Tulane defeated No. 10 Memphis in American Athletic Conference men's basketball action on Sunday, January 21.
Tulane 81, No. 10 Memphis 79 - Box Score
NEW ORLEANS (AP) Memphis coach Penny Hardaway was bitterly disappointed, but hardly stunned, by the 10th-ranked Tigers' second straight loss.
Sion James had a season-high 22 points and Tulane outscored Memphis 22-13 in the final nine minutes to edge the Tigers 81-79 on Sunday.
“It just seems like when it rains, it pours,” said Hardaway, whose team was coming off stunning upset loss to South Florida on Thursday. “We blew a 20-point lead against South Florida and then come to a hostile environment, have a chance to win the game and do everything possible to give the game away.”
There were no big leads to blow this time. Neither team led by more than seven points in an intensely competitive game that had 11 lead changes and 15 ties. There was even a minor scrum that brought both coaches onto the floor to separate feuding players before Hardaway and Tulane's Ron Hunter diffused it by playfully squaring off with their fists up.
James hit a pivotal corner 3 that put Tulane (12-6, 3-3 American Athletic Conference) up 77-75 with 2:22 left.
Tulane's Collin Holloway capped his 13-point performance with a layup and two free throws in the final 1:43 to put the Green Wave in front for good.
David Jones had 32 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis (15-4, 4-2), and his block on James' mid-range fade as the shot clock expired gave the Tigers the ball, down by two, with 14 seconds left.
Jones' 3-point attempt for the win rimmed out long off the back iron and the rebound was tapped out to Jones for one more shot with a second on the clock, but his rushed second attempt was deflected by Tulane's Jalen Forbes and students poured onto the court in Tulane's cozy, 90-year-old, 4,000-seat, on-campus arena to celebrate with the team.
“I'm not a big storm-the-court guy," Tulane coach Ron Hunter said. "But there's some occasions at some schools and some environments where you just - you know what? I'm happy for them.
“This is what I've been waiting for," added Hunter, now in his fifth season at Tulane, referring to both the signature victory and the unbridled adulation from a capacity crowd. "This is kind of the puzzle all coming together.”
Kevin Cross added 21 points for Tulane, which nearly beat another ranked team 10 days earlier, when the Wave fell 85-84 to No. 23 Florida Atlantic after a foul call on a desperation 3-point shot with less than a second on the clock.
“We've talked so much about the Florida Atlantic situation,” Hunter said. “I thought we learned from that and we talked about that in that last timeout.”
Malcolm Dandridge scored 13 points for Memphis and had a career-high eight blocked shots, but fouled out in the final minute trying to block Holloway's floater. Holloway hit both free throws to make it 81-77 with 58 seconds left.
Jaykwon Walton hit three 3s and scored 11 points in the first half, but an apparent rib injury sidelined him for the entire second half.
Even before Memphis' 10-game winning streak was snapped earlier in the week, Hardaway had spoken about his transfer-laden squad struggling to find the chemistry needed to execute in the clutch.
“Just because things are going good, it isn't always what it seems,” Dandridge said, stressing that the Tigers were fortunate to win a handful of their recent close games leading up to their current slide. “We do have to figure things out.”
South Florida 72, Wichita State 68 - Box Score
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Kasean Pryor scored 25 points as South Florida beat Wichita State 72-68 on Sunday.
Pryor added 10 rebounds for the Bulls (11-5, 4-1 American Athletic Conference). Jose Placer scored 17 points while shooting 6 for 7, including 3 for 4 from beyond the arc. Kobe Knox had 10 points and shot 5 for 8, including 0 for 3 from beyond the arc.
Harlond Beverly led the Shockers (8-10, 0-5) in scoring, finishing with 15 points and six rebounds. Xavier Bell added 14 points and eight rebounds for Wichita State. In addition, Kenny Pohto had 12 points. The Shockers extended their losing streak to seven straight.
Placer scored 12 points in the first half and South Florida went into halftime trailing 35-32. Pryor's 17-point second half helped South Florida close out the four-point victory.
Florida Atlantic 112, UTSA 103 (OT) - Box Score
SAN ANTONIO (AP) Johnell Davis had 34 points, including three free throws to force overtime, and No. 23 Florida Atlantic overcame a career-high 38 points by Jordan Ivy-Curry to beat UTSA 112-103 on Sunday.
Alijah Martin added 26 points as Florida Atlantic won its fourth straight.
“We’ve been in that position a lot,” Owls coach Dusty May said. “We have guys that make big, big plays. Whether it was a hustle play off of a rebound, whether it was a big shot, a great pass. Whatever the case, they believe in each other, and they have a high level of trust that the next guy is going to make a play.”
The Owls (15-4) remain tied with Charlotte atop the American Athletic Conference at 5-1 while the Roadrunners (7-12) fell to 1-5.
After trailing most of the game, Florida Atlantic went on a 9-0 run to take a 102-96 lead with 2:26 remaining in overtime.
“We put ourselves in position to win the ball game,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said. “It was right there for us, but we didn’t get it done. Very disappointing.”
The final minute of regulation turned into a free throw contest.
Nicholas Boyd missed a pair of free throws with 48 seconds remaining and the Owls trailing 89-88. The Roadrunners extended their lead to three points 25 seconds later on a pair of free throws by Christian Tucker. Davis tied the game at 91-all with three free throws with 16 seconds left.
“I was just trying to stay calm,” Davis said. “Don’t worry about nothing. There was nothing going through my mind. Just taking a deep breath. Just finding the spot I usually shoot at the free throw line and all through my mind to go in.”
UTSA center Carlton Linguard Jr.’s 3-point attempt bounced hard off the backboard and rim as time expired in regulation.
Florida Atlantic took its first lead at 54-53 on Martin’s 3 pointer with 17:47 remaining in the second half. The lead lasted 23 seconds as UTSA went on an 11-4 run.
The Roadrunners finished 12 for 27 on 3-pointers and the Owls were 17 for 35.