MEMPHIS, Tenn — David Jones scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half, Jahvon Quinerly added 17 points and six assists, and Memphis held on to beat No. 13 Clemson 79-77 on Saturday.
Nick Jourdain added 11 points for Memphis (8-2).
PJ Hall led Clemson (9-1) with 21 points, while Chauncey Wiggins finished with 19 and Chase Hunter had 13.
Hunter hit the first of two free throws with 1.3 seconds left to cut the Memphis lead to 79-77, but his miss of the second was grabbed by Memphis' Malcolm Dandridge, preserving the Tigers' win.
The second half was tight with the difference rarely getting beyond one possession. Clemson, off to its best start since starting the 2008-09 season at 16-0, had the lead until a pair of free throws by Quinerly with 4:29 left.
A pair of free throws with 13.5 seconds left by Jaykwon Walton helped Memphis close it out.
After a couple of early runs by both teams, the first half settled into a closely played affair highlighted by tight defense, resulting in misfired shots, particularly for Memphis. Clemson opened a 10-point lead in the half's latter minutes before carrying a 39-32 advantage into the break.
Wiggins had 13 points and Hall scored 11 for Clemson in the first half. Meanwhile, Memphis shot 37.1% for the half, including 2 of 6 from 3-point range.
Clemson had won its previous four games by single digits and had a chance in this one to keep that alive, but Memphis made key plays down the stretch. Clemson has two more non-conference games before returning to ACC play on Jan. 2 at Miami.
The homestanding Tigers have been among teams receiving votes outside the Top 25. With the won over a Top 25 team, Memphis could move into the rankings.
