Tigers Fall at Tulsa Saturday

Saturday, January 20

Tulsa, Okla.

7 PM

University of Memphis

13-7, 4-3

Tulsa

11-9, 4-4

Memphis

Tulsa

Mike Parks Jr., 2017-18 Men's Basketball

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Jan 20, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Memphis-Tulsa Boxscore Memphis Season Statistics

Davenport posts his fourth double-double of the season.

TULSA, Okla. – The University of Memphis was looking to extend its American Athletic Conference winning streak Saturday night in Tulsa, a victory that would have moved the Tigers into a lofty position in the conference standings.

But Tulsa had other plans.

The Golden Hurricane ended their four-game losing streak and snapped the Tigers' four-game winning streak with a 64-51 victory at the Reynolds Center.

Kyvon Davenport led the Tigers with 21 points and 10 rebounds – his fourth double-double of the season -- and Jeremiah Martin, the league's second-leading scorer, added 14 before leaving the game with 6:16 to go with an injury. He had to be assisted on his way to the locker room.

Mike Parks finished with 11 points and seven rebounds for Memphis, which dropped to 13-7 overall and 4-3 in AAC play.

Tulsa (11-9, 4-4) was led by DaQuan Jeffries, who finished with 24 points ad 11 rebounds.

The Tigers were undone by turnovers and poor shooting. Memphis committed 20 turnovers, a season-high, and shot 35.3 percent.

"When you turn the ball over like we did, it's demoralizing," Tigers coach Tubby Smith said.

Memphis came charging back at the start of the second half. The Tigers scored the first seven points – five by Davenport, two by Parks – to trim the Tulsa lead to six points (33-27).

A few minutes later, the Tigers cut the Golden Hurricane lead to two, the last time coming with about eight minutes left on a 12-footer in the lane by Davenport. But Tulsa recovered with a quick 8-0 run for a 57-47 lead, a run fueled by three-straight Tiger turnovers.

"I felt we were about to take it over," Davenport said. "We've just got to take better care of the basketball on the road."

Thirty seconds after Tulsa had taken a 10-point lead, Martin was injured on an aggressive drive to the basket as he fell hard to floor. Smith said Martin suffered a hip injury.

The Tigers also were undone by getting no points from their bench.

Earlier this month, the Tigers defeated Tulsa, 76-67, at FedExForum to begin a four-game winning streak. But, Memphis struggled from the outset tonight. The Tigers missed six of their first seven shots and 11 of their first 14 and trailed, 20-9. Eventually, the UofM fell behind by 14 (31-17) after a free throw by Martins Igbanu.

"We took a lot of threes early and that's not our game," Smith said.

With Martin shooting an uncharacteristic 2-of-9 in the first half, the Tigers trailed, 33-20, at the break. The UofM shot 25.8 percent in the first half and went 2-of-14 from beyond the arc.

Tulsa, meanwhile, shot 45.8 percent in the first half and made seven of its nine free throws and four of its 12 3-pointers to enjoy the 13-point halftime advantage. At one point late in the first half, the Golden Hurricane put together an 11-1 run to build a comfortable lead.

Memphis returns to FedExForum Saturday, Jan. 27 for its next game, an American Athletic Conference contest against longtime rival Cincinnati. CBS Sports Network will carry the game which tips off at 5 p.m. (CT).