University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Tulane
Men's Basketball Tops Tulane, 78-72
Feb 04, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 4, 2002
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Dajuan Wagner scored 25 points, including Memphis' last eight, to lead the Tigers to a 78-72 victory over Tulane Monday night and remain undefeated in Conference USA.
The two teams were tied 70-70 when Wagner took over in the final 1:30. A Wagner steal and layup gave Memphis the lead for good, and a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left gave the Tigers (20-4, 10-0) some breathing room at 75-70. Wagner closed it out connecting on 3-of-4 free throws in the final 25 seconds.
The victory was the 10th straight for Memphis and marked the Tigers' best conference start in school history.
Chris Massie added 13 points and 14 rebounds for Memphis.
Brandon Brown led the Green Wave (12-9, 4-6) with 25 points and eight rebounds and kept Tulane in the game every time Memphis tried to pull away. Brown connected on 9-of-13 shots from the field and 6-of-7 free throws.
Linton Johnson added 10 off the bench for Tulane.
Memphis held a 12-point lead in the first half, but the Green Wave put together an 11-0 run late to eventually cut the advantage to 37-36 at halftime.
Later, Memphis scored eight straight points for a 63-52 lead when Anthony Rice hit a 3-pointer with 9:26 left.
But Tulane kept chipping away, eventually overtaking Memphis 68-67 when Johnson scored from 10 feet with 2:37 left.
