and drew a foul.
TJ Caldwell scored 14 points for Ole Miss (5-0), Murrell had 12 and Jaylen Murray had 11. Flanigan also had eight rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and two steals in addition to 9-of-13 shooting, making both of his 3s, and going 6 of 7 from the foul line.
Miller led the Owls (3-2) with 21 points. Matteo Picarelli and Zion Stanford both added 14, Sam Hofman had 11 and Jordan Riley 10. Stanford and Riley had seven rebounds and Hofman had five assists.
Stanford made a layup and Miller had two free throws to make it a two-point game, 67-65, with 6:21 to play but Murray and Caldwell had back-to-back 3s to stretch the Rebels' lead to 73-65. Just as quickly, Picarelli and Hofman hit 3s for the Owls.
Flanigan worked inside for Ole Miss but Hofman hit another 3 and it was a one-point game. After a Rebel miss, Miller was fouled and put the Owls on top for the only time.
Ole Miss finished 10 of 18 behind the arc (56%) and shot 51% (30 of 59) overall. Temple was 12 of 31 on 3-pointers and shot 44% (26 of 59) overall.
The Rebels shot 54% in the first half to take a 38-33 lead. Ole Miss led all the way, with the big lead being 29-16 after a Robert Cowherd 3-pointer at the 6:55 mark. Caldwell had a dunk for the Rebels for a 35-23 lead with 3:14 to go but the Owls closed on a 10-3 run, starting with Miller's 3 and a layup, to cut the deficit to five.
Flanigan had 13 points for the Rebels and Miller 12 for the Owls.
Maine 70, South Florida 59 - Box Score
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Peter Filipovity's 23 points helped Maine defeat South Florida 70-59 on Wednesday night.
Filipovity added 12 rebounds and three steals for the Black Bears (4-3). Ja'Shonte Wright-McLeish scored 16 points while going 6 of 9 (4 for 5 from 3-point range). Jaden Clayton was 5 of 9 shooting and 4 of 4 from the free throw line to finish with 14 points.
Chris Youngblood led the Bulls (2-2) in scoring, finishing with 17 points. Kasean Pryor added 12 points, 12 rebounds and three steals for South Florida.
Wisconsin 69, SMU 61 - Box Score
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) Max Klesmit scored all 12 of his points in the second half and Wisconsin rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat SMU 69-61 on Wednesday night in the championship game of the Beach Division of the Fort Myers Tip-Off.
The Mustangs hit 7 of 9 from beyond the arc in the first half to build a 32-24 advantage at the break, but were just 1 of 7 from distance in the second half.
Tyler Wahl and Klesmit each scored to start the second half and halve the Badgers' deficit, but SMU pushed its advantage to 10 points, 40-30 with under 14 minutes left on Jalen Smith's 3-pointer, the Mustangs lone trey of the half. Wisconsin answered wth a 7-0 run. Klesmit scored at the basket, then hit from deep to tie the game at 46. Chucky Hepburn's three-point play put the Badgers in front 55-53 and AJ Storr's dunk with 2:21 left gave them the lead for good.
After shooting 1 of 14 from long range in the first half, the Badgers hit 4 of 10 in the second along with 11 of 12 from the line to fuel their comeback.
Wahl finished with 14 points and six rebounds for Wisconsin (4-2). Storr had 11 points, Hepburn added 10 and John Blackwell had 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Zhuric Phelps led SMU (4-2) with 19 points. Chuck Harris added 13 points.
New Mexico 90, Rice 56 - Box Score
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) Donovan Dent had 18 points in New Mexico's 90-56 win over Rice in a second-round game at the Ball Dawgs Classic in Henderson, Nevada on Wednesday.
Dent added 11 assists for the Lobos (4-1). Tru Washington added 14 points while going 5 of 7 and 3 of 3 from the free throw line, and they also had six rebounds. JT Toppin shot 6 of 8 from the field to finish with 13 points.
The Owls (1-4) were led by Mekhi Mason, who recorded 17 points. Travis Evee added 15 points and two steals for Rice. In addition, Max Fiedler finished with nine points and seven rebounds.