Tigers Earn Road Win at SMU Behind Davis' Double-Double
DALLAS – The Memphis men's basketball team locked up the No. 2 seed in next week’s American Athletic Conference championship with an 81-62 victory late Thursday night at SMU.
The Tigers have now won 11 of their last 13 games while improving to 23-7 overall and 13-4 in league play.
It’s the most wins for Memphis under head coach Penny Hardaway and the most in a season since winning 24 in 2013-14.
Kendric Davis returned to Moody Coliseum and dished out his third double-double of the season with 23 points and 10 assists. Damaria Franklin dropped a season high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting with three triples in 26 minutes off the bench.
DeAndre Williams finished with 13 points, a team-high seven rebounds and four dimes, while Elijah McCadden added 10 points, four boards and four assists.
Just as anyone would have expected, Davis got the night started with a nothing-but-net triple from the right wing on the game’s first shot. After the sides traded buckets over the next few minutes, SMU held a 16-13 lead at the 14:36 mark. From that point on, it was all Tigers.
Franklin converted an and-one as Memphis reeled off 12-straight points and outscored the Mustangs 17-2 over the next five-plus minutes to take a 30-18 advantage.
Jayden Hardaway gave the Tigers their largest lead of the half at 38-24 a few minutes later when he finished a tough baseline drive at the rim.
Memphis went into the break, up 50-37 after torching the nets at a 67.9-percent clip (19-28) and draining 6-of-10 threes.
SMU got the game to within six points at the 11:21 mark, but from that point on, Memphis outscored the Mustangs 19-6 the rest of the way en route to the 81-62 win.
UP NEXT
Memphis will conclude the regular season Sunday morning at 11 a.m. on CBS at FedExForum against No. 1 Houston. It will be the first time the Tigers has ever hosted the No. 1 team in the country inside FedExForum.