Tulane beats Memphis for first win vs. top-10 team since 1983
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Tulane takes down No. 10 Memphis after a hectic final sequence for the team’s first win vs. a Top-10 opponent since 1983. (0:40)
NEW ORLEANS — Memphis coach Penny Hardaway was bitterly disappointed, but hardly stunned, by the 10th-ranked Tigers’ second straight loss.
Sion James had a season-high 22 points and Tulane outscored Memphis 22-13 in the final nine minutes to edge the Tigers 81-79 on Sunday.
“It just seems like when it rains, it pours,” said Hardaway, whose team was coming off a stunning upset loss to South Florida on Thursday. “We blew a 20-point lead against South Florida and then come to a hostile environment, have a chance to win the game and do everything possible to give the game away.”
There were no big leads to blow this time. Neither team led by more than seven points in an intensely competitive game that had 11 lead changes and 15 ties. There was even a minor scrum that brought both coaches onto the floor to separate feuding players before Hardaway and Tulane’s Ron Hunter diffused it by playfully squaring off with their fists up.
James hit a pivotal corner 3 that put Tulane (12-6, 3-3 American Athletic Conference) up 77-75 with 2:22 left.
Tulane’s Collin Holloway capped his 13-point performance with a layup and two free throws in the final 1:43 to put the Green Wave in front for good.
It was Tulane’s first win over a top-10 team since Feb. 12, 1983, ending a 37-game losing streak in such situations. And it was the program’s first win against a Top 25 team since Dec. 22, 1999, ending a 53-game skid in such situations.
David Jones had 32 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis (15-4, 4-2), and his block on James’ midrange fade as the shot clock expired gave the Tigers the ball, down by two, with 14 seconds left.
Jones’ 3-point attempt for the win rimmed out long off the back iron. The rebound was tapped out to Jones for one more shot with a second on the clock, but his rushed second attempt was deflected by Tulane’s Jalen Forbes, and students poured onto the court in Tulane’s cozy, 90-year-old, 4,000-seat, on-campus arena to celebrate with the team. One student, video showed, shoved a Memphis player during the celebration.
“I’m not a big storm-the-court guy,” Hunter said of the celebration as a whole. “But there’s some occasions at some schools and some environments where you just — you know what? I’m happy for them.
“This is what I’ve been waiting for,” added Hunter, now in his fifth season at Tulane, referring to both the signature victory and the unbridled adulation from a capacity crowd. “This is kind of the puzzle all coming together.”
Kevin Cross added 21 points for Tulane, which nearly beat another ranked team 10 days earlier, when the Wave fell 85-84 to No. 23 Florida Atlantic after a foul call on a desperation 3-point shot with less than a second on the clock.
“We’ve talked so much about the Florida Atlantic situation,” Hunter said. “I thought we learned from that and we talked about that in that last timeout.”
Malcolm Dandridge scored 13 points for Memphis and had a career-high eight blocked shots but fouled out in the final minute trying to block Holloway’s floater. Holloway hit both free throws to make it 81-77 with 58 seconds left.
Jaykwon Walton hit three 3s and scored 11 points in the first half, but an apparent rib injury sidelined him for the entire second half.
Even before Memphis’ 10-game winning streak was snapped earlier in the week, Hardaway had spoken about his transfer-laden squad struggling to find the chemistry needed to execute in the clutch.
“Just because things are going good, it isn’t always what it seems,” Dandridge said, stressing that the Tigers were fortunate to win a handful of their recent close games leading up to their current slide. “We do have to figure things out.”
Information from The Associated Press and ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.