Jones and Quinerly combine for 51 as #13 Memphis survives UTSA 107-101

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - The #13-ranked Memphis Tigers defeated the UTSA Roadrunners 107-101 for their ninth consecutive win.

Memphis went into this game 19.5-point favorites, but the Tigers survived with a 6-point victory.

David Jones led with a team-high 26 points and 11 rebounds, while Jahvon Quinerly followed with 25 points. Nick Jourdain added 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks.

Jordan Ivy-Curry propelled UTSA with a game-high 28 points, including six threes.

UTSA hit 17 threes against Memphis, the most allowed this season by Memphis.

“That’s not a Memphis team, we have to play better,” said Penny Hardaway.

The Tigers once again struggled in the first half as the play of UTSA had an answer for everything.

The Roadrunners led for almost 14 minutes in the first half thanks to their ability to find the open man, leading them to hit seven threes.

Jordan Ivy-Curry scored 11, including three three-pointers, off the bench as the Roadrunners’ bench unit produced 24 points in the first half.

Memphis could not get over the hump of gaining the lead as UTSA led by seven midway through the first half.

“They moved the ball pretty well and they made shots,” said Jaykwon Walton.

Nick Jourdain and Malcolm Dandridge led the Tigers with seven points each.

Memphis did well in the stats category, but defensive breakdowns and 56 percent from the free-throw line hurt the Tigers.

Memphis came out the second half with some fire as the Tigers made 10 of their first 12 shots, six of them being three-pointers.

The Tigers held an 8-point lead midway through the second half.

David Jones and Jaykwon Walton were the catalysts in the beginning, scoring a combined 17 of Memphis’ 25 points in the first seven minutes.

However, the Roadrunners did not go away easily as they continued their hot stretch with four threes to fight the deficit.

UTSA eventually took the lead and the tables turned for Memphis.

Memphis played behind but forced their way back and tied the game at 94, thanks to 18 second-half points from Jones.

Nick Jourdain gave the Tigers a major boost in the second half with 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks, including the game-tying dunk with a minute remaining.

UTSA had a chance to score with 30 seconds remaining, but an offensive foul was called with 6 seconds remaining. Memphis would give it to NIck Jourdain, but he missed the three-pointer and the game would go into overtime.

In overtime, Jahvon Quinerly put the Tigers on his back with nine crucial points in the overtime period to secure the win.

“JQ’s three was the turning point of the game,” said Hardaway. “Those are the kind of guys that we have on our team. JQ is a different beast, but I’m putting him in a position to showcase his talent.”

The 13th-ranked Tigers will travel to Wichita, Kansas for a Sunday afternoon game versus Wichita State. The tip-off is set for noon on ESPN2.

Jaykwon Walton said, “If we have a slow start in Wichita, and we let that Wichita crowd get loud, it’s going to be tough.”

Walton played at Wichita State in the 2022-23 season.

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