No. 23 Tigers Hold On For 77-75 Win Over Vanderbilt
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Despite trailing for over 20 minutes, the No. 23 Memphis Tigers rallied from an eight-point deficit to knocked off Vanderbilt, 77-75, Saturday afternoon inside FedExForum
David Jones led all players with 28 points, including 21 in the second half, and nearly pulled down a double-double with nine boards.
Former Kansas State transfer Nae'Qwan Tomlin made his Memphis Tigers debut and struck quickly.
Jahvon Quinerly added 13 points and a team-high four assists for Memphis (10-2).
Down seven midway through the first half, Memphis couldn’t really get much going offensively, but it was able to knock down six three-pointers to go into the break down just 36-35.
The Tigers were lit up for 24 points from Vanderbilt’s Ezra Manjon (13) and Tasos Kamateros (11) and closed the half just 4-of-20 shooting over the final 13-plus minutes. Six of Memphis’ nine first-half buckets were from long distance.
Memphis finally got going after the break with a pair of fastbreak scores off steals and a three from Jones that ignited a 9-0 run to put the Tigers in front 44-36.
The Commodores (4-8) didn’t quit, however. Vanderbilt ripped off runs of 15-3 and 9-0 to put Memphis in its largest hole of the day at 62-54 with 8:20 to play.
The Tigers responded with a 12-0 run of their own, sparked by eight points from Jones and a thunderous alley-oop to Malcolm Dandridge.
Memphis led 75-73 with 13.3 seconds remaining, and from there, it became a free-throw shooting contest. The Tigers converted 26-of-35 at the stripe and managed to fend off a last-season three ball at the buzzer to escape with the 77-75 victory.
Vanderbilt got 22 points from Manjon and 12 from a trio of Commodores.
Memphis finished the day just 21-of-55 from the field (38.2%) and 9-of-25 from long range (36.0%).
POSTGAME NOTES
Memphis used the starting lineup of Jahvon Quinerly, David Jones, Jaykwon Walton, Nicholas Jourdain and Malcolm Dandridge for the fourth time this season. The Tigers improve to 4-0 this season with that starting five. Memphis picked up its seventh win of the season against a Power Five program, improving the Tigers to 13-2 against power conference opponents the last two seasons. Memphis also improved to 5-1 against the SEC with the victory. Jones reached 20 points for the sixth-straight game and for the eighth time this season, which is the most in the AAC. He only scored 20 three times a season ago at St. John’s. Memphis got 18 points off 17 Vanderbilt turnovers. They forced 10 steals and blocked five shots. The Tigers got nine points, four rebounds and two steals from Nicholas Jourdain. He posted a team-high 21 in the plus-minus category. Caleb Mills added eight points. Memphis newcomer Nae’Qwan Tomlin made his Tiger debut, drilling his first three-point attempt after entering the game on his way to eight points in 25 minutes. Dandridge pulled down seven boards in 22 minutes. He and Mills blocked two shots each. There were 12 lead changes and six ties in a game that lasted two hours and 23 minutes.
UP NEXT
Memphis gets a week off before returning to FedExForum on Dec. 30 to close out the nonconference portion of the schedule. The Tigers welcome Austin Peay to town for a 6 p.m. tilt on ESPN+.
