Eight games into his first season with the Tigers, it was easy to forget that Kareem Brewton was a juco All-America last season. The junior transfer entered Tuesday night’s game at FedExForum averaging merely 7.1 points per game (despite starting seven games and averaging 24.6 minutes). He had taken 26 shots from beyond the three-point line . . . and made three.
Brewton made all three of his long-distance attempts against Albany, connected on eight of 11 shots from the field overall, and led Memphis with 19 points in 17 minutes off the bench to help the Tigers improve to 7-2 on the season and a perfect 7-0 on their home floor. The victory is the Tigers’ second in a four-game series they’ll play as part of the Gotham Classic, their next game being Saturday in Madison Square Garden against arch-rival Louisville.
Larry Kuzniewski
Jimario Rivers
“The coaches have been telling me to get my palm off the ball [on my shot],” said Brewton. “Once I make the first shot, I feel like I can make every single one.”
Neither team shot well to open the game, but the Tigers built a 10-point lead (25-15) before a late push by the Great Danes cut the margin to seven (29-22) at halftime. Albany tied the score at 45 midway through the second half, but a pair of dunks — the first by junior Raynere Thornton and the second by junior guard Jeremiah Martin following a steal — gave the Tigers a five-point cushion they would retain for the balance of the game. The loss is only the second of the season for Albany, now 10-2.
“Jamal [Johnson] started in [Brewton’s] place the other night, but he didn’t hang his head,” noted Tiger coach Tubby Smith. “He came out in practice and worked to improve his shot. I was really impressed with his threes. That gave him a lot of confidence, and gave us a lot of confidence. The bench was outstanding.” The Tiger reserves scored a combined 31 points against merely five by Albany’s bench.
Martin scored 13 points and had four assists and five steals in 37 minutes of action. He was partly responsible for keeping Albany sharpshooter Joe Cremo under wraps (16 points on five-of-14 shooting). Senior forward Jimario Rivers added 11 points. Junior Kyvon Davenport was held under ten points (5) for the first time this season, though he pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
The Tigers held the Great Danes to 34.4 percent shooting for the game and blocked 11 shots, four of them by Davenport.
While Memphis-Louisville doesn’t hold the weight — locally, let alone nationally — it did 30 years ago, Saturday’s game will be the biggest of the Tigers’ nonconference schedule and will test weaknesses. “We can’t turn the ball over like we did tonight [12],” stressed Smith, “and we have to be more efficient at both ends of the court. It will be a real test for us, to see how much we’ve improved.” The Tigers and Cardinals last played in the 2013-14 season, the lone year they spent together as members of the American Athletic Conference. Memphis won both games that season, but Louisville owns the historic edge with a 53-36 advantage over the teams’ 89 games.