#1 Houston Survives Memphis at the buzzer in Regular Season Finale
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Memphis, Tennessee (PSF) - It’s buzzer-beater season in college basketball. In these intense and important games at the end of the season, it’s always exciting to see everything come down to one final shot. This time it was the Houston Cougars benefitting from that final shot at the expense of the Memphis Tigers.
In this game between the top two teams in the American Athletic Conference, Houston was in control through the first half, but Memphis was able to battle back and make it a game in the second half. Then it looked like Memphis might have the game until it was Houston’s turn to battle back.
Memphis was down two under 30 seconds and needed a bucket. They went to their go-to guy in Kendric Davis and he delivered, converting a layup with nine seconds remaining to tie the game. Houston inbounded the ball quickly, opting not to call their final timeout. Jamal Shead couldn’t find an opening easily, but used a slight shove with his off arm to create just enough space to get a shot off in the final seconds, and he drilled it. This gave Houston the win 67-65.
Shead finished with 16 points and seven assists. Tramon Mark had 16 points as well along with eight rebounds. Davis finished with 26 points and three rebounds for Memphis. The only other double-figure scorer for the Tigers was Chandler Lawson, who recorded 10 points and five rebounds.
With the regular season officially over across all conferences in college basketball, Houston finished with the best overall record. At 29-2, they are the only team in the nation with only two losses this season.
In terms of the NCAA Tournament, Houston has a legitimate shot at the number one overall seed. Even if they don’t get it, they will certainly receive one of the four one seeds. For Memphis, they shouldn’t be overly comfortable with their current position, but they will likely receive an at-large bid should they not receive the automatic bid from winning their conference tournament. The Tigers are currently projected around the nine/ten seed line.
Next up for each of these teams will be the American Athletic Conference Tournament. The first round will begin Thursday, March 9th, although both Houston and Memphis will receive a bye as the one and two seed respectively and won’t play until Friday. Houston will play the winner of the 8 seed South Florida and 9 seed East Carolina. Memphis will play the winner of the 7 seed UCF and the 10 seed SMU.
