John Grice scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds Saturday as Memphis ran away from Furman in the second half en route to a 72-55 victory.
Memphis (4-1) opened the second half with a 23-4 run as the Paladins (3-5) missed nine of their first 11 shots. The Tigers built the lead to 57-33, and Furman never got closer than 17 the rest of the way.
Furman also was hampered by 23 turnovers and shot 47 percent to Memphis’ 51 percent.
Rodney Carney finished with 15 points for the Tigers, while Earl Barron added 14, both hitting 6-of-9 shots from the field. Point guard Clyde Wade, starting in place of the injured Antonio Burks, had 10 points and five assists, seven of his points coming off steals and breakaway buckets.
Jason Patterson had 12 points to lead Furman while Kenny Zeilger and Maleye Ndoye had 10 points each. Zeigler had a team-high seven rebounds.
Memphis also dominated the boards, 36-26.
The Tigers, who opened the game sluggishly, led 34-29 at halftime thanks to an offensive burst by Wade with about four minutes left before the break.
The Tigers were struggling offensively and trailed 24-23 when Wade scored seven straight points in 35 seconds. He had a 3-pointer and two steals that led to layups in the stretch resulting in a 30-24 lead.
Barron scored the final two baskets of the half for the five-point lead at the half.
The Tigers opened the second half with Burks, in limited duty, scoring six points before Furman called timeout two minutes in.
Memphis maintained at least a 20-point lead through most of the latter part of the second half.
