Seton Hall’s Tyrese Samuel banked in a three pointer high off the backboard at the buzzer to sink Memphis 70-69 in the opening round of the ESPN Events Invitational at the State Farm Field House. In a hard fought game that lacked consistent flow due to a combined 49 fouls, Memphis lost their second leading scorer for the majority of the contest. Deandre Williams picked up two quick fouls in the opening 2:50 of the game and sat the remainder of the first half. In spite of not having Williams, Memphis fought back to take a 31-30 halftime lead.
With Williams in foul trouble all game and fouling out with more than eight minutes remaining in the contest, the Tigers needed someone to step up alongside Kendric Davis who led the way for Memphis with a game high 22 points. Enter Malcolm Dandridge who unquestionably played his best game of the season scoring 13 of his 14 points in the second half before fouling out. Dandridge was the inside presence Memphis has been looking for from the triumvirate of big men on the roster. Chandler Lawson stepped up and added 8 points and 8 rebounds of his own.
Before hitting the game winning shot, the Pirates only lead of the second half came at the 7:17 and lasted only 45 seconds. Davis stole an inbounds pass and scored an easy layup to put Memphis back on top, a lead they would hold until the buzzer. The Tigers would extend the lead to six but could not hang on down the stretch as missed free throws and an errant pass off an offensive rebound by Chandler Lawson set up the final sequence. Seton Hall pushed the ball up the floor before calling timeout with just over 2 seconds remaining. Samuel shook loose from Chandler Lawson and launched his game winning bank shot as time expired.
Memphis was 23-51 from the field for 45.1% shooting to 41.2% for the Pirates. Behind the arc, Seton Hall was slightly better shooting 29.2% on 7-24 while Memphis struggled on 4-14 shooting for 28.6%. Memphis was the better team on the boards, winning that battle 35-32. Both teams had 17 turnovers.
Memphis will now play Nebraska, a 69-56 loser to Oklahoma, at 4:30 on Saturday in a game televised on ESPN News.