University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
-198, 93 CUSA
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UTEP
-1313, 66 CUSA
Memphis Drops 60-58 Decision to UTEP
Feb 18, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2012
Box Score | Quotes | Notes
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Despite a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds from Tarik Black, the Memphis Tigers (19-8; 9-3 C-USA) fell, 60-58, to the UTEP Miners Saturday afternoon at FedExForum.
Trailing 28-19 at the half, UTEP came out of the locker room on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 30-28 and never stopped pressuring the Tigers. Every time Memphis appeared poised to pull away the Miners had an answer.
The Tigers led, 43-37, with 10 minutes to play and then, 51-44, with 6:25 remaining, but UTEP closed the game on a 16-7 run to capture its first road win of the season. Michael Perez led UTEP - which made 11-of-18 shots in the second half - with 15 points, while Jacques Streeter added 14.
The Miners appeared poised to tie the game at 55 as Gabriel McCulley drove hard for a jam, but Will Barton met him and denied the dunk attempt to preserve the Memphis lead. Perez, however, tied it on the next Miner possession with two free throws.
After a botched Tiger possession, Cedric Lang made two free throws on the next UTEP trip down the floor to give the Miners their first lead of the game, a 57-55 advantage with 1:19 to play. A turnover on the next possession for Memphis resulted in two more free throws that pushed the lead to 59-55. Joe Jackson then missed a layup, and the Miners tacked on one more point to make it 60-55 with 24 seconds left in the game.
W. Barton drove down and hit a quick three to cut it 60-58 with 20 seconds remaining and keep Memphis alive. The Tigers then forced a turnover on UTEP's inbounds play and had the ball trailing 60-58 with less than 15 seconds left. Out of the timeout, Jackson found W. Barton on the left wing for a three-point attempt, but it fell just short as the Tigers dropped their first game since falling to Southern Miss on Feb. 1.
Black was the only Tiger to finish in double figures, while W. Barton added in nine points and five rebounds in 34 minutes. Jackson had seven points, Witherspoon had five and Ferrokahn Hall had four.
Memphis started the first half on a 7-0 run powered by buckets from Tarik Black and Hall in addition to a triple by Chris Crawford. The Tigers held the Miners scoreless for nearly seven minutes until a tip-in at the 13:04 mark ended the Tigers 9-0 opening run.
UTEP pulled within 12-6 thanks in part to some sloppy play by Memphis, but the Tigers went on a 7-0 run keyed by Black working hard on the offensive glass and took a 19-9 lead with 7:36 to play in the half.
Michael Perez connected on UTEP's first triple of the game with just over four minutes left in the half to cut the Memphis lead to 22-15, but Black came up with a steal on the next play which led to a powerful slam. The Miners kept fighting, however, and pulled within 24-19 after a layup by Perez. Memphis recovered, however and closed the half with four-straight points to take a 28-19 halftime lead.
The Tigers will look to get back on track Wednesday as they face East Carolina. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. (CT) at FedExForum.
