THE BAHAMAS, — The Memphis Tigers men's basketball team is a step closer to a huge early-season championship, and major bragging rights, after defeating the No. 20 Arkansas Razorbacks 84-79 in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinal matchup in The Bahamas.
David Jones carried the Tigers with a banner night on Thanksgiving Day, scoring 36 points and adding five steals in a game where Arkansas had no answer for him. Jones was 10-14 from the field, and hit 12 of 14 free throws. Jones became just the second Tigers player since 2010 to record at least 34 points and four steals in a game, according to ESPN.
Jones, who struggled to begin the year for the Tigers after coming over from St. Johns University in the transfer portal, hit his stride at the end of Memphis' game against Michigan, and carried the effort over against the Razorbacks. Among his highlights was a buzzer-beating three-point shot at the end of the first half, after the two teams had been trading blows, to put the Tigers up by five.
The Tigers maintained the lead for most of the second half, putting away a brief Razorbacks rally that saw them pull ahead early in the half, to go up by as much as 10 points with five minutes remaining.
Nick Jourdain finished the game with 12 points and two blocks, and hit all five of his field goal attempts.
A late Arkansas rally saw the lead shrink to four points in the final minutes, but key free throws - so often the bane of Penny Hardaway's teams in the past - put the game away. Memphis finished the game 24 for 30 from the line.
The Tigers, now 5-0 on the year, already have their third quality non-conference win, beating Missouri on the road and Michigan in the Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinal earlier this year. They will now likely enter Monday as a top-25 team.
Memphis moves on to play Villanova for the Battle 4 Atlantis championship Friday at 2:30 p.m.
