TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Jahvon Quinerly made a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left, and No. 15 Memphis survived a late flurry from Tulsa’s Cobe Williams to beat the Golden Hurricane 78-75 on Thursday night.
David Jones and Nae’Qwan Tomlin each scored 17 points for Memphis, which led 75-70 in the final minute before Williams scored five points in a three-second span. After Quinerly’s 3, Williams’ 3-point attempt at the buzzer rimmed out.
Memphis (11-2, 1-0 American Athletic Conference) squandered a 14-point halftime lead and overcame a frustration foul by Quinerly.
After Williams made a layup to cut the deficit to 75-72, Quinerly pushed PJ Haggerty to the ground before the ball was inbounded. Williams then hit a corner 3 to tie the score with 33.4 seconds left.
Memphis worked the clock before Quinerly drained his 3 from the left wing. He finished with 11 points.
“He lost his composure, which you don’t want happening,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said. “But I still had confidence in him taking that last shot. Give Tulsa credit, they’ve come from behind on a lot of teams this year and they don’t give up.”
Haggerty scored 27 points for Tulsa (9-4, 0-1), which had a nine-game home winning streak snapped. Carlous Williams added 16 points, making a season-high four 3-pointers, and Cobe Williams finished with 10 points.
Hagerty, a freshman, also had eight rebounds and four assists, but was just 5 of 11 on free throws. He came in shooting 81% from the line.
“Memphis has a really good team that could play deep into March,” Tulsa coach Erik Konkol said. “And we went toe-to-toe with them. There’s a lot of things we’ve got to fix, but we can gain confidence from this.”
Memphis guard Caleb Mills slipped on a drive with 2:19 to play in the first half and appeared to injure his left knee. He had to be helped from the court. Mills is the Tigers’ fourth-leading scorer at 8.5 points per game.
Memphis shot 50% from the field but had 21 turnovers.
The Tigers led 49-35 at halftime, but Tulsa made five 3-pointers in the first 7:08 of the second half to get within 56-53.
Memphis went inside to rebuilt the lead. Tomlin made two layups and a free throw, and Jones hit a short jumper in the lane to push the lead back to 65-54.
Tulsa, though, didn’t fold, and Haggerty and Carlous Williams helped the Golden Hurricane get back within five ahead of the exciting finish.
Konkol said he was confident in Cobe Williams’ tying 3 even though the senior was 2-for-12 from the field at that point.
“We drew it up for him,” Konkol said. “I have complete confidence in him. I feel like water finds its level and the next one was going to go down.”
In the first half, Memphis forced Tulsa into nine first-half turnovers, shot 64% from the field and 55% on 3-pointers, and beat Tulsa downcourt numerous times to set up easy shots.
UP NEXT
Memphis: Hosts SMU on Sunday.
Tulsa: At East Carolina on Sunday.
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