No. 23 Memphis defeated No. 22 Virginia, 77-54, in American Athletic Conference men's basketball action on Tuesday, December 19.
No. 23 Memphis 77, No. 22 Virginia 54 - Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) David Jones scored 26 points, Caleb Mills added 11 and No. 23 Memphis built a second-half lead to pull away from No. 22 Virginia 77-54 on Tuesday night.
Jones was 8 of 15 from the floor, including 2 of 3 from outside the arc as Memphis (9-2) won its fourth straight.
Reece Beekman led the Cavaliers (9-2) with 13 points, while Jake Groves added 12 points. Ryan Dunn finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and a pair of blocks as Virginia saw its five-game winning streak snapped.
While Virginia's defense is ranked high in several categories, it was the Memphis pressure and the Tigers style that allowed them to hold a double-digit lead midway through the second half.
The advantage stretched to 65-44 with a 13-0 Memphis rally.
“When they made some plays with their athleticism and disrupted us, then all of a sudden we made some uncharacteristic (mistakes),” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “We couldn’t even dribble, pass (or) make simple plays. Then that just snowballed.”
Virginia got down early and could never really recover. A major factor was Virginia's 18 turnovers, 15 of them by Memphis steals. The Cavaliers average eight turnovers a game.
“Our identity is defense,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said. “That's who we are. We're a disruptive team. That's our identity.”
Starting the second half, Memphis turned up its defense and made some adjustments.
“We just came together at halftime,” said Memphis center Malcolm Dandridge, who had nine points, eight rebounds and three steals. “We seen a couple of mistakes we needed to adjust on and went from there.”
SMU 89, Houston Christian 53 - Box Score
DALLAS (AP) Samuell Williamson's 18 points helped SMU defeat Houston Christian 89-53 on Tuesday night.
Williamson added eight rebounds for the Mustangs (8-4). Keon Ambrose-Hylton added 12 points while going 4 of 5 and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line, and he also had three blocks. Zhuric Phelps had 11 points and was 5-of-12 shooting (1 for 4 from 3-point range).
Michael Imariagbe had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Huskies (2-8) . Marcus Greene also added 12 points and two steals for Houston Christian. Pierce Bazil had 11 points.
Tulsa 79, Mississippi Valley State 50 - Box Score
TULSA, Okla. (AP) Tyshawn Archie scored 14 points as Tulsa beat Mississippi Valley State 79-50 on Tuesday night.
Archie added four steals for the Golden Hurricane (7-3). Isaiah Barnes scored 13 points while going 5 of 6 from the field. Jarred Hall had 12 points and shot 5 for 8, including 1 for 3 from beyond the arc.
Arecko Gipson led the way for the Delta Devils (0-11) with 19 points and eight rebounds. Rayquan Brown added 17 points, six rebounds and two steals for Mississippi Valley State. Donovan Sanders also put up 10 points, four assists and two steals. The Delta Devils extended their losing streak to 11 straight.