The Tigers went through the right kind of motions Tuesday night in throttling Mississippi Valley State at FedExForum. Sophomore forward D.J. Jeffries led Memphis scorers with 21 points as the Tigers improved to 4-2, again in front of a sparse crowd due to coronavirus restrictions. Valley fell to 0-6 with the loss.
Joe Murphy
D.J. Jeffries
The Delta Devils actually led, 8-7, before the Tigers went on a 14-2 run to take control eight minutes into the contest. The lead was 26 points (55-29) at halftime and swelled beyond 30 seven minutes into the second half.
Freshman center Moussa Cisse scored 14 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for the Tigers. Sophomore guard Lester Quinones also had a double-double, with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Boogie Ellis scored 18 points off the Tiger bench and Malcolm Dandridge added 10.
Tiger swingman Landers Nolley took a hard fall in the first half and was limited to nine minutes of playing time.
Treylan Smith led the Delta Devils with 19 points.
The Tigers play their next game Saturday in Atlanta when they face Auburn at State Farm Arena. Coached by old rival Bruce Pearl, Auburn is the only “Power Five” program on the Memphis schedule. American Athletic Conference play starts on December 16th when the Tigers visit Tulane.
“[Auburn] is a game we have been working on for almost a month now,” said Quinones after the win. “The past few games we’ve had are just leading into this game with Auburn. We’re excited and ready.”
