[Westside]

NEW ORLEANS – Jeremiah Martin walked off the court at Fogelman Arena, paused briefly to acknowledge the University of Memphis fans who had made the trip to New Orleans, and raised his arms to intensify the cheering.

Martin, the Tigers' junior point guard, returned after missing Wednesday's game at SMU with a hip injury and led the UofM to a 68-63 American Athletic Conference victory over Tulane Saturday.

Martin scored 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added four assists and four steals in a team-leading 35 minutes on the court. Mike Parks contributed 15 points and six rebounds, and Kyvon Davenport finished with 10 points as the Tigers (16-11, 7-7 American) won back-to-back league road games for the first time in four years.

The Tigers, who shot 76 percent in the second half at SMU, shot 56 percent in the second half Saturday and 54.3 percent for the game.

"We just tried to come out and play the right way," Martin said.

Tulane (13-13, 4-10 American) got 16 points each from Jordan Cornish and Melvin Frazier, but only shot 38.8 percent for the game. Cornish banked in a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to make it a three-point game (66-63), but Jamal Johnson calmly sank two free throws for the final margin.

"I was impressed with our courage and our toughness down the stretch," said Tigers head coach Tubby Smith. "And it was good to have Jeremiah back and healthy."

Memphis entered the game with a 12-2 record against Tulane in New Orleans since 2000. The Tigers have now won five straight in the series.

The Tigers opened the second half by building a 13-point lead (35-22) after two free throws by Parks. Tulane responded with a 14-2 run to trim the Memphis lead to a single point (37-36) with 11:56 to go forcing the UofM to call a timeout.

Memphis responded by scoring on three-straight possessions and led 44-38 after a three-point play by Parks that capped a personal seven-point run by the Tigers forward.

"At 37-36, Coach said they were playing harder," Parks said. "He said that we needed to come out and play harder, that we were the better team."

In the first half, the Tigers jumped to an early 11-point lead (15-4) after a pair of 3-pointers from Martin, followed by a Jimario Rivers' 15-footer and a Victor Enoh free throw.

Memphis had an 18-8 lead after a Davenport 3-pointer before Tulane put together a rally, a 10-2 run to trim the Tigers' advantage to 20-18. A four-point play by Frazier with 4:28 to go in the first half made it a two-point game.

The Tigers, who shot 52.4 percent in the first half, pulled back ahead and led 28-22 at the break. Kareem Brewton Jr. knocked down a short jumper with 20 seconds left for the six-point halftime advantage.

Tulane only shot 27.5 percent (8-of-29) in the first half and committed nine turnovers.

Memphis returns home to resume conference play with a Thursday night game against Houston at FedExForum. Houston (20-5, 10-3) is coming off an upset of top-10 Cincinnati. Tipoff is 8 p.m. at FedExForum, and CBS Sports Network will carry the game.

NOTABLES
Tulane dropped its fourth-straight game at Fogelman Arena. The Green Wave's last home win was Jan. 17, an 81-72 victory over Houston.
Tigers coach Tubby Smith improved to 10-1 overall when coaching in New Orleans.
Memphis won on the road for the third time in four games. The only loss during that stretch came in overtime at ECU.

http://gotigersgo.com/news/2018/2/17/men...-time.aspx