He’s done this before.
Tiger guard Kareem Brewton connected on a three-pointer with one second left on the game clock to help Memphis upset Tulsa in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament Friday in Orlando. Filling in for injured point guard Jeremiah Martin, Brewton pulled off the same heroics he did in the Tigers’ overtime win at Temple on January 13th. With the victory, Memphis advances to a semifinal matchup Saturday with Cincinnati, regular-season champions of the AAC.
With their seventh win in eight games, the Tigers improved to 21-12 for the season and may have inched closer to a bid in the National Invitation Tournament. Tulsa falls to 19-12 with the loss.
Memphis capitalized on miserable Tulsa shooting early to take a 25-16 lead, but turnovers allowed the Golden Hurricane to close the first half on a 9-0 run, reducing the Tiger lead to 26-25. The Tigers extended their lead to 11 (48-37) midway through the second half, but Tulsa enjoyed a 22-8 run to take a 59-56 lead with less than three minutes to play.
There were three lead changes in the final two minutes, the biggest shot for Memphis a three-pointer by Kyvon Davenport with 29 seconds left to give the Tigers a 64-63 lead. Martins Igbanu hit one of two free throws with four seconds to go to tie the game before Brewton’s game-winner.
Brewton and Davenport led the Tigers with 15 points, Mike Parks added 14, and Jamal Johnson scored 12 (including three three-pointers).
Memphis lost both its meetings with 8th-ranked Cincinnati this winter, the first by 34 points in Ohio on December 31st, then by 14 points at FedExForum on January 27th. Tip-off Saturday is scheduled for noon.
