Tigers Battle Gallantly In NYC, But Fall To Louisville

Saturday, December 16

New York, N.Y.

11 AM

University of Memphis

Louisville

LOUISVILLE

Memphis

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Tigers Battle Gallantly In NYC, But Fall To Louisville

Dec 16, 2017 | Men's Basketball

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By: Phil Stukenborg

NEW YORK, N.Y. – It's unfortunate the University of Memphis and Louisville have no future games scheduled in this long-standing basketball rivalry. If Saturday's game at Madison Square Garden is any indication, the Tigers and Cardinals need to find a date and a time to play again.

The Tigers got a career-high tying 26 points from junior guard Jeremiah Martin and 12 from junior forward Kyvon Davenport in the showcase game of the Houzz Gotham Classic presented by TicketIQ, but it wasn't enough as Louisville survived, 81-72, at the iconic sports arena.

Martin also grabbed a career-high nine rebounds, trying to pick up the slack following the loss of Jimario Rivers early in the second half to a head injury. Rivers is expected to recover.

Quentin Snider's 19 points paced four Louisville players who finished in double figures. Deng Adel added 15 for the Cardinals (8-2), who made 14 3-pointers and blocked 14 shots, including seven by 7-footer Anas Mahmoud.

The Tigers (7-3) shot 45 percent and outrebounded a Louisville team by one (35-34) The Cardinals had been outrebounding the opposition by 5-plus boards.

"The effort was there, but at the end of the day we lost," Martin said. "But I don't think anyone was scared of the big stage."

Tigers coach Tubby Smith was pleased with the overall effort of his team, which made several strong runs at the Cardinals in the second half when Louisville built double-digit leads.

"We've done that all year long," Smith said. "That's the M.O. for this team.
"I was encouraged because they listened and tried to do the things we asked them to do. It's just hard to imagine that we missed too many point-blank shots."

Smith said the loss of Rivers in the second half was a difficult development. He knocked heads scrambling for a loose ball and had to be taken to the locker room for observation.

"We missed him when he went out," Smith said. "This was a game where we needed all hands on deck."

The Cardinals opened the second half on a 10-2 run, powered by two 3-pointers from Adel, to grab a 48-40 advantage. Louisville pushed its lead to 55-42 minutes later on the strength of a 17-4 run.

The Tigers didn't fold. They put together a 10-2 run midway through the half to trim what had been a 13-point deficit to four (60-56) with eight minutes left. Martin had four points during the run and Jamal Johnson added three.

But the Cardinals put together one final stretch, expanding a 63-59 lead with seven minutes left with a 9-0 run for a 72-59 lead with 3:17 to go. Martin had cut the Louisville advantage to 63-59 on a full-length drive, adding a free throw to complete the three-point play.

Memphis and Louisville were tied at 38 was tie at the half, but the Tigers had the momentum after an emphatic slam dunk by Rivers off a fast-break, alley-oop pass from Kareem Brewton seconds before the buzzer.

Louisville relied on eight 3-pointers in the first half, and the Tigers countered by scoring 10 points off second-chance baskets. Memphis shot 50 percent in the opening 20 minutes (15-of-30). The Cardinals shot 15-of-31, including 8-of-13 from long range.

The Tigers and Cardinals, fierce rivals from their days playing in the same conferences (Missouri Valley, Metro, Conference USA, among others) were meeting for the 90^th and the first time since March 2014 when the Tigers won 72-66 at FedExForum.

Memphis completes play in the five-team round-robin Gotham Classic with a Wednesday home game against Siena at FedExForum. The game will be carried by CW30 (and ESPN3) and tip-off is at 7 p.m.