No. 9 Cincinnati trips Tigers, 62-48

Saturday, January 27

Memphis, Tenn.

5 PM

University of Memphis

13-8, 4-4American

Cincinnati

19-2, 8-0American

Cincinnati

Memphis

Kareem Brewton, right, came off the bench to score 10 points with 3 steals.

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Jan 27, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Memphis-Cincinnati Boxscore Memphis Season Statistics (Overall/Conference Only)

By: Phil Stukenborg

MEMPHIS – The impressive individual efforts were there for the University of Memphis.

Jeremiah Martin scored a game-high 20 points, Kyvon Davenport grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and Kareem Brewton came off the bench to score 10 points with three steals.

But when the opponent is the nation's ninth-ranked team – and the preseason favorite to win the American Athletic Conference – sometimes more is required.

The Cincinnati Bearcats relied on their rebounding, their defense and their veteran trio of Gary Clark, Jacob Evans and Kyle Washington to defeat the Tigers, 62-48, Saturday before 12,223 at FedExForum. Clark led UC with 18 points and Evans added 14 – including two 3-pointers during a key stretch midway through the second half. Washington finished with 10 rebounds and two blocks.

"We battled, but their length and pressure affected us," said Tiger coach Tubby Smith. "I'm proud of how we didn't give up . . . we battled all the way."

Cincinnati (19-2, 8-0 American) extended its winning streak to 12 games and improved to 2-0 against Memphis this season by holding the Tigers (13-8, 4-4 American) to a season-low 31.1 percent shooting. The Bearcats beat the Tigers, 82-48, Dec. 31 in Highland Heights, Ky.

The Tigers were playing a Top 10 ranked team at home for the first time since dropping an 84-78 decision to No. 8 Oklahoma Nov. 17, 2015. The game attracted the biggest home crowd of the season for the Tigers.

Down by 13 at the half, the Tigers opened the second half by scoring the first seven points, ending the run with an emphatic coast-to-coast dunk by Kyvon Davenport that trimmed the UC advantage to 34-28.

A few minutes later, Jimario Rivers dropped in a 3-pointer from the left corner to make it a four-point game: UC 36, Memphis 32 with 12 minutes to go.

But the Bearcats responded from long range, making four straight 3-pointers, including two by Evans, to go back up, 48-34.

"We had their lead down to four and then we missed three straight free throws and then a front end of a one-and-one," Smith said.

Brewton said the back-to-back 3s by Evans were difficult to overcome.

"We should have contested those shots more," said Brewton, who started the second half in place of Raynere Thornton.

Smith had to be encouraged by Martin's return from injury. Martin was playing for the first time since bruising his hip late in the second half of the U of M's Jan. 20 loss at Tulsa. Martin missed two practices earlier in the week, but returned midweek and was working out at full speed.

In the first half, the Bearcats built a 19-point lead with four minutes left on a basket by Clark and led at halftime, 34-21. UC used a 12-0 run to make 33-14.

Martin missed the final five minutes of the opening half after picking up his second foul.

The Tigers struggled shooting in the first half going 7-of-24 from the field for 29.2 percent. Memphis also was 1-of-8 from beyond the arc.

The Bearcats outrebounded the Tigers, 22-16, in the first half and shot 44.8 percent (13-of-29).

Memphis resumes conference play on the road Wednesday. The Tigers will travel to Tampa to play USF in a game that will be carried by ESPNews.

QUOTABLE

"Fighting to come back, you (put) yourself in such a deep hole. You lose your legs getting out of it. But, again, I'm proud of how hard our guys competed." -- Tiger coach Tubby Smith.

NOTABLES

Tiger F Mike Parks played a career-high 37 minutes and finished with 8 points and 3 rebounds.
Tiger F Raynere Thornton played four minutes, second fewest this season He played three minutes against Northern Kentucky.
Parks had been averaging 12.9 points in conference games and shooting 66 percent. He was 0-for-2 shooting against UC.
Cincinnati entered the game outrebounding the opposition by 9.2 rebounds per game. The Bearcats outrebounded the Tigers, 39-31.