University of Memphis Athletics
Saturday, March 10
Orlando, Fla.
12 PM
University of Memphis
21-13
60
vs
70
#8 Cincinnati
29-4
1
2
F
Memphis
42
18
60
Cincinnati
29
41
70
Jamal Johnson led the Tigers with 17 points, all in the first half of Saturday's AAC Championship semis.
Tigers fall to Bearcats in American Championship semifinals
Mar 10, 2018 | Men's Basketball
Box ScoreMemphis-Cincinnati Boxscore/The American Championship SemifinalMemphis Season Statistics (Overall)
Memphis forces Cincinnati to rally in second half for the victory
ORLANDO – For 20 minutes, it appeared the University of Memphis was going to pull off the upset of this year's Aaron's American Athletic Conference Championship. The Tigers, the tournament's No. 5 seed, had the top-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats on their heels in the semifinals.
But as tournament top seeds are accustomed to doing, the Bearcats, ranked eighth nationally, took the Tigers' best punches and came back with a stronger counterpunch, relying on a suffocating second-half defensive effort to eliminate Memphis, 70-60, Saturday at the Amway Center.
In the second half, the Bearcats (29-4) held the Tigers (21-13) to 18 points and 18.5 percent shooting to erase a 13-point halftime deficit.
"It was a tale of two halves," Tiger coach Tubby Smith said. "In the first half we moved the ball and did a good job of penetrating. We had them back on their heels a little bit.
"In the second half, we were a little flat coming out, but it had a lot to do with their intensity . . . we didn't match it in the second half."
Freshman Jamal Johnson led the Tigers with 17 points – all in the first half – and Kyvon Davenport added his eighth double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Jarron Cumerland led Cincinnati with 18 points and Gary Clark had the Bearcats' double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Tigers battled gallantly despite being without their best player – point guard Jeremiah Martin – and their only senior, Jimario Rivers. Rivers started, but suffered a head injury and lower back injury in the opening two minutes and did not return.
Being undermanned didn't deter the Tigers as they followed Johnson's long-range shooting to the big halftime lead, an unexpected development considering the lopsided Cincinnati wins in two regular-season matchups.
The Bearcats won the two regular-season matchups, 82-48 in Highland Heights, Ky., and 62-48 at FedExForum.
Cincinnati, projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, came out intent on erasing the 13-point halftime deficit. The Bearcats opened on an 8-0 run to force the Tigers to call a timeout and scored the first 11 points of the half to trim the margin to 42-40.
The Bearcats scored 18 of the first 20 points of the half to move ahead for the first time in the game. The Tigers, meanwhile, missed 11 of their first 12 shots, unable to find any open looks against one of the nation's top defensive teams.
After Cincinnati took a 45-44 lead with 13:37 to go on a three-point play by Kyle Washington, the Tigers never led again.
Behind 17 first-half points from Johnson – or one less than his regular-season career-high – the Tigers grabbed a surprising 42-29 halftime lead. Memphis never trailed in the opening half as Johnson connected on back-to-back 3-pointers and dropped in two free throws for an 8-2 lead.
Johnson was perfect in the first half making 5-of-5 field goals, including each of four 3-pointers. He also went 3-of-3 from the free throw line and had three rebounds.
Memphis eventually built double-digit leads late in the half. Back-to-back layups from Johnson, with 15 seconds left, and Kareem Brewton at the buzzer gave the Tigers their 13-point halftime lead.
The Tigers, held to 32.1 percent and 31.1 percent shooting in the regular-season losses to Cincinnati, shot 51.9 percent in the first half and 35.2 percent for the game.
QUOTABLE
"We did some good things late in the season. This group has come on to overachieve. We were picked to finish ninth in this league and we (ended) in the final four here." – Memphis coach Tubby Smith
NOTABLES
+ Memphis and Cincinnati were meeting in a postseason conference tournament for the first time since the 2001 Conference USA semifinals.
+ Cincinnati will be looking for its first league tournament title in 14 years. The Bearcats last won a postseason conference tournament in 2004 as members of Conference USA.
+ With its win over Memphis in Saturday's AAC semifinal, the Bearcats improved to 8-1 vs. Memphis in postseason tournament play: 2-1 in the Metro; 4-0 in the Great Midwest; 1-0 in Conference USA and 1-0 in the American Athletic.
