Tulsa Falls to Memphis 80-68

Sunday, January 29

4:00 PM

Tulsa

5-15,1-8AAC

Memphis

17-5,7-2AAC

Memphis

Tulsa

Photo by: Joey Johnson

Tulsa Falls to Memphis 80-68

1/29/2023 7:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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GAME STATS I SEASON STATS | PHOTO GALLERY

TULSA, Okla. –– Memphis was too much down the stretch as the Tigers claimed an 80- 68 victory over Tulsa on Sunday afternoon in front of 3,602 fans at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Tim Dalger led the Golden Hurricane with 17 points for his third straight game in double digits, while Sam Griffin scored 15.

Tulsa was able to maintain the league's leading scorer Kendric Davis (21.3 ppg) in the first half holding the Memphis guard to just seven points, but Davis exploded in the second half for 19 points and finished with a game-high 26.

"We knew we were playing a very good team today. A team with versatility in a number of different ways to attack you both offensively and defensively. I thought our guys were ready to play and came out with a great energy level and played physical in really good moments," said Tulsa head coach Eric Konkol.

"We knew the key was going to be to contain Kendric Davis as much as we could. The combination of both him and DeAndre Williams is very dynamic. Holding Kendric to seven int in the first half was big, but knew we would get a great effort from him in the second.

Memphis held a two-point lead at halftime, 37-35, but outscored the Hurricane by 10 in the second half for the 12-point win.

The biggest lead in the first half was six points by the Tigers, while Tulsa had its largest lead of three points in the initial 20 minutes. The Hurricane led by as many as four points in the second half. After leading 50-49 on a Griffin turnaround jumper at the 13:41 mark, Memphis went on a 15-2 run over the next six minutes to take a 64-52 lead just under the eight-minute mark.

Memphis had its largest lead of 15 points the remainder of the contest, while Tulsa could only get as close as nine points twice in the final four minutes.

Tulsa ended the game shooting 43-percent from the field, while Memphis connected on 48-percent of its shots. The Hurricane had only 11 turnovers in the game, but Tigers dominated the boards with a 42-28 edge and also had a 40-32 advantage for points scored in the paint.

"I thought we did really well taking care of the basketball, but the rebounding really hurt us in the second half. I thought that was a big difference," added Konkol.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Memphis jumped out to a 3-0 lead and took its largest lead of the first half of six points twice within the first seven minutes of the contest.

Trailing 18-12 at the 13:03 mark, Tulsa scored the next seven points on two baskets in the paint by Sterling Gaston Chapman and a Brandon Betson three-pointer for its first lead of the game at 19-18 coming with 9:51 left on the first-half clock.

Tulsa led by as many as three points, 25-22, at the 6:55 mark and was a ahead 33-32 within the last two minutes. Dalger's layup tied the score at 35, but Memphis Elijah McCadden's layup off a missed shot put the Tigers up 37-35 going into halftime.

At the half, Memphis converted 48-percent of its field goals, while Tulsa made 42- percent.

Tulsa scored the first four points of the second half and took a four-point lead at 43-39 on a Dalger layup at the 17:47 mark. The Tigers retook the lead at 47-43 on three straight baskets by Kendric Davis on two treys and a fastbreak jumper.

Memphis took a 55-50 lead at the 11:24 mark and extended it to its first double-digit lead at 62-52 with 8:39 remaining in the contest. The Tigers had a 15-2 run over a six-minute span to increase its lead to 64-52.

The Tigers led by as many at 15 points in the final seven minutes to pull away for the victory.

GAME NOTES
• This was the 53^rd meeting in the series and it now stands at 32-21 in favor of Memphis.
•     Tulsa trailed at halftime for the 10^th time this season and fell to 0-10 when trailing at the half.
•    Sam Griffin had his 16^th double-figure scoring game this season and the 72^nd of his career.
•    Tim Dalger had his 7^th double-figure scoring game of the season and third straight … it was the 10^th of his career.
•    Freshman BB Knight had a season-high 8 points … his previous best was 6 points vs. Murray State.

Tulsa will be on the road for a Wednesday night game at Cincinnati for a 6 p.m. (CT) tipoff, and will return to the Reynolds Center to face the Wichita State Shockers next Sunday, Feb. 5, at 2 p.m.