PORTLAND, Ore. — The Memphis basketball team survived and, with a little luck on St. Patrick’s Day, advanced at the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 9 seed Tigers (22-10) led by as many as 19 points early in the second half and held on to beat No. 8 seed Boise State 64-53 Thursday at the Moda Center in front of an overwhelmingly pro-Broncos crowd. The victory means Memphis will face the Gonzaga-Georgia State winner on Saturday in the second round of the West Region. The Zags are the No. 1 overall seed.
It’s the first NCAA Tournament win in Penny Hardaway’s coaching career and the first for the program since 2014. The Tigers remain undefeated (7-0) all-time in NCAA Tournament games played on St. Patrick’s Day.
Jalen Duren of Memphis logged his ninth double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds. His layup with 49 seconds left in the game came after Alex Lomax poked the ball out of Tyson Degenhart’s hands and gave Memphis a 60-53 lead. Lomax, who fought through a left ankle injury he suffered late in the first h finished with nine points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
DeAndre Williams put up 14 points for the Tigers and Landers Nolley II added 12.
Jalen Duren, Tiger frontcourt put on clinic
In all the build-up to Thursday’s game, most onlookers agreed: the Tigers’ most obvious advantage over the Broncos (27-8) was their frontcourt.
Duren, Williams and their supporting cast, which includes Malcolm Dandridge, Josh Minott and Chandler Lawson, give Memphis something Boise State hasn’t seen much of this season.
That advantage played out early, often and down the stretch – when the Tigers needed it most. Duren and Williams combined for 24 points and 16 rebounds. Duren, the AAC Freshman of the Year and projected NBA Draft lottery pick, finished with 11 boards, the ninth time he’s hit double-figures this season.
Tyler Harris gives Tigers a first-half jolt
Tyler Harris, the Tigers’ senior point guard was one of the more consistent offensive presences for long stretches of the season. Harris, who starred at Cordova and came into the NCAA Tournament averaging 8.9 points per game, has led Memphis in scoring more times (eight) than any other player this season.
Last week, though, Harris hit an extended rough patch, connecting on just 11% of his field goal attempts during the AAC Tournament. But, true to form, diminutive sparkplug helped kickstart a 22-7 run in the first half.
With the Tigers up 18-12, the 5-foot-9 lightning bolt stepped in front of a Naje Smith pass, then went coast-to-coast, finishing with a modified euro-step through a trio of Boise State defenders.
Tigers stub toe with first-half subs
Memphis established an early 8-4 lead, controlling almost every aspect of the game through the first three minutes.
Then, Hardaway leaned into his deep bench. First, Duren left in favor of Dandridge. Less than 90 seconds later, it was Nolley and Williams’ turns to sit, and Lawson and Jayden Hardaway entered.
Boise State pounced almost immediately. The Broncos, who hadn’t connected on a field goal in more than three minutes, got a layup from Lukas Milner. Three-plus minutes later, Emmanuel Akot’s 3-pointer tied things up 12-12.
That was all Hardaway could stand. Duren, Williams and Nolley were put back in and the Tigers closed the half on a 26-7 run.
Points off turnovers
Despite playing at a significantly slower pace than Memphis, Boise State came into Thursday’s game with three players with more turnovers than anyone on the Tigers’ roster.
Even though Memphis’ defense has given opponents fits this season, the Broncos handled it relatively well, committing just 10 turnovers.
But it was what the Tigers did with those turnovers that made a big difference. Memphis converted them into 22 points, compared to just 12 off turnovers for Boise State.
Emoni Bates triumphant in brief return
Rusty? Hardly.
Sure, the sample size was small. But Emoni Bates made the most of his return to play. The 18-year-old freshman wing, who was touted as a generational prospect in junior high and high school, sat out a total of 12 games with a lower back issue. That after Bates averaged 10.4 points in 16 games of up-and-down, inconsistent production.
Late in the first half, Hardaway inserted Bates into the game with 5:57 left before halftime. Less than two minutes later, Bates drilled a spot-up 3-pointer to extend the Tigers’ lead to 27-17.
He did not play in the second half.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at [email protected] or on Twitter @munzly.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism