TULSA, Okla – After a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes, the Memphis Tigers took control in the second half and walked out of Reynolds Center with an 80-68 victory Sunday evening in Tulsa.
Memphis (17-5, 7-2 American Athletic Conference) shot 50.0 percent from the field in the second 20 minutes (16-32), and didn’t miss a free throw (9-9). The Tigers only committed four turnovers after halftime and just 12 for the game, the second-fewest in conference play.
Point guard Kendric Davis went for 26 points en route to the 2,000-point milestone for his career.
Davis scored 20-plus points for the sixth consecutive contest and added five assists and four rebounds. Davis’ 1,799 career points in the AAC rank second all-time.
Forward DeAndre Williams contributed 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists on an efficient 7-for-10 shooting. In addition, Keonte Kennedy (12) and Elijah McCadden (11) each scored in double digits.
Memphis trailed 50-49 with 13:40 left in the game, but from that point on, it was all Tigers. Davis rattled off nine points to ignite a 21-4 run over the next eight minutes to put Memphis ahead 70-55. Williams iced the game with eight of the team’s final 12 points to give Memphis its fifth-straight win.
Tulsa (5-15, 1-8 AAC) was led by Tim Dalger‘s 17 points in 30 minutes.
UP NEXT
The Tigers get a full week of rest before returning to FedExForum on Saturday, Feb. 4 to host Tulane at 1 p.m., where they will retire Lorenzen Wright‘s jersey and handout bobbleheads of Larry Finch for his celebration game.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Memphis used the starting lineup of Kendric Davis, DeAndre Williams,Keonte Kennedy, Elijah McCadden and Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu for the fifth-straight game.
- The Tigers are 5-0 with that group.
- The win is the second-straight for Memphis in Tulsa.
- The Tigers’ last time to win two straight in Tulsa was 2009-10 and 2011-12.
- Memphis takes a 32-21 advantage in the all-time series.
- Memphis ended the game shooting 49.2 percent from the field (31-63).
- The Tigers won the battle on the boards, 42-28.
- It matches the second-highest rebounding total of the season. They pulled down 43 in the win over Auburn.
- The +14 margin is the largest of the year.
- DeAndre Williams scored double figures for the 18th-straight game.
- He recorded 12 of his 17 in the second half after going 5-of-7 after halftime.
- With 11 rebounds, he grabbed his fifth double-double of the year.
- Keonte Kennedy has finished in double figures in four consecutive games and in five of the last six outings after having done so just four times in his first 14 games played.
- Elijah McCadden nearly pulled down his first double-double as a Tiger, grabbing a season high nine rebounds. He also matched a season high with four assists.
- Kendric Davis scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half.