Rivers Leads Tigers to 63-52 Win over New Orleans

Tuesday, November 21

Memphis, Tenn.

7 PM

University of Memphis

2-1

New Orleans

0-3

New Orleans

Memphis

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Nov 21, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Senior scores career-high 18 points in wire-to-wire win

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Jimario Rivers scored a career-high 18 points and Memphis led wire-to-wire in a 63-52 win over New Orleans Tuesday night at FedExForum. The Tigers are 2-1 and welcome Northern Kentucky to Memphis on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Rivers finished a career-best 8-of-11 shooting, with seven rebounds and three assists. His previous career high was 16 points against UConn last season.

"Hats off to New Orleans, we knew they'd come to play. They were an NCAA Tournament team last year," Memphis head coach Tubby Smith said. "They are a veteran ball club, so I knew they wouldn't quit. I told our players, you've got to respect the game, respect your opponent, and the most insignificant score is the halftime score."

Rivers started the game emphatically, with a dunk in the opening seconds to give Memphis its first lead of the game. The Tigers and Privateers were tied twice in the opening minutes but Memphis never trailed. Memphis led by as many as 17 points in the second half.

The Tigers turned the ball over just four times in the first half and held New Orleans to just 16 points. The last time Memphis held a team to a first-half total that low was against Western Illinois in the 2014-15 season.

Jeremiah Martin finished with 15 points and was a perfect 8-of-8 on free throws. Kyvon Davenport also scored in double figures for his third-straight game, with 10 points.

Malik Rhodes had a team-high four assists, to go with six points.

New Orleans was led by Makur Puou with 11 points and nine rebounds. He was the only Privateers player to score in double digits.

Northern Kentucky will come into FedExForum with a 4-1 record, after going 2-1 in the Islands of the Bahamas Showcase in Nassau. Last season was NKU's first season as a full NCAA Division I member and the Norse won the Horizon League Tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament.