After a dominant win over Charlotte, Memphis wins its second straight and avenges its NCAA tournament loss last season, defeating Florida Atlantic 78-74.
“I wanted to get that get-back for Memphis,” said Memphis forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin. “But I also wanted to do it for last year’s team at K-State.”
The energy was in the building from the start and the effort was much better than it had been, continuing the momentum from the Charlotte game.
David Jones and Nae’Qwan Tomlin led the way for the Tigers. Jones had 25 points and 11 rebounds while Tomlin had 21 points and 8 rebounds. Jahvon Quinerly also had 14 points and 6 assists along with 0 turnovers.
Vladislav Goldin played a great game for the Owls. He scored 22 points on 9 for 9 from the field and grabbed 8 rebounds. Their star player Johnell Davis also had 20 points along with 7 rebounds.
Both teams started out slow, but Florida Atlantic got out to a 24-16 lead. Memphis kept up and cut the deficit to one by halftime. It was 31-30 and turnovers were a big story. Memphis only had 3 while they forced 8.
Memphis had great energy coming out of the second half, quickly taking a 58-52 lead. They continued to play well and extended the lead to 73-63 with 3:28 left.
Florida Atlantic fought back and cut the lead to three, but Memphis sealed the game with a great defensive possession finished by a David Jones rebound.
Memphis didn’t play great offensively, but they played great defense and took care of the ball. They only had six turnovers while Florida Atlantic had 13. The Tigers shot 43.7% from the field and 18.5% from three but they also held Florida Atlantic to 25% from three.
Memphis also rebounded well, despite the absence of Malcolm Dandridge, only getting outrebounded by two.
Memphis played with great effort and got a huge revenge win over Florida Atlantic. They look forward to continuing the success against East Carolina on Thursday at 6 PM C.T. on ESPN2.
