TIGERS FINISH OFF COMEBACK
Dedric and K.J. Lawson have been dominating games together for years now, ever since they were children growing up in Memphis. When these two brothers find a rhythm, the baskets come so naturally. Dedric knows where K.J. likes the ball and K.J. understands when to feed Dedric.
This connection almost single-handedly carried the Tigers for most of Thursday night, and the rest of the starting lineup emerged just in time to finish the job during a dramatic 70-67 overtime win at Houston.
Both Lawsons registered double-doubles, and K.J. Lawson set new career highs with 28 points and 16 rebounds. Dedric Lawson added 18 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 3 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in overtime.
That spurred action from one of their dormant teammates. Redshirt junior Markel Crawford (eight points, 10 rebounds) knocked down his first field goal since the first half with less than two minutes to go in the extra frame.
It was the last basket Memphis would score, and it had to survive a frantic final possession in which Houston guards Galen Robinson Jr. and Rob Gray barely missed 3-pointers as the final buzzer sounded. The Tigers could have made life easier on themselves had they not gone 9 for 21 from the free throw line and committed 16 turnovers.
For a moment, however, the duo of K.J. and Dedric Lawson looked ready to steal a win on the road on their own. K.J. Lawson knifed into the lane with under two minutes remaining to cut Houston’s lead to 61-60. When Gray missed a shot on the Cougars’ ensuing possession, Memphis Coach Tubby Smith called timeout with a chance to regain the lead.
But Crawford missed a contested jumper from the elbow with less than a minute to go in regulation. Dedric Lawson then made just one of two free throws when the Tigers had an opportunity to tie the game again with 44.7 seconds to go.
It was point guard Jeremiah Martin that finally got Memphis over the hump. After an air ball by Gray, K.J. Lawson found Martin streaking down court for a three-point-play that gave the Tigers a 64-62 lead with 12.7 seconds to go.
It would be short-lived. After Martin blocked Houston’s initial shot attempt, Cougars forward Danrad Knowles was all alone underneath the basket and converted a put-back with three seconds left on the clock to force overtime.
K.J. Lawson started with a flourish, knocking down a corner 3-pointer for the Tigers’ first basket. It was obvious, from that moment on, this was not the same 6-foot-7 wing that had gone invisible and shot 24.1 percent from the floor over the past six games. Lawson scored seven points before the first media timeout of the game and Memphis raced out to a 9-1 lead.
Houston, which entered Thursday as the AAC’s third-highest scoring team this year, didn’t get its first field goal until six minutes of action had passed. Lawson, meanwhile, never stopped attacking.
He crashed the offensive glass for second-chance baskets, part of a first half in which Memphis won the rebounding battle, 23-17. During the opening nine minutes of action, Lawson had 11 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal.
But Houston rallied back behind guard Rob Gray, the AAC’s leading scorer this year, and senior Damyean Dotson.
The Cougars took advantage of the Tigers’ weak bench once forward Jimario Rivers went to the sideline with two early fouls and eventually scored 13 first-half points off Memphis turnovers. The Tigers entered Thursday averaging 19 turnovers over their previous three games, and the trend continued to cause problems for them.
Memphis senior Christian Kessee provided a brief respite, knocking down a 3-pointer to break open a tie game with less than three minutes left before halftime. But the graduate transfer airballed an ill-advised shot from beyond the arc and opened the door for Houston to take its first lead
Dotson punctuated a quick 8-2 run to close the half with an emphatic fastbreak dunk and the Tigers headed back to the locker room trailing, 3430, at the break.
Memphis came out of halftime with an encouraging push, regaining a 41-40 advantage heading into the first media timeout of the second half once K.J. Lawson connected on a threepointer from the top of the key and sophomore Dedric Lawson got fouled on a put-back lay-in.
When the Tigers scored just one field goal over the next five minutes of action, and Gray and Dotson refused to let up and pushed Houston’s lead back up to seven, the Lawsons rose again. They teamed up for eight-straight Memphis points and tied the score at 51 with less than eight minutes to play.
After Rivers opened the second half with a field goal, the Tigers went almost 17 minutes before a player without the last name Lawson scored a point. A hanging floater by point guard Jeremiah Martin that resulted in a three-point play with 2 minutes 40 seconds remaining in regulation put a halt to the skid.