Memphis Falls At Tulsa Wednesday

Wednesday, January 30

Tulsa, Okla.

7 PM

University of Memphis

13-8, 5-3

Tulsa

13-9, 3-6

Memphis

Tulsa

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Jan 30, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Boxscore (TLS 95, UM 79)Memphis Season Statistics (Overall)Memphis Season Statistics (Conference Only)

Harris with team-high 18 points; Davenport with 15th career double-double.

By: Phil Stukenborg

TULSA, Okla. – The road woes continued for the University of Memphis Wednesday night at the Reynolds Center.

The Tigers got 18 points from Tyler Harris, 14 from Raynere Thornton and Jeremiah Martin and a double-double from Kyvon Davenport (12 points and 11 rebounds), but dropped a 95-79 American Athletic Conference decision to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The UofM (13-8, 5-3 The American) fell to 2-7 away from FedExForum.

Tulsa (13-9, 3-6 The American) was led by DaQuan Jeffries, who finished with a game-high 25. Curran Scott added 20.

The loss was frustrating for Tigers coach Penny Hardaway, whose team was coming off an impressive 77-57 victory over preseason league favorite UCF Sunday at FedExForum.

So far this season, the Tigers have lost on the road at Houston, Temple and Tulsa.

"They did some good stuff and we just couldn't overcome it," Hardaway said. "It seems like we are too laid back when the game starts, but we'll get better."

Trailing by 17 at the half, the Tigers fell behind by 21 midway through the second half, before attempting a comeback similar to the one last week at Temple. But the closest the UofM could get was eight points, trimming the Golden Hurricane lead to 74-66 with 6:34 to go on a jumper by Raynere Thornton.

Harris did his best to get the Tigers back in the game. He connected on four straight 3-pointers to trim a 14-point Tulsa advantage to 10.

"We dug ourselves a hole and had to dig out," Harris said. "We knew we had to fight back."

At the half, Memphis trailed, 48-31. The Tigers were undone by poor shooting as they shot 30.3 percent (10-of-33) from the field and 58.8 percent from the free throw line (10-of-17).

The Tigers out-rebounded the Golden Hurricane 26-21, the only category they enjoyed an advantage. Davenport had 11 rebounds at the half, but missed nine of his 11 attempts.

After taking a 2-0 lead on a 15-footer by Thornton, the Tigers lost the advantage on the following possession on a Jeffries 3-pointer and never led again. Memphis missed 15 of its first 20 shots and Tulsa gradually pulled away. The Golden Hurricane led by 22 points (44-22) late in the opening half after a layup by Curran Scott.

Memphis stays on the road for its next game, a league encounter at USF Saturday in Tampa.

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