SOUTH FLORIDA 74, MEMPHIS 73
MEMPHIS (AP) - After escaping several games with last-second shots, No. 10 Memphis finally got burned.
Kasean Pryor made a go-ahead free throw with 4 seconds left, and South Florida rallied from a 20-point deficit to stun the Tigers 74-73 on Thursday night.
Pryor finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and reserve Selton Miguel led USF with 23 points, going 5-of-10 from 3-point range. The Bulls (10-4, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) have won eight of nine and ended a 10-game winning streak for the Tigers (15-3, 4-1), who hadn't lost since a narrow defeat at Mississippi on Dec. 2. Memphis moved into the top 10 this week.
"This one hurts because we worked so hard to get to this level," Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said.
South Florida became the fourth team since 2010-11 to come back from 20 points down to beat an AP top-10 opponent, and the first unranked team to do so since February 2011, when Colorado upset No. 5 Texas, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Thursday's victory snapped the Bulls' 38-game losing streak to AP-ranked opponents, including 31 straight losses against ranked conference opponents.
Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim was doused with a celebratory bucket full of water when he entered the postgame locker room.
"It's not about us," Abdur-Rahim said. "It's about the University of South Florida. ... This is a great win for the University of South Florida, and this group of kids who allow us to push them."
With the score tied at 73-all, Pryor took an inbound pass alone in the paint and elevated for a dunk but took a hard foul from Nae'Qwan Tomlin. Pryor made the first free throw but missed the second.
Jahvon Quinerly, who hit two game-winning 3-pointers during Memphis' winning streak -- against SMU and Tulsa -- had a chance to do it again, but this time he missed a 3 at the buzzer.
Asked if Memphis got complacent with the early big lead and the escapes in close games, Tomlin replied: "Probably."
"[South Florida] came out and played real hard, so credit to them," he said.
David Jones led Memphis with 25 points and Quinerly finished with 15. Chris Youngblood had 13 points for USF.
Memphis led 52-32 early in the second half, but USF responded by going on a 9-0 run with Pryor, Kobe Knox and Brandon Stroud each making a 3. The Bulls inched closer throughout the period, and Jayden Reid tied it with a layup with 37 seconds left, his only basket of the game. A turnover by Quinerly helped set up USF for Pryor's decisive free throw.
Jones had 18 points in the first half, including a run of 11 straight, and Memphis led 47-32 at the break. The Tigers were effective in transition, finishing the half with a 17-0 advantage in fast-break points and scoring 14 points off eight Bulls turnovers.
"Bad loss," Hardaway said. "National TV. Scoring 26 points in the second half after scoring 46 in the first. But when you are not playing team basketball that can happen."
Abdur-Rahim said he believes the Bulls have the potential for more impressive wins this season.
"We're not going to get drunk off success," he said.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC 86, WICHITA STATE 77
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler walked into Florida Atlantic’s arena a bit late, arriving around the midpoint of the first half. Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov was at a college basketball game for the first time.
The Owls made sure to give their courtside guests a good show — especially in the second half.
Alijah Martin scored 22 points, Johnell Davis added 19 and No. 23 FAU rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half to beat Wichita State 86-77 on Thursday night. Martin and Davis combined for 30 of FAU's 55 second-half points, and yes, they noticed that the stars were watching.
“They're not here to see myself and the staff,” FAU coach Dusty May said. “They're here to see these guys.”
Vladislav Goldin scored 17 and Tre Carroll added 10 off the bench for Florida Atlantic (14-4, 4-1 American), which won its third straight.
Quincy Ballard scored 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting for Wichita State (8-9, 0-4), which dropped its sixth straight. Colby Rogers also had 18 for the Shockers, who haven’t had a losing streak this long since 2008-09.
“I’m not sure if you’re aware of our schedule, but in the last six games we played four Quad 1 games and one of them is a Quad 2,” Wichita State coach Paul Mills said. “I don’t get caught up in all that. I don’t make the schedule. You just play whoever's in front of you.”
Ballard might have had the play of the night — blocking a dunk try by the 7-foot-1 Goldin, the nation’s leader in field-goal percentage, with 2:28 left. But it wasn’t enough for the Shockers, who managed only five field goals in the final 10 minutes.
Wichita State’s lead was 11 early in the second half, and the chip-chip-chipping away by FAU started.
Every time the Owls made a little dent, the Shockers had a little answer. Jalen Gaffney scored to get FAU within 48-43 with 15:35 left; Isaac Abidde rebutted with a dunk. Martin had a pair of baskets to get FAU within four; Rogers and Kenny Pohto had the responses after those.
“Felt good to help the team dig it out,” Martin said.
Then, finally, the breakthrough — FAU got back-to-back 3-pointers to fall for only the second time all night, Nick Boyd and Martin hitting them, and reclaimed the lead at 66-64 with 6:48 left.
The Owls wouldn’t trail again. Davis got a three-point play with 3:10 remaining to push the lead to seven; the lead didn't fall below four the rest of the way.