Memphis tops No. 1 Houston for AAC tourney title

FORT WORTH, Texas– Kendric Davis scored 31 points, including 14 in a huge run prior to halftime, and Memphis hung on to beat short-handed No. 1 Houston 75-65 in the American Athletic Conference competition national championship Sunday.DeAndre Williams had

16 points and 13 rebounds for coach Cent Hardaway and the Tigers (26-8 ), who got the league’s automatic NCAA competition quote. They are going to March Madness for the second year in a row.Houston(31-3)played without AAC Gamer of the Year Marcus

Sasser, who strained his groin in the very first half of Saturday’s semifinal game. The senior guard’s status will stay an enigma for the Cougars, who entered their final AAC game already a sure thing for their first No. 1 NCAA seed because 1983 during the Phi Slama Jama era.The Cougars, who are transferring to the Huge 12 next season, beat Memphis 71-53 in last year’s AAC tournament

championship game and won both regular-season matches this season.J ‘Wan Roberts had 12 points and 20 rebounds for Houston. Jamal Shead had 15 points on 3-of-14 shooting, and Jarace Walker had 13 points before fouling out.The Cougars routed by 18 at halftime but got within 55-50 with 11:03 left after Shead scored 8 points in a row for them in a two-minute span. His 3-pointer topped a 12-1 run, and he made another long-range shot before two complimentary throws, however that was the closest Houston would get.Memphis had taken control with a 16-2 run in the very first half. Davis had all however two of those points and made two 3-pointers only 9 seconds apart.That huge spurt started on a fast-break layup by Davis with just under eight minutes left. Davis made a 3, then Alex Lomax made a backcourt take and passed to Davis at the top of the secret for another 3. By the time Davis made another fast-break layup with 3:36 left, the Tigers had actually doubled up Houston, 40-20.