No. 20 Memphis 67, No. 18 Southern Methodist 58: Joe Jackson scored 15 of his 18 points after intermission as the host Tigers avenged an earlier setback to the Mustangs in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Austin Nichols contributed 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for Memphis (23-8, 12-6 AAC), which claimed its ninth straight home victory while keeping SMU from wrapping up the third seed in next week’s conference tournament. The Tigers also got payback for a 15-point loss to the Mustangs on Feb. 1 by holding the conference’s best shooting team to 40 percent – tied for its second-worst effort.
Nic Moore finished with 16 points and seven assists for SMU (23-8, 12-6). Nick Russell and Markus Kennedy each chipped in with 13 points as the Mustangs lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Moore scored 10 first-half points as SMU settled for a 30-26 advantage at the break after a frenetic but mistake-filled opening stanza that featured 13 steals and 18 turnovers. Memphis scored the first seven points after intermission to pull ahead by three with 18:19 remaining before the teams traded blows over the next four minutes.
The Tigers, who made nine of their first 11 field-goal attempts to open the second half, began to pull away as Jackson sparked a 9-0 burst with a 3-pointer and Crawford caught fire with three triples over a 1:24 span during a 11-3 surge a few minutes later to give Memphis a 58-44 lead with nine minutes left. The Mustangs closed the gap to 64-58 with 1:41 to go before Jackson sealed it with a three-point play on the other end.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Memphis has won its last nine “Senior Day” contests and improved to 38-4 in games following a loss under coach Josh Pastner. … The Tigers matched a season high with 15 steals while the Mustangs have watched their last two opponents combine for 32 after Louisville recorded 17 on Wednesday. … Memphis went 6-of-13 from beyond the arc in the second half after missing all six of its 3-point attempts in the opening 20 minutes.
Southern Methodist | Memphis | |
Nic Moore 16 | Scoring | Joe Jackson 18 |
Nic Moore 7 | Assists | Geron Johnson 4 |
Shawn Williams 7 | Rebounds | Austin Nichols 9 |
Nic Moore 2 | Free Throws Made | Joe Jackson 4 |
Markus Kennedy 3 | Steals | Chris Crawford 4 |
Yanick Moreira 2 | Blocks | Austin Nichols 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Southern Methodist | 58 | 40.0 | 5-14 | 5-8 | 12 | 27 | 2 | 11 | 17 |
Memphis | 67 | 46.4 | 6-19 | 9-20 | 16 | 35 | 6 | 15 | 18 |