Tigers head to AAC Tournament semifinals with 70-62 win over UCF

Friday, March 12

Fort Worth, Texas / Dickies Arena

9 p.m.

University of Memphis

16-7,11-4AAC

UCF

11-12,8-10AAC

UCF

Memphis

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference)

Tigers head to AAC Tournament semifinals with 70-62 win over UCF

Mar 13, 2021 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

FORT WORTH, Texas – After UCF took a 52-51 lead with 7:53 to play, the Memphis Tigers outscored the Knights 19-10 down the stretch en route to a 70-62 win in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship Friday night in Fort Worth, Texas.

The third-seeded Tigers improve to 16-7 with the win. The loss snapped UCF's five-game winning streak and ended the sixth-seeded Knights' season at 11-12.

D.J. Jeffries led the Tigers with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including three 3-pointers, and DeAndre Williams added 16 points, four rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Twelve of Williams' points came in the second half.

Lester Quinones grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, one shy of matching the AAC Tournament record. Boogie Ellis also had 12 points.

Memphis jumped out to a hot start, using an 11-0 run to open a 13-2 advantage. A pair of 9-0 UCF runs made the score 25-19 and then 30-28, and Memphis took a 32-28 lead into the halftime locker room. Memphis led by as many as 15 points in the opening 20 minutes.

UCF took its first lead of the game at 52-51 with 7:53 to go in the contest, but it was short lived as a Jeffries layup put Memphis back on top. UCF gained another one-point lead, and Landers Nolley II made a free throw to knot the game up at 54.

After that, however, Memphis regained a bit of control with six-straight points. Quinones hit two free throws, Williams had a dunk and Nolley II made a layup after a Williams steal to give the Tigers a 60-54 advantage.

UCF got back within four, but the Tigers pulled away at the end to secure the win.

Memphis had a 43-34 advantage on the glass.

Up Next
Memphis advances to face second-seeded Houston in the tournament semifinals Saturday afternoon at 4:30. The game against the seventh-ranked Cougars can be seen on ESPN2. Should Memphis beat Houston, the championship game of the AAC Tournament is Sunday at 2:15 on ESPN. That game would be against either top-seeded Wichita State or fifth-seeded Cincinnati, which is Saturday's other semifinal matchup.

Postgame Notes

Memphis used the starting lineup of Boogie Ellis, Lester Quinones, Landers Nolley II, DeAndre Williams, and Moussa Cisse for the eighth-straight game.
- When it was used for the first time before Memphis' game against UCF on Feb. 1, it became the Tigers' eighth different starting lineup in the first 16 games of the season.
Memphis has won seven of its last eight games and 10-of-12 overall.
- The only two defeats were at SMU by two points on Jan. 28 and at No. 9/7 Houston by three points on Sunday.
Memphis went 3-0 against UCF this season.
- The Tigers now lead the all-time series between the two schools, 27-6.
- Memphis has won five-straight against the Knights.
The Tigers made 16 of their 21 free throw tries (.762).
- That is Memphis' third-best percentage of the season in games it shot at least 10.
- Memphis shot 80.0 percent against Central Arkansas on Dec. 4 (20-25) and 76.5 percent at Cincinnati on Feb. 28 (13-17).
D.J. Jeffries' 17 points were his most in nearly three months, since having 18 at Tulane on Dec. 16.
- His season high is 21 against Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 8.
Lester Quinones' 15 rebounds bettered his career high of 11 against Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 8.
- It is also the most rebounds by a Tiger in a game this season.
- The AAC Tournament rebound record is 16, set by Kentrell Barkley of East Carolina against Temple on March 9, 2017.
Landers Nolley II added 12 rebounds, including four on the offensive end.
- The 12 rebounds are a season high and match his career high, set while playing for Virginia Tech against Pittsburgh on Feb. 15, 2020.
Boogie Ellis' 12 points mark his fourth game in the last five in double figures.