University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
-229, 106 CUSA
Tulane
-1316,313 CUSA
Memphis Outlasts Tulane, 66-61, in Regular Season Finale
Mar 05, 2011 | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2011
Box Score |
Quotes |
Notes |
AP Photo Gallery 
By: Preston McClellan
MEMPHIS - Though it was Senior Day at FedExForum, two freshmen led the way for Memphis as Tarik Black and Will Barton combined for 39 of the Tigers' 66 points on route to a 66-61 victory over Tulane.
"Tarik really stepped up, he played well," Memphis head coach Josh Pastner said "He came through for us big. You know, Will Barton had a great statline, too. He had 15 points and shot 50 percent from the field."
Black finished with his first career double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes of action. Barton finished with 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting to go along with six assists, five rebounds and three blocks.
The Tigers (22-9; 10-6 C-USA) secured a first-round bye in next week's C-USA Tournament with the victory, but it was anything but easy. After trailing 31-29 at halftime, the Tigers found themselves trailing by seven, 53-46, with 8:43 to play.
Memphis responded with a 14-2 run capped by a corner triple from Chris Crawford to take the lead, 57-55 with 4:27 remaining. The Tigers pushed the lead to as many as six before Tulane's Johnny Mayhane connected on his fifth three-pointer of the game to narrow the lead to 64-61 with 49 seconds to play.
After a missed jumper from Mayhane on the next Green Wave possession, Crawford found Black streaking down the floor for a ferocious jam to put Memphis ahead 66-61 and seal the victory.
"Bottom line, we were able to get it done because we scored," Pastner said. "We had 20 assists on 26 made field goals. That was terrific."
Mayhane led Tulane (13-16; 3-13 C-USA), making 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and finishing with 15 points in a game-high 39 minutes. All five of the Green Wave's starters finished in double-digits as Tulane made an impressive 9-of-18 from beyond the arc. All 61 Green Wave points came from the Tulane starters.
The Tigers received a huge lift from their bench Saturday as the Memphis reserves combined for 38 points. Memphis also exploited its size advantage down low by scoring 42 points in the paint and outrebounding the Green Wave 30-21.
Since Memphis secured a first-round bye in the C-USA Championship next week in El Paso, Texas, the Tigers' first game will be played on Thursday at the Don Haskins Center. Stay tuned to www.gotigersgo.com for game time and other information.
