MEMPHIS – After the Cincinnati Bearcats opened conference play with mixed results in two games that trended toward lopsided at times, UC lost to the Memphis Tigers in its first tight game that went down to the wire in American Athletic Conference play.
After Memphis led UC by a game-high 10 points in the first half Sunday, the matinee at FedExForum evolved into a tight, back-and-forth affair that found the teams tied at 57 with 11 minutes to play.
From that point on, the intensity ratcheted up considerably in front of a boisterous Memphis crowd, and the Tigers closed out the game by outscoring UC, 30-23, en route to an 87-80 at FedExForum.
With the shot clock unplugged and a chance for UC to tie the game on the final possession of the game, the ball was turned over the Memphis was able to ice the contest from the free-throw line through senior guard Tyler Harris.
The clutch-shooting Lester Quinones went for 18 points and Harris scored 19 in the Memphis (9-5, 3-1 AAC) victory.
Despite foul trouble, UC's Jeremiah Davenport short the lights out from deep as he went 7-of-10 from 3-point range and scored a game-high 21 points.
Four Bearcats scored in double figures.
The loss highlighted the inconsistent nature of the first eight days of conference play for UC (11-5, 1-2 AAC), which opened league play with a loss to Tulane, a rebound win against SMU on Thursday and Sunday's loss.
For Memphis, the Tigers moved to 3-1 in league play and have made a positive impression early in the business end of the season.
After trailing by 10 in the first half, UC slowly chipped away and cut its deficit to six by the intermission.
UC then opened the second half on an early 9-2 run that saw the visitors take their first lead since 1-0 in the opening minutes of the game.
The first half was a battle of attrition with UC seemingly laboring to keep pace. Memphis led the majority of the period by virtue of 43% shooting and timely responses to Bearcats' runs that energized the arena.
The Bearcats played stretches without key players after John Newman III was injured and briefly left the UC bench area before later returning.
Jeremiah Davenport also was hamstrung by foul trouble.
Davenport picked up his third foul at the 5:56 mark of the first half, ending his contribution to the opening 20 minutes after playing just five minutes. He still managed six points in the first half.
Ody Oguama hit all four of his first-half attempts for a team-high eight points. Mika Adams-Woods and David DeJulius both scored six points.
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