by Don Mooney
FORT WORTH, Texas – Friday night at Dickies Arena was one for the record books as the No. 2-seeded Memphis men’s basketball team defeated No. 7 UCF, 81-76, in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference championship.
The Tigers improve to 24-8 on the season and advance to the semifinals to face No. 3 Tulane at 4 p.m. Saturday for a trip to the AAC title game.
Memphis has won 12 of its last 15 games to give the program its most victories in a season since also winning 24 in 2013-14.
DeAndre Williams and Kendric Davis were the headliners, as the duo combined to score 84 percent of the Tigers’ points against the Knights. Williams finished two points shy of his career high with 35 points while grabbing 13 rebounds. Davis added 33 points, seven assists and three blocks.
photo by Don Mooney
They are believed to be the first Tiger duo in program history to both score 30 in the same game. After a slow start from Memphis to start the game, the two sides traded buckets to a 24-22 score with 6:40 to play in the first half. From there, Williams knocked down a pair of three-pointers to help send the Tigers into the break with a 40-30 advantage.
Williams (18) and Davis (12) combined for 30 points, seven boards and eight dimes in the first half. The Tigers struggled on the glass all night and UCF knocked down five triples to start cutting into the deficit.
A 9-2 spurt gave UCF a 50-49 lead with 11:21 remaining, but Davis stepped up and nailed back-to-back threes to push the Tigers back in front for good en route to the 81-76 win. From the 15-minute mark in the second half until 18 seconds left in the game, Davis and Williams combined to score 38-consecutive points for Memphis.
The Tigers shot 47.5 percent in the game (28-59) and 47.4 percent from deep (9-19). UCF (18-14) was led by C.J. Kelly‘s 28 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes.
UP NEXT
With the victory, Memphis will face No. 3 Tulane on Saturday, March 11 at 4 p.m. on ESPN2 in the semifinals of the American Conference Championship in Fort Worth.