MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kendric Davis had Thursday night's game at SMU circled on his calendar and proceeded to run circles around his old team.
The former Mustang tallied 23 points and 10 assists in his return to Moody Coliseum, leading the Tigers to the 81-62 win in Dallas.
With the win, Memphis captured the two-seed in the American Athletic Conference Tournament. At 23-7, Memphis has moved far enough inside the bubble that it would be more of a surprise if their name is not called on Selection Sunday.
Each time SMU rallied, Memphis answered. A Ricardo Wright layup at 14:36 in the first tied the game at 16 apiece. The Tigers closed the half on a 37-21 run to hit the locker room up 50-37.
The Mustangs chipped away by capitalizing on Tigers turnovers. A Samuell Williamson dunk cut the Memphis lead to 67-60 with 8:56 to play. But the Tigers responded with a 9-0 burst to put the game to bed and capture their 13th conference victory, tied for the most in their American Athletic Conference history.
Memphis concludes the regular season hosting No. 1 Houston on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.
