Martin's 33 Not Enough In Overtime Loss At ECU

Saturday, February 3

Greenville, N.C.

1 PM

University of Memphis

14-9, 5-5AAC

ECU

9-13, 3-8AAC

OT 1

Memphis

ECU

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Feb 03, 2018 | Men's Basketball

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

Davenport, Parks Jr. both record double-double performances.

By: Phil Stukenborg

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Jeremiah Martin scored a career-high 33 points, and Kyvon Davenport and Mike Parks Jr. recorded double-doubles, but the University of Memphis couldn't overcome ECU in overtime.

ECU got 30 points from Shawn Williams, Kentrell Barkley had a double-double and Isaac Fleming finished with the first triple-double in program history to lead the Pirates past the Tigers, 88-85, Saturday at Williams Arena.

Memphis (14-9, 5-5 American) was hoping to win its second straight league road game, but Williams' long-range accuracy proved to be too much to overcome. Williams was 6-of-10 from long range in making his fifth straight start for ECU (9-13, 3-8 American).

"I'm really disappointed, but impressed with the job (ECU coach) Michael Perry did having his team ready," said Tigers head coach Tubby Smith. "We just didn't seem to have the spark or defensive energy we needed."

Davenport finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Parks added 13 points and 11 rebounds. Parks also blocked a layup in the closing seconds to force overtime.

The Tigers had their chances in overtime. They took an early 80-78 lead on three free throws by Martin, but Williams connected on 3s on consecutive possessions for an 84-80 lead with three minutes to go, and the Tigers never led again. Williams scored 10 of his points in the overtime period.

Memphis also had its moments in the second half.

The Tigers fell behind by 10 (51-41) early in the second half, but eventually battled back to tie the game at 60-60 with 8:44 to go on two free throws by Martin. Memphis grabbed leads of 63-62 (on a Martin 3-pointer) and 67-65 (on a Jimario Rivers fastbreak dunk).

In the frantic final minutes of regulation, Davenport dropped in a free throw to tie the game at 77 with 6.2 seconds left, and Parks blocked a Justin Whatley shot at the buzzer.

Although Memphis shot 59 percent in the opening half, it trailed ECU, 41-36, at the break. The Tigers fell behind 22-15 at the second media timeout, the result of an early flurry of Pirates' 3-pointers. Shawn Williams had back-to-back 3s during the stretch and B.J. Tyson added another.

After finishing with 20 assists in the win at USF Wednesday, the Tigers struggled finding the open man in the first half and had only three assists at halftime.

Memphis trailed by eight (37-29) late in the first half before Martin went on a personal 7-0 run to close the gap to 39-36 with 53 seconds left. The Tigers had an opportunity to trim it further, but ECU's Justin Whatley stripped Jimario Rivers of a rebound underneath the Pirates' basket and laid it in for the 41-36 halftime lead.

ECU shot 58.6 in the first half and was 5-of-11 from beyond the arc.

The Tigers return home Tuesday to play host to nationally-ranked Wichita State at FedExForum. Tipoff is at 8 p.m., and the game will be carried by CBS Sports Network.

NOTABLES

Tigers sophomore big man Karim Sameh Azab, who scored the first points of his career in Wednesday's win at USF, added four more against ECU. Azab was 3-of-3 shooting vs. USF.
ECU was playing without starter Jabari Craig. He missed his third-straight game with a left foot injury.
Memphis entered the game Saturday with a 17-3 series lead against ECU.
Kentrell Barkley became the 31^st 1,000-point scorer in ECU history when he scored on a layup with 4:18 to go.
Kyvon Davenport's double-double was his second straight and sixth of the season.