No. 3 Memphis falls to UAB
Marvett McDonald had 17 points and UAB held No. 3 Memphis scoreless for more than 8 minutes down the stretch in an 80-74 upset on Thursday night at Birmingham, Ala.
McDonald’s jumper gave the Blazers a five-point lead with 2:47 to go, and UAB made six consecutive free throws in the final 33 seconds to snap the Tigers’ 15-game winning streak.
UAB fans poured onto the court to celebrate a win that certainly bolstered the team’s NCAA Tournament hopes. Wen Mukubu jumped on the scorer’s table pumping his fists.
Memphis (26-3, 12-1) already has clinched the No. 1 seed in the Conference USA tournament, but could have secured the regular-season title outright with a win – and kept alive its chances for a perfect league record.
The league’s highest-scoring team went into a horrible drought late in the game, going 8:05 without a point before Shawne Williams’ 3-pointer with 40 seconds left cut the deficit to 74-71. The Tigers missed six straight shots and had six turnovers during that stretch of offensive futility.
Memphis rediscovered its shooting touch too late.
Williams and Antonio Anderson both hit 3-pointers in the final minute but UAB (21-5, 11-2) iced it at the line.
Delaney hit two free throws with 33 seconds left and Squeaky Johnson forced Williams into a turnover at the other end. McDonald then hit four in a row to put the game away.
Darius Washington led Memphis with 17 points while Rodney Carney had 16. Joey Dorsey had 15 rebounds.
(25) Michigan State 74, Wisconsin 65: At East Lansing, Mich., Paul Davis scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds in his next-to-last home game as the Spartans defeated the Badgers.
Women
Danielle Santos scored 24 points to lead No. 23 Florida over Mississippi State 98-83 in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament in North Little Rock, Tenn.
In another SEC tournament game, No. 23 Vanderbilt defeated Alabama 83-62 behind Cherish Stringfield.
TCU 63, (17) Utah 62: At Salt Lake City, Natasha Lacy scored on a layup with 2.2 seconds left and the Horned Frogs snapped the Utes’ seven-game winning streak.
(18) BYU 69, Colorado State 67: At Fort Collins, Colo., Ambrosia Anderson scored 22 points as the Cougars held off the Rams to earn the top seed in the Mountain West Conference tournament.
UNLV 65, (21) New Mexico 63: At Las Vegas, Sherry McCracklin grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 23 seconds left to lead the Rebels past the Lobos.