The Memphis Tigers took a 3-point lead into halftime and extended their lead in the second half thanks to DeAndre Williams' 26-point performance. Memphis took care of business in American Conference action beating Temple Sunday (2/12) at FedExForum. Final: Memphis Tigers 86 Temple Owls 77
Memphis' Kendric Davis continued his leadership on the court adding 21 points.
Temple was led by Khalif Battle with 25-points off the bench.
Next up for Memphis: vs UCF at FedExForum at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+
Williams’ Double-Double Lifts Tigers Over Owls
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – DeAndre Williams poured in 26 points and Kendric Davis added 21 to lead the Memphis Tigers to an 86-77 victory over Temple Sunday morning at FedExForum.
The Tigers improved to 19-6 overall and 9-3 in American Athletic Conference play to move into second-place in the league standings.
Williams hauled in his eighth double-double of the year with 26 points and 12 rebounds, while also adding a team-high six assists. Davis recorded four dimes and a game-high four steals to go along with his 21 points. Elijah McCadden dropped 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Jayden Hardaway added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Memphis shot a season-high 56.7 percent from the floor (34-60). It's the second-highest field goal percentage for the Tigers over the last three seasons.
Temple (14-12, 8-5 AAC) was hot in the early going, hitting a pair of triples to take a 10-5 advantage before the Tigers reeled off an 11-2 run to go in front for good. Jayden Hardaway spearheaded the spurt with back-to-back 3-pointers.
With two minutes to play before the break, Elijah McCadden drove the lane and finished a tough shot at the rim to give Memphis a seven-point lead, its largest of the half. The Tigers went into the locker room up 36-33.
Williams carried the Tigers offense in the first 20 minutes, pouring in 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting with six rebounds.
It didn't take long for the Tigers to wake up in the second half. Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu connected on a hookshot and Davis sank his first long ball to spark an 8-0 run out of the locker room that quickly stretched the lead to double-digits.
A few minutes later Memphis grew its lead to as many as 18 points after a 9-0 run that saw three Tigers get buckets in that span, but then it was Temple's turn.
The Owls made six-straight baskets and pulled to within four after a 16-2 run, but that would be as close as they would get. Williams made back-to-back buckets and then assisted on the next three makes to stretch the lead back out to 12 with less than two minutes to play. Davis iced the game at the line in the final seconds to secure the 86-77 victory.
Temple was led by Khaliff Battle's 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
UP NEXT
Memphis returns to FedExForum on Thursday against Central Florida at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ for the Coaching for Literacy Game sponsored by International Paper. It is also the Bill Laurie celebration game where 1,000 bobbleheads will be handed out at the gates.
The Tigers then hit the road for a much-anticipated matchup with No. 2 Houston next Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN.
POSTGAME NOTES
Memphis used the starting lineup of Kendric Davis, DeAndre Williams, Keonte Kennedy, Elijah McCadden and Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu for the eighth-straight game.The Tigers are now 7-1 in those games.Memphis has won five-straight games against the Owls and now lead the all-time series 14-11.That includes a 7-3 advantage in games played in Memphis.DeAndre Williams finished with a team-high 26 points for the second-straight game, his fourth 20-point outing in the last seven.He eclipsed double-digits for the 21st-consectuve game and has now scored at least 15 points in 20 outings.His 12 rebounds give him nine games with double-digit boards.Williams shot 11-of-18 from the floor and 2-of-3 from long distance.Kendric Davis ended the contest with 21points despite struggling from the floor in the first half.He has now scored 20-plus points in nine-straight contests.That is his 18th game of the season and 49th of his career with 20-plus points.He went 7-of-10 from the free throw line and drew a team-high eight fouls.Elijah McCadden continued his hot streak with 12 points 6-of-8 shooting.He is shooting 65.5 percent from the field over his last five games with three double-digit outings.He pulled down seven boards, giving him 6.0 rebounds per game over the last five.He also tied his season-high with four assists.Jayden Hardaway recorded his third game of double-digit scoring (12) over the last five with 12 points.The Tigers outscored the Owls 48-28 in the paint and 24-12 off turnovers.Memphis dished 15 assists and only turned the ball over nine times. It's the third straight game with fewer than 10 miscues after only have one such game the rest of the season.The Tigers shot 8-of-18 from deep (44.4%) and 10-of-16 at the stripe (62.5%).Memphis led for 31:32 and scored 50 points in the second half.