Tulane University
Memphis
Red-Hot Shooting Lifts Memphis Over Green Wave
Feb 12, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2005
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Despite a career-day from junior Quincy Davis, the Tulane men's basketball team could not overcome a red-hot Memphis squad as the Tigers registered a 103-71 victory over the Green Wave in Conference USA action on Saturday afternoon at FedEx Forum.
Davis scored a career-high 28 points while snagging 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year for Tulane (9-13, 3-8 C-USA). He scored seven of the Green Wave's first 10 points, helping the Wave to an early 10-6 advantage with 17:40 to go.
"Quincy came ready to play tonight," Tulane coach Shawn Finney said. "He posted up harder than he has been and he really took it to them."
Despite the strong start from Davis, nothing could match the early shooting of Memphis (15-10, 8-3), and junior forward Rodney Carney (28 points) in particular. Carney hit his first three shots, all three-pointers, in the first three minutes of the game to set the tone. The Tigers would connect on an amazing 10-of-15 three-pointers in the first half as they built a 56-36 advantage at the break.
"I did not think we played bad in the first half," Finney said. "They hit tough shots; they were on fire. Carney was hitting with a hand in his face; they all were. And when we trapped, they did a great job of finding the open man."
In addition to Davis' big day, senior Ivan Pjevcevic tallied a season-high 13 points, his most points since Feb. 26, 2003. The seven-footer injured his knee just eight minutes into last season and missed the entire year after surgery. He has continued to battle back from the injury through this season, averaging just 7.0 minutes per game. However, in the past two games, he has 19 points in 36 minutes of action.
While the Tigers did cool off in the second half, shooting just 40 percent (14-of-35) from the field after a 63.3 percent effort in the first half, Tulane could not make up any ground. Memphis opened the second half with a 10-2 run to effectively eliminate any chance at a comeback by the Green Wave.
However, the Green Wave continued to battle. Davis scored Tulane's first eight points of the second half and freshman Donnie Stith scored nine second-half points, including a pair of showtime dunks.
"I was pleased with out effort for the most part," Finney said. "Again, they were so hot shooting from the start, we just got into a hole and they made it impossible to come back."
Senior point guard Marcus Kinzer, who is from nearby Nashville, was questionable for the game due to an ankle injury. The injury forced him to miss Tulane's last game against Southern Miss and he has been severely limited by the ankle since hurting it on Jan. 19 against UAB. However, on Saturday, he battled through the pain, playing 26 minutes, grabbing five rebounds with a team-best seven assists, as well as scoring three points.
Tulane matched its season low for the second straight game with just 10 turnovers, while Memphis had eight. The Green Wave was topped on the glass, 48-42, but Tulane had 18 offensive rebounds. The Tigers hit 25-of-39 free throws while Tulane had just 12 free throw attempts, hitting eight of those. One miss from the line came from Stith, who had come into the game with a streak of 22 consecutive free throws made. For the game, the Wave shot just 35.5 percent (27-of-76); its 76 shots were a season-high.
The Green Wave returns to action on Saturday, hosting Charlotte at Fogelman Arena at 7 p.m. For ticket information, call 504-861-WAVE.
