TULSA, Okla. — It's an old adage in sports; when it comes to winning, they don't ask "how?", they ask "how many?"
For the No. 15 Memphis Tigers (12-2, 1-0 AAC), the only thing that matters in a classic trap game against Tulsa (9-4, 0-1 AAC) is the fact they won their first conference game of the season.
Memphis got out to a hot start in the first half, pulling away late after a back-and-forth affair kept the game close. The Tigers were cruising to halftime after opening up a 10-point lead when senior transfer Caleb Mills suffered what appeared to be a gruesome injury.
While Mills was kept off the scoresheet for the game, the Florida State transfer's impact on the team was apparent on the defensive end, as was his leadership on a team full of leaders.
"Just pouring a lot of love into him right now," said Jahvon Quinerly, who suffered a knee injury as a member of the Alabama Crimson Tide. "Put yourself in his shoes, you know, that uncertainty before knowing exactly what it is, that's tough. I've been through it. It's very tough. So, we're just pouring a lot of love into him and just hoping for the best."
The impact of Mills' injury was clear coming out of the half, as a 14-point lead was slowly chipped away by mental errors and red-hot three-point shooting by Tulsa.
Tulsa forward Carlous Williams, who before the game had just three made three-pointers, hit four in the second half as the Golden Hurricanes got within three points.
The Tigers would pull away again, thanks to big scoring efforts from David Jones and Nae'Qwan Tomlin, who would each end the game with 17 points. It almost wasn't enough as, with the Tigers up seven with less than a minute to play, two key turnovers and a foul allowed Tulsa to come roaring back and hit a game-tying three-pointer with 33 seconds left.
That's when Jahvon Quinerly took the ball with the clock winding down, running around a defender and hitting a prayer of a three-point shot to give the Tigers the lead with just three seconds left. It was the only made three-pointer of the second half for a Tigers team that relies on them.
The loss for Tulsa was their first at home this season, previously going 9-0 in their home arena.
Five different Tigers scored 10 points or more, and four different Tigers ended the game with at least six rebounds.
Standout Tulsa guard PJ Haggerty was the game's leading scorer with 27 points, 17 of which came in the first half, accounting for more than half of his team's points.
Up next, the Tigers face a quality SMU team at the FedExForum Sunday, Jan. 7.
