College Basketball

No. 22 Memphis holds off UCF 69-59

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Joe Jackson scored 17 points, Chris Crawford and Michael added 12 each and No. 22 Memphis was able to hold off UCF 69-59 on Wednesday night.
 
   The victory extends the Tigers' winning streak to four games. Memphis (16-4, 6-2 American) also extended its conference road winning streak to 16 games.  
 
   UCF (9-9, 1-6) was within a basket for most of the second half, but was outscored 13-5 to end the game.
 
   Isaiah Sykes led UCF with 24 points.
 
   The loss drops the Knights to 1-15 all-time against the Tigers.
 
   Memphis struggled to get distance from the Knights in the second half, but was able to carve out a 66-58 lead with 3:59 to play on a layup by Jackson  
 
   The Tigers got the ball back on a steal by David Pellom and forced UCF into a foul on the ensuing possession. But Shaq Goodwin came up empty at the free throw line. 
 
   UCF's Matt Williams was fouled shooting a 3-pointer on the other end, but he was only able to make one of his three free throws.
 
   The Tigers were able to eat up some clock over the next few minutes and continued to force the Knights into turnovers. Johnson hit three free throws in the final 1:09 to secure the win.
 
   It was tied at 39 at halftime after solid shooting efforts by both teams.  
 
   Memphis had as much as an eight-point lead early before UCF used an 8-0 spurt to take a brief lead late in the half.
 
   Sykes had 16 first-half points to lead the Knights, which outscored the Tigers 22-18 in the paint. UCF held a 10-2 edge in second-chance points.
 
   The Knights entered the night shooting a league-worst 37 percent in conference games, but shot 50 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
 
   Memphis shot 62 percent, but had some collapses in its zone that allowed UCF to get some uncontested layups.
 
   Jackson started slow for the Tigers, but was able to get some easy layups off three steals and finished with 10 first-half points.