+ Memphis big man Mike Parks entered the game having made 10 of 16 field goals in the first two games of the tournament. He was 2-of-5 against Cincinnati.
+ The Tigers were looking for their first win over a Top 10 team since beating Louisville March 1, 2014 at FedExForum.
But as tournament top seeds are accustomed to doing, the Bearcats, ranked eighth nationally, took the Tigers' best punches and came back with a stronger counterpunch, relying on a suffocating second-half defensive effort to eliminate Memphis, 70-60, Saturday at the Amway Center.
In the second half, the Bearcats (29-4) held the Tigers (21-13) to 18 points and 18.5 percent shooting to erase a 13-point halftime deficit.
"It was a tale of two halves," Tiger coach Tubby Smith said. "In the first half we moved the ball and did a good job of penetrating. We had them back on their heels a little bit.
"In the second half, we were a little flat coming out, but it had a lot to do with their intensity . . . we didn't match it in the second half."
Freshman Jamal Johnson led the Tigers with 17 points – all in the first half – and Kyvon Davenport added his eighth double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Jarron Cumerland led Cincinnati with 18 points and Gary Clark had the Bearcats' double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Tigers battled gallantly despite being without their best player – point guard Jeremiah Martin – and their only senior, Jimario Rivers. Rivers started, but suffered a head injury and lower back injury in the opening two minutes and did not return.
Being undermanned didn't deter the Tigers as they followed Johnson's long-range shooting to the big halftime lead, an unexpected development considering the lopsided Cincinnati wins in two regular-season matchups.
The Bearcats won the two regular-season matchups, 82-48 in Highland Heights, Ky., and 62-48 at FedExForum.
Cincinnati, projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, came out intent on erasing the 13-point halftime deficit. The Bearcats opened on an 8-0 run to force the Tigers to call a timeout and scored the first 11 points of the half to trim the margin to 42-40.
The Bearcats scored 18 of the first 20 points of the half to move ahead for the first time in the game. The Tigers, meanwhile, missed 11 of their first 12 shots, unable to find any open looks against one of the nation's top defensive teams.
After Cincinnati took a 45-44 lead with 13:37 to go on a three-point play by Kyle Washington, the Tigers never led again.
Behind 17 first-half points from Johnson – or one less than his regular-season career-high – the Tigers grabbed a surprising 42-29 halftime lead. Memphis never trailed in the opening half as Johnson connected on back-to-back 3-pointers and dropped in two free throws for an 8-2 lead.
Johnson was perfect in the first half making 5-of-5 field goals, including each of four 3-pointers. He also went 3-of-3 from the free throw line and had three rebounds.
Memphis eventually built double-digit leads late in the half. Back-to-back layups from Johnson, with 15 seconds left, and Kareem Brewton at the buzzer gave the Tigers their 13-point halftime lead.
The Tigers, held to 32.1 percent and 31.1 percent shooting in the regular-season losses to Cincinnati, shot 51.9 percent in the first half and 35.2 percent for the game.
QUOTABLE
"We did some good things late in the season. This group has come on to overachieve. We were picked to finish ninth in this league and we (ended) in the final four here." – Memphis coach Tubby Smith
NOTABLES
+ Memphis and Cincinnati were meeting in a postseason conference tournament for the first time since the 2001 Conference USA semifinals.
+ Cincinnati will be looking for its first league tournament title in 14 years. The Bearcats last won a postseason conference tournament in 2004 as members of Conference USA.
+ With its win over Memphis in Saturday's AAC semifinal, the Bearcats improved to 8-1 vs. Memphis in postseason tournament play: 2-1 in the Metro; 4-0 in the Great Midwest; 1-0 in Conference USA and 1-0 in the American Athletic.
+ Memphis big man Mike Parks entered the game having made 10 of 16 field goals in the first two games of the tournament. He was 2-of-5 against Cincinnati.
+ The Tigers were looking for their first win over a Top 10 team since beating Louisville March 1, 2014 at FedExForum.
Team Stats
MEM
CIN
FG%
.352
.407
3FG%
.350
.259
FT%
.714
.625
RB
37
37
TO
9
3
STL
3
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
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