National Basketball Association
Memphis 78, Oral Roberts 63
When: 3:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 20, 2014
Where: FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee
Officials:
# Lee Cassell, # Tim Gattis, # Zelton Steed
Attendance:
13084
By SportsDirect Inc.
Memphis 78, Oral Roberts 63: Austin Nichols had 15 points, nine rebounds and a career-high eight blocked shots as the Tigers topped the visiting Golden Eagles.
Pookie Powell added 14 points, seven assists and six rebounds for Memphis (6-4), which notched its third straight win. Trahson Burrell scored 12 points and Avery Woodson added 10 for the Tigers, who blocked a school record-tying 15 shots and finished with a 48-34 rebound advantage.
Korey Billbury scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Oral Roberts (4-6), which fell to 0-5 on the road. The Golden Eagles, who also received 10 points apiece from Albert Owens and Obi Emegano, shot 33.8 percent from the field, including 3-of-15 from 3-point range.
Oral Roberts, which trailed by seven at the half, pulled within 56-51 on Billbury’s layup with just over 8:30 remaining. Memphis, however, turned up the defensive pressure and dominated the boards to reel off a 13-1 run over the ensuing six minutes and put the game out of reach.
The opening half was marked by dueling runs as Memphis used a 15-3 spree to turn an early 12-9 lead into a 27-12 advantage before Oral Roberts answered with a 14-2 spurt to pull within 29-26 with a little more than three minutes remaining. The Tigers, though, scored six of the final eight points of the half to take a 35-28 edge into intermission.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Memphis has now won eight straight against current Summit League teams, with the last loss coming against Oral Roberts in the 1975 NIT. … Nichols has 37 of the Tigers’ 75 blocks on the season and has 15 over the last three games. … The Golden Eagles are averaging 56.6 points and shooting 34.6 percent from the field in their five road losses.
Top Game Performances
| Oral Roberts |
|
Memphis |
|
Korey Billbury 21 |
Scoring |
Austin Nichols 15 |
|
Korey Billbury 4 |
Assists |
RaShawn Powell 7 |
|
Korey Billbury 7 |
Rebounds |
Austin Nichols 9 |
|
Korey Billbury 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Austin Nichols 7 |
|
Aaron Young 2 |
Steals |
Avery Woodson 3 |
|
Albert Owens 4 |
Blocks |
Austin Nichols 8 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Oral Roberts
|
63 |
33.8 |
3-15 |
16-21 |
10 |
28 |
6 |
7 |
11 |
| Memphis
|
78 |
42.6 |
5-13 |
21-25 |
13 |
44 |
15 |
9 |
14 |
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