Dain Dainja had 19 points and 10 rebounds and No. 19 Memphis held off Tulane 68-56 on Thursday night in New Orleans.
PJ Carter and Colby Rogers added 14 points each for the Tigers (17-4, 7-1 American Athletic Conference), who won their fourth straight game and for the eighth time in nine games.
Rowan Brumbaugh scored 19 points and Kaleb Banks added 14 to lead the Green Wave (11-10, 5-3).
Tyrese Hunter’s jumper started the second-half scoring and increased the Tigers’ lead to 31-26. They led by five a second time before Banks made a layup, Mari Jordan made a dunk and Percy Daniels added a layup to give the Green Wave a 34-33 lead.
Tulane increased the lead to four points on two occasions before Carter’s 3-pointer and Dainja’s jumper gave Memphis a 43-42 lead. The lead changed hands four more times before Rogers’ 3-pointer extended the Tigers’ lead to 51-46.
Brumbaugh made two of three free throws, but Memphis extended its lead to seven on two occasions. Two free throws by Brumbaugh and a layup by Banks pulled the Green Wave within three, but Rogers answered with a 3-pointer.
Banks made one of two free throws before Dainja hit a jumper, Rogers added a 3-pointer and Haggerty made two free throws for a 66-54 lead with 1:30 remaining.
Dainja had two layups as Memphis scored the first six points of the game. Tulane took its first lead, 9-8, on a 3-pointer by Asher Woods,
The lead changed hands three more times and the score was tied at 17 before Brumbaugh’s 3-pointer broke the tie in the Green Wave’s favor. Hunter answered with a tying 3-pointer, but Brumbaugh made a jumper and a layup and Tyler Ringgold added a layup to give Tulane a 26-20 lead.
Carter’s 3-pointer ended a nearly four-minute scoring drought for the Tigers. Nicholas Jourdain, Dainja and PJ Haggerty made consecutive layups to give Memphis a 29-26 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media
