Tigers Post 77-57 Win Over UCF

Sunday, January 27

Memphis, Tenn.

3 PM

University of Memphis

UCF

Memphis

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Jan 27, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Boxscore (UM 77, UCF 57)Memphis Season Statistics Memphis Season Statistics (Conference Only)

Memphis dominates the boards, holds Knights to season-low 57 points.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Call it a message received.

A few games back, Raynere Thornton was concerned about his scoring. Head coach Penny Hardaway encouraged him to rebound and defend, and his scoring would come. It has.

Thornton posted his second double-double of the season Sunday with 11 points and 11 rebounds to lift the University of Memphis to a 77-57 American Athletic Conference victory over UCF. The game was played before a crowd of 17,046 at FedExForum.

Thornton also did a masterful job on the defensive end, helping to hold the BJ Taylor-Aubrey Dawkins tandem to a combined 12 points on 4-of-23 shooting from the field and 2-of-11 from the arc. Taylor entered the game averaging 17.1 points and Dawkins 16.2 points.

"That was major for us, for Raynere to stop pressing to score," said Hardaway. "When you press to score, you miss what you can do. He can really rebound the ball and really defend. He wasn't rebounding the ball because he wanted to score. I said, 'Look, you have to change your mindset. Just go rebound and the points will come.' Lo and behold, the points are coming.

"The main focus for him is rebounding, and I'm glad he's focusing on that now."

Mike Parks Jr. added his best performance in league play with 13 points and eight boards, and Tyler Harris bombed away from the arc with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-9 from the 3-point line. Kyvon Davenport had 11 points, and Jeremiah Martin added 10 points for Memphis (13-7, 5-2 The American).

But, the Tigers' focus Sunday was on the defensive end, where they held the American Athletic Conference preseason favorite to a season-low 57 points. The Memphis defense held UCF to 37.9 percent from the floor and 23.1 percent from the arc and dominated the Knights on the glass 46-28. The Tigers also won the offensive board battle 21-12.

"I thought they were terrific defensively," said UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins. "They moved well. They finished out possessions by boxing out and rebounding. I watched a lot of their games. That was definitely one of their better games defensively, and you can see the result.

"You could tell that they had a game plan against those guys (Taylor, Dawkins). They (Memphis) did a good job of following the scouting report. You could tell that they made a conscious effort to take our guys out of the game, and they did a good job."

The game was tied at 2-all just over a minute into the game, but Memphis went on a 7-2 run for a 9-4 advantage and never trailed in the contest. Davenport got the Tigers' offensive motor going with five points (layup, 3-pointer) in the early run.

UCF (15-4, 5-2 The American) stayed within striking distance in the game's first eight minutes and trailed 13-10 with 12:39 left. Over the next six minutes, Memphis answered with a 17-5 spurt to take a commanding 30-15 lead. The Tigers started the run with six-straight points in the paint and added two treys at the end for the double-digit advantage.

UCF slowly chipped away and cut the lead to 10 points (38-28) at the break. The Knights climbed back into the contest on the strength of three 3-pointers, with two from Frank Bertz and one from Terrell Allen.

Taylor opened the second half with a trey to pull UCF to within seven at 38-31. But that was as close as the Knights got the rest of the game.

From there, Memphis went on a 20-8 spurt to grab a 58-39 advantage and put the contest out of reach. The Tigers ran out to the big lead on the strength of four 3-pointers, with two coming from Harris.

UCF never threatened again in the 77-57 loss.

"This win means a lot because this team (UCF) was the preseason pick to win the league," Hardaway said. "They had only three losses overall by a combined 11 points. It was a big win for us because UCF has been playing solid for a couple of years under Coach Dawkins.

"I'm proud of a lot of things on this scoresheet, but mainly holding them to 57 points, out-rebounding them by 18 and then having 21 offensive rebounds. It was a really strong game and a good statement game for us against a really good team."

The Tigers head back out on the road this week to close out January and open February. Memphis plays at Tulsa Wednesday, Jan. 30. Game time is 7 p.m. (CT). The Tigers then travel to Tampa, Fla., for a Feb. 2 meeting with USF.

Notables

Raynere Thornton's double-double was the third of his career and his second in the last three games.
Thornton is averaging a double-double in the last four games with 12.0 ppg and 10.3 rpg.
Tyler Harris connected on four 3-pointers in a game for the third time in his last five outings.
After getting out-rebounded +33 in games versus Houston, ECU and Tulane, Memphis has responded by dominating its last three foes – SMU, Temple, UCF – on the glass by a +31 margin.
At the near midway point of conference play, Memphis is in a three-way tie for third place in The American with a 5-2 conference record. The Tigers are tied with Temple and UCF. The three squads trail league leaders Cincinnati and Houston at 7-1.