Tigers Start AAC Tournament with 85-69 Win over UCF

Friday, March 11

Fort Worth, Texas / Dickies Arena

8 p.m.

University of Memphis

20-9,13-5AAC

UCF

18-12,9-9AAC

UCF

Memphis

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference)

Tigers Start AAC Tournament with 85-69 Win over UCF

Mar 11, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

FORT WORTH, Texas – The third-seeded Memphis Tigers took the sixth-seeded UCF Knights' best shot, but the Tigers pulled away for an 85-69 win Friday night in the quarterfinals of the 2022 American Athletic Conference Championship in Fort Worth, Texas.

Memphis (20-9) has won five-straight games and 11 of its last 12 overall. The Tigers have now logged five-straight 20-win seasons, including all four seasons under head coach Penny Hardaway.

AAC Freshman of the Year Jalen Duren turned in a 21-point, 20-rebound game for the Tigers, and Lester Quinones scored a career-high 22 points. DeAndre Williams added 14 and six rebounds, and Josh Minott contributed 12 points and seven boards.

Duren's 20 rebounds set an AAC Tournament record, and his 20-20 game is the 14th in the nation this year. The last Tiger with a 20-20 game was Precious Achiuwa, who had 22 points and 22 rebounds at Tulane on Feb. 29, 2020.

The Tigers stormed out of the gate Friday night, leading 26-5 and 30-9 before taking a 41-31 lead into the halftime locker room. But UCF scored eight of the first nine points in the second half to pull within three, and the Knights made it a two-point game at 44-42 after a 3-pointer by Dre Fuller Jr.

In what became the game-changing sequence of the night, Memphis then ripped off an 8-0 run in 49 seconds to regain a double-digit lead. Duren laid in an Alex Lomax dish, Williams had a steal that led to a Lomax triple and Lomax then stole the UCF inbounds play which contributed to a Quinones 3-pointer.

The Tigers ended the game shooting 49.2 percent from the field (30-61), and the Tigers were 19-for-23 from the free throw line (.826). Memphis outrebounded UCF, 47-24, and the Tigers had 21 assists on their 30 baskets.

UCF (18-12) was led by Darius Perry's 23 points.

UP NEXT
The Tigers will take on second-seeded SMU in the AAC Tournament semifinals Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2. With a win, Memphis would advance to the championship game Sunday at 2:15 p.m. on ESPN.

POSTGAME NOTES

Memphis used the starting lineup of Alex Lomax, Lester Quinones, Landers Nolley II, DeAndre Williams and Jalen Duren for the eighth-straight game.
- Memphis has used 16 different starting lineups in the 29 games this season but this same lineup since Feb. 12 at No. 6/7 Houston.
The Tigers are now 8-7 all-time in the AAC Tournament.
Memphis leads the all-time series with UCF, 29-7.
- That includes a 2-1 advantage at neutral sites.
- The Tigers also knocked out the Knights in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament last season.
The Tigers have not trailed for a single second in four-straight games.
- In its last 10 wins, Memphis has only been behind for 21:41 out of a possible 400:00 of game time.
Memphis shot 82.6 percent from the free throw line (19-23).
- The Tigers have had 10 games this season shooting at least 80.0 percent from the line after at least 15 attempts.
- Memphis accomplished the feat just once last season and four times total in 2019-20.
Memphis has won eight-straight games when scoring 80 or more points.
Jalen Duren was 8-for-14 from the floor en route to his 21-point showing, and six of his 20 rebounds came on the offensive end.
- Duren had a 22-point, 19-rebound game earlier this season against Western Kentucky on Nov. 19.
- The double-double is the Sharon Hill, Pa., native's second in the last three games and team-best seventh of the year.
- He has scored in double figures in 11 of the last 12 games.
- The previous freshman AAC Tournament single-game rebound record was 12, done three times (Daniel Hamilton, UConn vs. Tulsa, 3/14/15; Tacko Fall, UCF vs. Tulane, 3/10/16; Dedric Lawson, Memphis vs. Tulsa, 3/11/16).
- The previous overall AAC Tournament single-game rebound record was 16, set by Kentrell Barkley of East Carolina against Temple on March 9, 2017.
Lester Quinones hit a career-best five 3-pointers to help lead to his career-high 22 points.
- The junior has reached double digits in four-straight games and 10 of the last 11 contests.
- He had previously made four 3-pointers in a game six times, most recently against East Carolina on Jan. 27, 2022.
DeAndre Williams finished with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
- The senior has scored 10-plus points in four of his last five outings.
Josh Minott played 17 minutes and had 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.
- His 12 points are his most since having 16 against UCF on Feb. 5.
- The freshman has now scored in double figures in 20 minutes or fewer six times this season.
Alex Lomax had seven assists and three steals on the night.
- Memphis is 28-7 when the senior has five or more assists in a game in his career.
- That includes a 6-3 mark this year.

How to follow the Tigers: For complete information on Memphis Tiger Men's Basketball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.