RECAP: No. 16 Memphis escapes UTSA, clinches top seed in AAC Tournament

Memphis basketball now owns at least a share of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) regular-season title, and the No. 1 seed in this year’s AAC Tournament.

The Tigers (25-5, 15-2 AAC) narrowly defeated UTSA 75-70 inside the Convocation Center on Tuesday night. This was Memphis’ only scheduled meeting with the Roadrunners this year. Penny Hardaway’s club hosts South Florida to finish the regular season Friday (8 p.m., ESPN2) before starting conference tournament play next week at Dickies Arena (Fort Worth, Texas).

Memphis shot 46% overall and 42% on 3-pointers. It also outrebounded UTSA 45-25 while recording 16 points off 10 forced turnovers, 13 offensive boards, 12 assists, 6 steals and 6 blocks. The Tigers sweated out their trip to San Antonio, but they still led for 33 consecutive minutes (including the entire second half).

Austin Claunch’s team (11-18, 5-12 AAC) shot 39% on field goals and 29% at the 3-point line. It also logged 22 forced turnovers—a season-high for Memphis—19 points off said turnovers, 16 assists, 13 steals, 7 offensive rebounds and 5 blocks. Jonnivius Smith (18), Marcus Millender (16), Primo Spears (14) and Tai’Reon Joseph (12) scored double-digit points for UTSA.

Here are some takeaways from the Tigers’ fourth win in a row.

Memphis overcomes slow start

Memphis wrapped up its win at UAB approximately 48 hours before Tuesday’s tipoff, and looked a bit sluggish at first given the short turnaround.

The Tigers committed 3 turnovers in less than three minutes, and trailed UTSA 8-2 with 17 minutes left in the first half. But Memphis then scored 15 of the next 18 points to take a 17-11 lead at the 11:51 mark in the opening period. It later upped that advantage to as many as 8 points prior to halftime.

The Tigers’ ball security still held it back, however, since they allowed 11 points off 9 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. This kept UTSA’s hopes for an upset win alive, as Memphis led 41-36 at intermission. Smith and Memphis center Dain Dainja led their teams with 10 first-half points respectively.

Dante Harris exits with injury

The 6-foot midseason transfer went down less than a minute into his outing.

Harris twisted his left ankle whilst being fouled on a drive by Millender, and immediately reached towards the ligament upon falling down. He couldn’t put any weight on his foot while being helped off the floor at the 15:17 mark in the first half.

Harris didn’t return the game.

Turnovers nearly cost Tigers

Memphis began the second half with a 12-4 run, and led UTSA 59-46 with just under 14 minutes to play. But its bad ball security from the beginning of the game reappeared down the stretch.

The Tigers gave up 13 second-half turnovers. That includes 7 in the final eight minutes and 4 in the last four minutes—all but one of which were committed by Dainja and PJ Haggerty. UTSA capitalized by cutting its deficit to just 2 points with 3:23 on the clock. The two teams then combined to miss seven consecutive shots, however, ending with Spears bricking an ill-advised 3-pointer that would’ve given the Roadrunners a 70-69 lead with 12 seconds left.

Haggerty closed with game with six made free throws for Memphis, which didn’t hit a field goal in the last four minutes and 39 seconds. The 6-foot-3 guard totaled 18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal while shooting 30% from the field and piling up 6 turnovers. Dainja compiled 19 points, 8 rebounds and a block on 8-for-12 shooting despite having 4 personal fouls. Nick Jourdain tallied 13 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks with a 5-for-6 clip.