Men's Basketball Drops 85-76 Decision At LSU

Tuesday, November 13

Baton Rouge, La.

6 PM

University of Memphis

1-1

LSU

3-0

Memphis

LSU

Nov 13, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Boxscore (LSU 85, UM 76)

Harris leads Memphis with 20 points.

By: Phil Stukenborg

BATON ROUGE, La. – University of Memphis freshman guard Tyler Harris scored a game-high 20 points and senior guard Jeremiah Martin added 15, but the UofM fell to No. 22 ranked LSU 85-76 Tuesday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

The UofM, playing its first game on the road, was undone by poor shooting (36.1 percent in the opening half; 40.6 percent overall) and by being out-rebounded (37-32). Memphis allowed 13 offensive rebounds.

UofM coach Penny Hardaway said he was "proud of my guys" for their effort and said he hopes they are able to learn from playing against a team that displayed relentless effort.

Memphis overcame a nine-point halftime deficit by coming out and attacking the boards and knocking down several 3-pointers. The UofM and LSU played evenly in the second half. Memphis scored 37 points -- the same as LSU -- and had two more rebounds than the home team.

"(That) told me we can be very special if we buy into our roles," Hardaway said. "What we showed tonight was a lot of fight on the road with a young team."

LSU shot 54 percent for the game, including 57 percent in the second half. But it was rebounding that played a key role, especially on the offensive glass.

"We tried to take away their offensive rebounding and they still got 13," Hardaway said.

LSU was led by Skylar Mays, who scored 19 points. Emmitt Williams finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

For the UofM, Harris rebounded from a scoreless season-opening game against Tennessee Tech by going 7-of-16 from the field, including 6-of-13 from beyond the arc.

"That's Tyler Harris," Hardaway said. "That's what we expect from him all year."

Harris said it was encouraging to see his first 3-pointer fall after going 0-for-6 in the opener.

"After my first one went in I got very comfortable out there," he said.

Behind Harris, the UofM closed a nine-point halftime deficit and grabbed a 52-50 lead. Harris made three treys in the opening six minutes of the second half.

Then LSU slowly pulled away by going on a 12-2 run for a 64-55 lead. LSU eventually built an 11-point advantage.

"I felt we played good, just not good enough," said Martin.

In the first half, LSU used its size advantage to outrebound the UofM, 23-16, en route to a nine-point lead at 48-39.

The UofM and LSU spent the majority of the opening half exchanging runs and leads. Memphis trailed by a few points in the early going, but fought back behind a flurry of 3-pointers. Harris had two, while Kyvon Davenport, Kareem Brewton and Raynere Thornton added one each.

Memphis led 25-24 after two free throws by Martin at the 9:37 mark and 28-27 after another Harris 3-pointer shortly afterward.

A 7-0 run pushed LSU ahead, 36-39, but Memphis answer with its own 7-0 run to tie the game at 36 on two free throws by Martin.

LSU closed the half by building its largest lead of the half (nine points), getting back-to-back 3-pointer from Mays for a 46-39 advantage and extending the advantage to nine points on two free throws from Williams with 10 seconds remaining in the half.

Memphis struggled in the first half (13-of-36). LSU made 20 of its 35 attempts. Mays had 14 of his 19 points at the half.

NOTABLES

Memphis was playing at the Maravich Assembly Center for the first time since 1986 in an NCAA Tournament game.
LSU's Tremont Waters did not score his first field goal until six minutes into the second half. He finished with eight points. Waters scored 18 in a win over Memphis at FedExForum last year.
The six 3-pointers by Harris was the second-most made in a single game by a UofM freshman.
Memphis shot 41.9 percent in the opener against Tennessee Tech and 40.6 percent against LSU.
The UofM returns home Saturday to play Yale. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at FedExForum.