Tigers Pull Away from Cincinnati

Thursday, January 15

Memphis, Tenn.

6 PM

University of Memphis

10-6, 3-2

Cincinnati

11-5, 2-2

Cincinnati

Memphis

Jan 15, 2015 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Jan. 15, 2015

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Memphis used second half run to separate from Cincinnati in an impressive 63-50 American Athletic Conference victory at FedExForum on Thursday night. 

Memphis moved to 10-6, 3-2 AAC with the win, while dropping Cincinnati to 11-5, 2-2 AAC.

A Cincinnati layup cut the Tigers' lead to just four with 8:52 remaining in the game. Memphis went on an 8-0 run from Calvin Godfrey and Austin Nichols to push the lead to 53-41 with 5:56 to go. Godfrey started it with a tip-in and then a layup and Nichols followed with a jumper and layup of his own. Cincinnati's Deshaun Morman knocked down a three, but Keedran Johnson went on a personal 6-2 run to keep the Tigers ahead by 13 as the clock ran under two minutes.

The Bearcats would attempt to foul to get back in the game, but Memphis was solid from the line in the second half, and that didn't change as they iced the game at the line. A pair of free throws from Johnson pushed the lead to a game-high 15 at 63-48 with 1:05 remaining.

Nichols led all scorers with 17 and finished with eight rebounds. He added three blocks, for his 14th multi-block game of the season.

Kedren Johnson dropped in 13 points to finish in double-digits for the second game in the row. He also had five assists and was 6-for-8 from the line and 1-for-1 from beyond the arc.

Avery Woodson led the team in three pointers as he was 4-for-7 from deep, helping him get to 14 points. Despite foul trouble late in the game, Godfrey finished with eight points and eight rebounds, two away in each category from a double-double.

It was a slow start for both sides, as the U of M trailed 8-5 at the under 12 media timeout. Memphis more than tripled that in the next four minutes as three pointers from Woodson, Johnson and Markel Crawford helped Memphis build a 17-12 lead with 8:14 remaining in the first half. Cincinnati would tie it at 17 and the teams would trade the lead a couple of times before a three from Woodson and dunk from Nichols pushed the lead to 28-22 with 1:54 to play in the half. Memphis would carry a 32-24 lead into the locker rooms.

Memphis came out cold to start the second half, missing shots on the first five possessions and turning it over on a sixth, allowing Cincinnati to creep closer. A Trahson Burrell free throw gave Memphis its first points of the half with 16:29 remaining, bringing the score to 33-30 in favor of the Tigers.

Cincinnati got a layup from Kevin Johnson on its next possession, and all of a sudden the lead was down to one. But Shaq Goodwin responded with a timely layup of his own, and then Woodson knocked down a three to give the Tigers some breathing room at 38-32. Cincinnati would stay within striking distance until Memphis went on its run in the final nine minutes to open up the lead.

Despite some early shooting troubles in the first and second halves, the Tigers still finished shooting 46.9 percent (23-49). Cincinnati went 9-for-23 in each half to finish at 39.1 percent. Memphis' defense also created 20 Cincinnati turnovers, which they turned into 20 points, while the Bearcats were only able to get 10 points off of the U of M's 11 turnovers.

The Tigers dropped the rebounding battle 31-26, but held a 10-2 advantage on fast break opportunities.

Memphis has a quick turnaround as it welcomes UCF to FedExForum for a Saturday afternoon showdown. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. on ESPNews.