Tigers unable to hold off SMU

Saturday, January 25

Memphis, Tenn.

3 PM

University of Memphis

14-5,3-3AAC

SMU (Coaches vs Cancer Game)

15-4,5-2AAC

SMU

Memphis

Boogie Ellis connected on three of his four 3-point attempts vs. SMU.

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Jan 25, 2020 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Gamebook (SMU 74, UM 70)Memphis Season Statistics (Overall)Memphis Season Statistics (AAC Only)

Mustangs score the game's final 15 points to shock the UofM

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Held scoreless for the game's final six minutes, the University of Memphis dropped a 74-70 American Athletic Conference decision Saturday to SMU before 17,090 at FedExForum.

The Tigers (14-5, 3-3 AAC) led 70-59 with 6:01 to go following a dunk by D.J. Jeffries off an assist by Alex Lomax. But SMU (15-4, 5-2) begin a game-ending 15-0 run to steal a victory from the UofM's grasp.

SMU started its run on a layup by Tyson Jolly with 5:32 left, took its first lead of the second half (71-70) on a 3-pointer by Isiaha Mike with 1:51 to go and closed the game with three free throws from Kendric Davis, an 89-percent free throw shooter.

The Tigers had chances in the final minutes, but were unable to convert. Precious Achiuwa came up with a huge steal with 10 seconds left in front of the Memphis bench and quickly attempted a 3-pointer that would have tied the game. But Achiuwa missed.

Davis then hit one of two free throws with 6.2 seconds left to seal the win for SMU.

"Honestly, this game is really hard to believe," Tigers coach Penny Hardaway said. "In the last six to seven minutes, you see that we went from being a team that wasn't turning the ball over and playing pretty good defense to a team that starting turning the ball over and playing poor defense.

"It's hard to believe that we couldn't score (in the final six minutes) and we couldn't stop them. We put ourselves in position to lose a very tough game that we should have won at home."

D.J. Jeffries led the Tigers with 18 points and Achiuwa finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Boogie Ellis snapped out of a lengthy slump by scoring 14 points, making three-of-four 3-pointers and dishing out three assists. Lester Quinones contributed 10 points, three assists and three steals.

SMU, which won its third straight, was led by TCU transfer Kendric Davis, the league's assist leader. Davis finished with 20 points and five assists. Emmanuel Bandoumel had 14 points.

The Mustangs shot an impressive 62.5 percent in the second half against the Tigers, who entered the game as the nation's No. 1 field-goal percentage defense team (35.7 percent).

"They're one of the best defensive teams," Jankovic said. "They're not easy to score against. I was worried.

"But we have guys that are really competitive. I just know that they'll fight their way back into it."

Ahead by nine at halftime, the Tigers watched their lead quickly dwindle. SMU opened the half on a 7-0 run to trim the margin to 41-39.

It was 52-51 Tigers with 12:25 to go when the UofM put together an 11-2 run for a 63-53 lead. Quinones had a 3-pointer during the run and Alex Lomax scored on back-to-back possessions in the lane.

Ellis hit a 3-pointer for a 66-56 UofM lead, followed by an Achiuwa steal and fast-break slam for a 68-56 cushion with 7:07 to go. From that point, the Mustangs outscored the Tigers, 18-2.

The Tigers, who only committed two turnovers in the first half, had nine in the second.

"We just had too many turnovers in the second half," Ellis said.

At the half, the Tigers led 41-32, scoring more points in 20 minutes Saturday than they did in Wednesday's 80-40 loss at Tulsa.

The Tigers were aggressive from the outset building an early 10-4 lead, the final three points coming from Ellis. Ellis had missed each of his 17 field goal attempts in conference play before draining the 3-pointer for a 10-4 advantage.

The UofM eventually extended its lead 11 points on multiple occasions in the opening half.

The strong first half was aided by something the Tigers lacked in Tulsa: 3-point shooting and nearly error-free basketball. Memphis made six of its 12 3-pointers and committed only two turnovers. They also had 12 assists on 15 made field goals.

Achiuwa had 13 points and six rebounds at the half. Davis had 14 to lead SMU.

Memphis goes on the road next Wednesday to play a league game at UCF.

TIGER NOTES

The Tigers did not commit their first turnover until 7:18 remained in the opening half.
Memphis guard Boogie Ellis snapped out of an 0-for-17 start in conference games by hitting his first 3-pointer. He made both his 3-point attempts in the first half. "I don't care about that stuff," he said. "We lost and that's all that matters."
The Tigers led for 36 minutes and 12 seconds. SMU led for 2:22.
Memphis dropped to 10-2 at FedExForum. Its losses are to Georgia and SMU.
The Tigers had more assists (18) than turnovers (11) for only the sixth time this season. They had gone five straight games with more turnovers than assists.
The UofM shot 49.1 percent. It was the Tigers' best effort from the field since shooting 54 percent in an 84-73 win over Tulane Dec. 31.