Memphis Takes Down Cincinnati, 76-73

Sunday, February 26

Memphis, Tenn.

1 p.m.

University of Memphis

22-7,12-4AAC

Cincinnati

19-11,10-7AAC

Cincinnati

Memphis

DeAndre Williams and Alex Lomax celebrating

Feb 26, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis men's basketball team won its 10^th game in its last 12 contests, beating Cincinnati 76-73 Sunday afternoon at FedExForum.

With the victory, the Tigers improved to 22-7 overall and 11-4 in American Athletic Conference (AAC) play, while the Bearcats fell to 19-11 on the year and to 10-7 in league action.

The Tigers are in second place in the AAC standings heading into the last week of the regular season, 1.5 games ahead of Tulane (10-5). Houston wrapped up the regular season crown at 15-1, and the Cougars will be in Memphis next Sunday for the regular-season finale.

The Tigers were led by Kendric Davis' 22 points. He connected on 6-of-6 at the line and swiped three steals. Running mate DeAndre Williams added 21 points, a team-high seven rebounds, matched his career high with five steals and blocked a team-high three balls.

After the game was tied at 11 almost eight minutes into the action, Memphis jumped on the Bearcats and rode that momentum the rest of the half.

Alex Lomax sparked the Tigers with back-to-back steals against former teammate Landers Nolley II after sneaking up from behind to swipe the ball from his grip. Both picks led to fastbreak layups and ignited the Memphis faithful.

Williams scored seven points in a nine-point run that gave the Tigers their largest lead of the game at 33-18 with 6:35 until half.

Memphis carried a 41-30 lead into the break after shooting 51.4 percent from the floor (18-35) and scoring 14 points off 11 Cincinnati turnovers. The Tigers swiped nine steals in the first 20 minutes.

The Bearcats trailed by 14 with 8:50 to play in the game, but quickly got hot to give the Tigers a close battle down the stretch. Cincinnati connected on 7-of-8 field goals over a five-minute span and managed to get it to within a single point with less than two seconds on the clock after a heaved three-pointer banked in from just inside half court.

Davis was fouled on the ensuing inbounds and sank both free throws to seal the 76-73 victory.

Memphis finished the contest shooting 46.2 percent from the floor (30-65) and 76.5 percent from the free throw line (13-17).

Cincinnati was led by David DeJulius' 16 points.

UP NEXT
Memphis wraps up the regular season next week with a pair of games. The Tigers first travel to SMU for an 8 p.m. tip Thursday before returning home to host No. 1 Houston at 11 a.m. Sunday for senior day.

POSTGAME NOTES

Penny Hardaway matches his career high with 22 wins as head coach of the Tigers. His squads improved to 18-3 overall at home against AAC teams.
Memphis has won five-straight games against the Bearcats and six of the last seven matchups overall.
- Memphis earned a regular-season series sweep over Cincinnati for the second straight season.
The Tigers turned the ball over just eight times in the win, tying the fewest miscues of the season.
- The Tigers are 4-0 when turning it over fewer than 10 times in a game this season.
The Tigers outscored the Bearcats 50-36 in the paint and 24-17 off the bench.
- It's the eighth time this season they have recorded 50-plus points in the paint.
- They have outscored their opponent in the paint 26-of-29 games.
DeAndre Williams recorded his 25^th-straight game of double-digit scoring.
- It ties Chris Douglas Roberts for the most by a Tiger since the 1996-97 season.
- Williams finished 10-18 from the floor shooting.
- He now has four games this season with 10 or more made field goals.
Kendric Davis picked up his 19^th-straight game of the season with double-digit points.
- He added four rebounds, three assists and three steals in 37 minutes.
- Davis is two steals from 200 for his career.
Damaria Franklin scored nine points on 3-6 shooting. He's averaging 10.3 points over his last three games.
Elijah McCadded added eight points and five rebounds in 31 minutes.
Alex Lomax finished the day with four points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals. He is four steals from tying Antonio Anderson (213) for the sixth-most steals in program history.
Memphis recorded 15 steals on the day, one shy of its season high. It marked the third time this season they've swiped at least 15.
Five different players swiped 2-plus steals.

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.