March 13, 2021
Memphis takes heartbreaking 76-74 defeat to seventh-ranked Houston in AAC semifinals
FORT WORTH, Texas – An absolute classic March game did not break Memphis’ way in the final seconds, and the second-seeded and seventh-ranked Houston Cougars escaped with a 76-74 win over the third-seeded Memphis Tigers in the semifinals of the 2021 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Memphis (16-8) trailed by 12 points at the half but led in the second half on five occasions, including 71-70 with 1:32 to play. But Houston (23-3) scored six of the game’s final nine points to pick up the win and advance to the AAC Tournament championship game.
Including Sunday’s buzzer-beater loss in the regular-season finale at Houston, Memphis dropped two games to the top-10 Cougars by a combined five points.
Saturday’s second half alone featured five ties and 10 lead changes.
Boogie Ellis finished with a career-high 27 points, going 9-of-16 from the floor and 5-of-8 from 3-point range. He also had four steals and two assists. DeAndre Williams added 16 points, three assists, a steal and a block for the Tigers.
D.J. Jeffries was also in double figures with 10 points.
Houston was paced by co-AAC Player of the Year Quentin Grimes’ 21 points.
After trailing 41-29 at halftime, the Tigers came out and scored 17 of the second half’s first 22 points to tie the game at 46. Memphis’ first lead of the half was 51-50 after an Ellis triple, and from there the back-and-forth contest was on.
Landers Nolley II buried a 3 to turn a two-point deficit into a one-point lead at 61-60, and a couple of minutes later the Tigers had a 66-62 lead after a pair of free throws by Lester Quinones. Houston scored five-straight after that, though, but Ellis gave the Tigers the lead again at 68-67 on a driving layup.
The lead flipped twice in the last 90 seconds of the game, with Memphis on top 71-70 with 1:32 to go.
But the Cougars scored six-straight points and opened a 76-71 lead before Ellis drained a 3 near the end of the clock to bring the game to its final score of 76-74.
Memphis shot 49.1 percent from the floor (26-53) in the contest.
Up Next
The Tigers will find out if their season continues Sunday, beginning with the NCAA Tournament Selection Show at 5 p.m. on CBS.
