Tulsa comes up short at Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Malcolm Dandridge and Earl Timberlake scored 12 points apiece and Landers Nolley II sank two free throws with 2 seconds left as Memphis held off Tulsa 67-64 in American Athletic Conference action Tuesday night.

Timberlake added eight rebounds for the Tigers (8-5, 2-1), who led 34-25 at halftime and then scored the first six points of the second half. Lester Quinones added 11 points, while Josh Minott grabbed 11 rebounds. Nolley finished with six points and four assists.

Sophomore Sam Griffin came off the bench to score a season-high 25 points, including 16 in the second half for the Golden Hurricane (6-7, 0-2). Jeriah Horne finished with 20 points, 10 in each half. Griffin’s 3-pointer pulled Tulsa within a point with 3 seconds left to play.

"We dug ourselves a hole in the beginning of the second half," head coach Frank Haith said. "We just gave them too many plays early in the ball game. There in the second half, we missed some assignments on defense. They threw the ball in the side and kind of attacked us. We didn't have any resistance in there."

Memphis started the second half on a 12-3 run to build its largest lead of the night, 46-28, with 15:46 to play. Tulsa made a furious comeback, but it was too little too late.

"I thought we had some good execution in the last three minutes" Haith said. "We talked about that improvement and not settling. We got to the basket, and we got to the free throw line during that stretch."

Tulsa will stay on the road as they face UCF in Orlando, Fla. on Saturday at 1 pm.