Comeback propels Tigers to victory over Musketeers

Free throw shooting has long been a thorn in the side of the Memphis Tigers, but it turned out to be the decisive factor against the Xavier Musketeers as the Tigers hit 24 of 28 free throws to eek out a crucial non-conference victory at home against Xavier, 72-68.

After falling behind by 11 with just over six minutes remaining, the Tigers responded in a big way, closing out the game on a 21-6 run.

The Musketeers led for much of a tightly contested first half. The two teams traded buckets for much of it, and Memphis went into halftime trailing by one after Joe Jackson scored just before the clock ran out. But they started the second half poorly, missing their first seven shots and turning the ball over twice before Wesley Witherspoon's layup stopped the bleeding five minutes in.

But the damage had been done. Xavier hit four of their first five shots of the half, topped off by a three pointer by Tu Holloway that pushed their lead to 10 before Witherspoon's bucket.

Following a three-point play by Xavier wing Dezmine Wells with 6:16 left that gave the visitors a 62-51 lead, Witherspoon struck back with a three-pointer of his own. Then a steal by Will Barton led to two free throws from Jackson, cutting the lead to six.

A Xavier free throw briefly put them back up by seven, but a layup and extra point by Witherspoon kept the run alive and got the crowd of 17,097 that had been silent for much of the second half back into the game.

"I just told myself, ‘We've got to keep going,'" Jackson said. "We're at home, we're going to make a run. We made a run and hit our free throws."

Two minutes later, Antonio Barton found space and drove to the basket for an easy layup, trimming the Tigers' deficit down to just two. A pair of free throws from Joe Jackson moments later tied the game. Memphis took the lead on another Antonio Barton layup and finished off the game from the free throw line.

The Tigers were led by Jackson's 14 points, which largely came from the charity stripe. Jackson hit 12 of 12 free throws in the game, while shooting just 1 of 7 from the field. The sophomore guard also dished out eight assists and grabbed three steals.

"I've got to play like that every game," Jackson said. "That's got to be my average game. I'm good enough to do it. It's all about producing – you do what you've got to do."

Will Barton and Tarik Black each scored 13 points, and Black hauled down nine rebounds. Wesley Witherspoon continued his good recent play with 12 points, including two hug three-pointers late in the game.

Pastner was extremely pleased with the comeback and the win, a crucial one for the Tigers' NCAA tournament chances.

"I'm so proud of our players," he said. "We just stayed the course. We didn't get too high with the highs or too low with the lows. We stayed sound and solid. We just gutted that out. We just had to grind that out. I mean, that's an NCAA tournament team there in Xavier. They're extremely well coached. To get that type of win is fantastic."