The Memphis Tigers defeated the FAU Owls 78-74 in the first meeting between the teams since FAU eliminated Memphis from March Madness. The Tigers have now won back-to-back games and they improved to 20-8.

In their most important game of the season, Memphis performed and came away with the win. This has not been an easy season for the Tigers and coach Penny Hardaway acknowledged how his team overcame these obstacles in his opening statement, " Give all praises to God, because without God none of this would be possible, to be very honest with you, with what we've gone through this year.

The Tigers were without Malcolm Dandridge and Jordan Brown, who was battling a back injury and only played 2 minutes. Nae'Qwan Tomlin, who told the media he was going to take this game personal, stepped up in the absence of the bigs and played his best game all season.

When asked about his performance coach Hardaway said, "You could just tell from the beginning he was ready to go."

The Kansas State transfer finished with 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Tomlin spoke to the media again today and when asked if he felt he got his revenge he answered with a resounding "most definitely."

Outside of shooting 5-27 from 3, Memphis played a complete game. The Tigers committed just 6 turnovers versus FAU's 13, and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds leading to 23 second chance points.

The Tigers have had problems with teams catching fire from beyond the arc, but today held the Owls to just 7-28 from the perimeter. They brought an intensity to today's game that mirrored how they played the non-conference games.

Jahvon Quinerly played a key part in the offensive success. Quinerly finished with 16 points and 6 assists. His most important contribution does not appear on the stat sheet. He consistently rallied the team and put them into favorable positions to succeed. Quinerly controlled the game even when he was struggling to score in the first half.

Tomlin got the Tigers on the scoreboard first with a three-point shot. David Jones then found the basket at 13:24 to put the Tigers up 12-10.

The Owls dominated the next 5 minutes, going on a 9-2 run. The Owls lead by 8 with 6:05 to play, their biggest lead of the game.

Memphis did not get rattled, but answered.

Jaykwon Walton, who finished with 11 points, hit a jumper to start the Memphis run. Tomlin contributed a pair of layups and Quinerly found a rhythm and converted an and-one to tie the game at 27.

David Jones scored his first three of the game at 1:12. Memphis went into half down 31-30. Before going into their locker rooms, a scuffle occurred at half court. The two teams had to be separated by coaches.

Nae'Qwan Tomlin again scored the first points coming out of half to give the lead back to Memphis.

David Jones started to take over into the second half. Jones sunk a 3 at 16:22 and then found Jaykwon Walton and Nae'Qwan Tomlin on back-to-back possessions. Jones contributed 7 points in just 32 seconds.

Minutes later, Jones made a pair of free throws to start another run. Jones and Tomlin played a 2 man game and created an 8-2 scoring difference. With 9:51 to play, Memphis was up 58-52.

With just under 7 minutes to play, the score was 64-62 with the Tigers leading. Memphis, who was already playing with intense energy, turned up the energy and went into a different mode.

With contributions coming from 4 different players, the Tigers outscored FAU 11-1 over the next 3:45, giving them their biggest lead of the game at 10.

Johnell Davis, who had been contained by Jaykwon Walton and David Jones, sparked a run for the Owls and cut the lead to 3 with 56 seconds to play.

The following possession, the Tigers committed an unforced turnover, allowing FAU to tie the game with a 3. Memphis played perfect defense, being very careful not to foul, and forced a heavily contested three.

David Jones grabbed the miss over 7ft 1 Vladislav Goldin and flexed to the Forum. Jones told the media he, "had to, they was talking too much."

Jones then made the game sealing free throws to put Memphis up 77-72. Jahvon Quinerly split his free throws to bring the final score to 78-74.

David Jones and Nae'Qwan Tomlin contributed 25 and 21 point performances. Jones finished with an 11 rebound double-double and stole the ball 3 times.

The Tigers will go back on the road and play the 14-13 East Carolina Pirates on Thursday, February 29 at 6.p.m.